Uber. Good or bad.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
SPX said:
The reason they're so cheap is because they're paying drivers peanuts and while ever there are people stupid enough to drive cars for minimum wage (or less in some cases), Uber will always be in with a chance. Once they have to play by the same rules as the other private hire firms, their costs will soon spiral and their fees will go up.

This is very true. The taxis are not competing on a level playing field.

This was the problem back in the noughties with the Poles in construction. We had company vans, paid good money to time served men, paid tax etc and they didn't. We lost out.
 
On New Year's Eve in the very early morning my daughter & 7 of her girlfriends were in 2 uber taxis 5 minute apart coming back from a night on the town up in London when they came upon a people carrier on it's side on a roundabout.

The accident had just happened, no other vehicles there, drunk bloke wandering around in a daze with a gash on his forehead. The 1st taxi driver (with my daughter aboard) ignored requests then instructions to stop. The driver didn't say a single word, just ignored the girls & drove on. The second taxi with the rest of the girls onboard did stop.

She didn't know if the driver spoke no English or WTF the reason for not stopping was. The only thing he ever said was 'thank you' when they got out.

She complained to uber later that day & received a form email & a tenner off her next booking. No explanation.
 
neilrr said:
On New Year's Eve in the very early morning my daughter & 7 of her girlfriends were in 2 uber taxis 5 minute apart coming back from a night on the town up in London when they came upon a people carrier on it's side on a roundabout. The accident had just happened, no other vehicles there, drunk bloke wandering around in a daze with a gash on his forehead. The 1st taxi driver (with my daughter aboard) ignored requests then instructions to stop. The driver didn't say a single word, just ignored the girls & drove on. The second taxi with the rest of the girls onboard did stop. She didn't know if the driver spoke no English or WTF the reason for not stopping was. The only thing he ever said was 'thank you' when they got out. She complained to uber later that day & received a form email & a tenner off her next booking. No explanation.

Strange. When I'm in a taxi I always sit in the front and try to have a bit of a chit chat.
 
Love Uber and use it mainly outside the UK and in different parts of the world... In probably 100+ journeys I have only had 1 bad experience and that was refunded in about 30 mins...

New York - really useful especially from JFK to Manhattan and utilising share a ride would end up with some very fun and interesting passengers ;) - nice car and costs about $35 when using share a ride.

Mexico - rolling around in those big massive GMC SUVs or Escalades when selecting Uber XXL - dirt cheap too..

Bankgok - normal cabbies are rip of merchants- uber was convenient and got me everywhere I needed to go..

Shanghai - same as above..

Tokyo - expensive but still cheaper the regular taxi especially in middle of the night and the standard cars were really nice.

Poland - two identical journeys - Local taxi it cost 15 Zloty and in uber costs just 8 Zloty.

Chile - local cabbies could not really speak English so getting around with them was nigh on impossible but Uber saved me there too.

Brazil - same as above...


Use in other cities too but generally, most can speak English, have nice clean cars, provide water free, take the hassle of carrying money (jump in, jump out), doing company expenses is a lot easier as receipts come straight away -makes life so easy... As you can set the destination in the app too, you don't have to worry if the persons knows the place or not as they just follow the navigation...

Compare to local mini cab drivers who are unreliable, turn up in crap cars, act like they are doing you a favour and get the hump when they have to put a suitcase in their car that weighs anything over 5kg..

People say local black cabs have the 'knowledge' -- next time notice how many of them now have a sat nav in their car and actually use that to get anywhere that isn't in zone 1.
 
