Everybody Hates Uber
lawless.tech
lawless.tech
I love Uber and all their competitors.
"Uber" is German for good, but often "Scheisse" is a much better word.
It's the classic case of dispersed costs and concentrated benefits. The taxi companies push for legislation to increase their power because it makes them rich, to the average citizen the costs (time, effort, money) to fight taxis aren't worth it.
This is why markets are great - they allow consumers to vote with their dollars. I don't know anyone who would choses a taxi over uber/lyft.
Regulated markets are great. Unregulated markets are a terrible thing, and what Uber and Lyft are shooting for.
Ended up walking several miles with luggage because I couldn't get a Uber. Not a fan.
Credit cards aren't so widely accepted in Germany, that being said I was always able to get a taxi that takes credit card if necessary.
> Ended up walking several miles with luggage
I find that hard to believe in a city with such dense and extensive public transport? I lived there for 30 years and don't think I ever had to walk several miles, provided I was still within city limits. Where were you that you were without public transportation?
Contrast, when I got to Paris and London, I opened the same Uber app that I have in the USA, with the same credit card and it "just worked".
As someone who is now living in the US after the mentioned 30 years in Munich, I almost understand how looking up the basics of transportation for a brand new city escaped you, but still, you get absolute no sympathies for me.
Your argument boils down to you expecting something to be the same as what you know, not it being better. You expect a good system to get worse because of your ineptitude to navigate a non-US city.
So basically, you see the value proposition of Lyft/Uber.
Sure, anecdata, but to this day I'm wary of using taxis because the majority of taxi drivers I had were either rambling and shouting, going 80 on a 50 road, or downright driving recklessly.
Also, while I've had plenty of complaints about Uber drivers, bad driving is not one of them.
Legally speaking; they're plain cabs. They have the same fares as all other cabs, and follow all the regulations that other cabs obey. The company that owns them has also bought another cab service, Taxi Diamond, which has begun to operate in a similar manner, with a pocket computer app, and the two fleets may even share with each other. During peak hours when a Téo is unavailable, you may get a Diamond instead.
I know similar services have popped up elsewhere in the world. I don't know if Uber is directly responsible for these updates to cab services, but their existence means that it's possible to be better without having to break all existing laws. Laws which exist to protect both consumers and employees.
What is also clear is that modern taxi regulations serve much more to create a lucrative market for favored people than to protect common people, promote an economy, or increase the safety of society. The fact that a few times it got distorted into something that was actually good for everybody does not make the regulation good, it's just something that happen to anything that is widespread.
To me, Uber is a great company both as a customer and entrepreneur.
I enjoy the service. I dislike the Uber company morals.
Personally Ive tried using a local version of Uber (Gocatch) mutiple times and it's just not as good. I really dislike continually immoral behaviour of Uber and would like to support an alternate. But the service has to work and in Australia there doesn't seem to be an option. I feel this is a huge business opportunity if someone can get a competitor right. But I've never seen good marketing to pull people from Uber and it seems to be getting ever harder position to break. I think in my region the guys really missed an opportunity as Uber seem to be cleaning up their act and giving free press to competitors.
I totally agree with this statement and the one preceding it, but since when did we start (or stop) using a company's products and services based on the company (or individual CEO, founders') moral behavior?
If you did deep enough, you can find plenty of immoral behavior and moral shortcoming on almost every major company and/