Last edited:
fizz47 said:
Love Uber and use it mainly outside the UK and in different parts of the world... In probably 100+ journeys I have only had 1 bad experience and that was refunded in about 30 mins... New York - really useful especially from JFK to Manhattan and utilising share a ride would end up with some very fun and interesting passengers ;) - nice car and costs about $35 when using share a ride. Mexico - rolling around in those big massive GMC SUVs or Escalades when selecting Uber XXL - dirt cheap too.. Bankgok - normal cabbies are rip of merchants- uber was convenient and got me everywhere I needed to go.. Shanghai - same as above.. Tokyo - expensive but still cheaper the regular taxi especially in middle of the night and the standard cars were really nice. Poland - two identical journeys - Local taxi it cost 15 Zloty and in uber costs just 8 Zloty. Chile - local cabbies could not really speak English so getting around with them was nigh on impossible but Uber saved me there too. Brazil - same as above... Use in other cities too but generally, most can speak English, have nice clean cars, provide water free, take the hassle of carrying money (jump in, jump out), doing company expenses is a lot easier as receipts come straight away -makes life so easy... As you can set the destination in the app too, you don't have to worry if the persons knows the place or not as they just follow the navigation... Compare to local mini cab drivers who are unreliable, turn up in crap cars, act like they are doing you a favour and get the hump when they have to put a suitcase in their car that weighs anything over 5kg.. People say local black cabs have the 'knowledge' -- next time notice how many of them now have a sat nav in their car and actually use that to get anywhere that isn't in zone 1.

I was very impressed but it was my first experience with them. Tomorrow there are tube strikes and so I am using Thameslink into West Hampstead and my plan is to use Uber to my job at the BBC at Wood Lane. We shall see.
 
I use Uber all the time, it is my first choice of taxi. For me it isn't actually about the cost, it is all about convenience. Where ever I am I can get a taxi to come to me, I can see how long it will take before it gets to me, I know I don't require cash on me, I know the vehicle is comfortable.

I use Uber a lot in the UK, also been using it in the Netherlands, Poland and France.

I choose it anytime over a black cab in the UK.

And any points I haven't made fizz47 has made :) I'm sorry to say it, but black cabs are the dinosaurs, they do not provide a convenient service.
 
I was very impressed but it was my first experience with them. Tomorrow there are tube strikes and so I am using Thameslink into West Hampstead and my plan is to use Uber to my job at the BBC at Wood Lane. We shall see.


Watch out for surge pricing. I have a suspicion that they might be busy tomorrow.

Best one I had was in west London. Called a ride, to find it parked up 10 feet away...
 
davidjpowell said:
Watch out for surge pricing. I have a suspicion that they might be busy tomorrow. Best one I had was in west London. Called a ride, to find it parked up 10 feet away...
Thanks for the tip. I did a mock booking and have got the price so it will be interesting to see if it changes tomorrow.
 
Luv uber for reasons above. Used it in UK,Ireland, several EU countries and USA. Not had a problem so far.

It's the cash less system. Recently was using uber in London to get to a meeting. Half way through the journey I get a call from the meeting organisers. Meeting venue changed due to unforseen issues. Moved to another part of central London. I tell the uber driver, he tells me to go into the app and change the destination. I do this and the app instantly redirects and recalculates the fare. I was well impressed.

Out in the suburbs, at night, black cabs are always parked outside v nice houses. Just saying. They have my sympathies but they are simply not competitive.
 
Uber today wanted £43-55 for a nine minute journey from West Hampstead to Wood Lane.

So, not always the cheapest. How do they calculate their fares?
 
Darrell said:
Uber today wanted £43-55 for a nine minute journey from West Hampstead to Wood Lane. So, not always the cheapest. How do they calculate their fares?

That'll be most likely down to the surge in fares if demand is up due to the tube strike. I got caught out after my work Christmas party with a 1.9 fare surge meaning it would have cheaper to get a decent hotel in town rather than the 28 mile taxi journey home.
 
While being aware of Uber I didn't know that they operated this far out until I had a look last night.

Their estimate for a regular taxi ride for us works out about the same as the local firm, I would be surprised if Uber were able to get a driver here as quickly as the firm in the village who know me and the layout well enough to come down the drive to pick us up at the house, their cars are spotless and drivers interesting guys/girls.

I can see why they would do well in big cities though.
 
Like it or not, Uber are providing a service used by millions worldwide and have certainly revolutionised the industry with their business model. They are here to stay and have shedloads of cash, expect driverless cars anytime soon.

The progressive PH operators, after an initial period of moaning are now accepting that Uber are on to something good, and are now consolidating their market coverage by introducing their own apps, and expanding by acquisition to compete with them, very successfully in many places.

They have seen this as an opportunity to move the PH/taxi industry into the 21st century with the attitude of anything Uber can do we can do better, so welcome the competition rather than fear it.

London's black cab trade need to wake up to this and concentrate their efforts on improving their service to compete, rather than moan and expect TFL and the law courts to do their job for them by outlawing Uber.

The more open minded. progressive black cab drivers have tried with the introduction of their Halo app, but had their offices firebombed by other black cab drivers, that says it all.

They only have themselves to blame. Dinosaurs headed for extinction.
 
I'm glad that Uber is around.

The state of some of the taxis in Cardiff is atrocious and god knows how they are passing the tests to be on the road. I've never seen a shabby looking uber car.

Also, I used it in the south of france and for non speaking holiday makers like myself, uber is great and as they work from the map, there is no troubles explaining where you are going!
 
I own a hackney carriage in a town in Leicestershire. It is always clean and comfortable and I pride myself on giving a good service in getting my customers to their destination quickly and safely. Although uber is not in my area at the moment it won't be long before it is but I'm not overly worried, I currently sub-contract to a large company and pay them a fee each week to work under their "banner" which equates to approximately 18% of my takings. Once uber does come in to the area I will probably register with them and use it for when the company I'm with have quiet moments, I expect that as uber gets busier in my area then the company work will tail off and I'll work solely through uber. I don't expect my work rate to change greatly, I believe their fees are 20% of the fare so in the end I should be taking the same as now. The company I sub-contract to will almost certainly go to the wall though.
One of the reasons why some cabbies may be upset is that if they move to uber then all the money earned is traceable (no cash) and the tips will drop considerably (as in the restaurant trade with card payments). Autonomous cars will be the death of my job, whether it happens before I naturally retire or not is yet to be seen.
 
Last edited:
I own a hackney carriage in a town in Leicestershire. It is always clean and comfortable and I pride myself on giving a good service in getting my customers to their destination quickly and safely. Although uber is not in my area at the moment it won't be long before it is but I'm not overly worried, I currently sub-contract to a large company and pay them a fee each week to work under their "banner" which equates to approximately 18% of my takings. Once uber does come in to the area I will probably register with them and use it for when the company I'm with have quiet moments, I expect that as uber gets busier in my area then the company work will tail off and I'll work solely through uber. I don't expect my work rate to change greatly, I believe their fees are 20% of the fare so in the end I should be taking the same as now. The company I sub-contract to will almost certainly go to the wall though.
One of the reasons why some cabbies may be upset is that i they move to uber then all the maney earned is traceable (no cash) and the tips will drop considerably (as in the restaurant trade with card payments). Autonomous cars will be the death of my job, whether it happens before I naturally retire or not is yet to be seen.

What frustrates me is I cannot understand why the company who you subcontract off are not looking to be pro-active and get the app working now.
 
What frustrates me is I cannot understand why the company who you subcontract off are not looking to be pro-active and get the app working now.
Elderly wealthy owner, not overly fussed as he's made his fortune and will probably retire once it all goes down the plan. The town next to mine has a large fleet with their own app, cost a lot of money and people still use uber as it may be confusing to have different competing taxi apps?
 
DanMorgan said:
I'm glad that Uber is around. The state of some of the taxis in Cardiff is atrocious and god knows how they are passing the tests to be on the road. I've never seen a shabby looking uber car. Also, I used it in the south of france and for non speaking holiday makers like myself, uber is great and as they work from the map, there is no troubles explaining where you are going!

Completely agree. Also, I live 6 miles from the city centre and the number of times the black and White taxis have said they won't take me and driven off is in double figures! Never had any problems with Uber.
 
I believe their fees are 20% of the fare

I think the guy in the programme I referred to earlier said they took 25% although he waas in London I think - not that it is a huge difference.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom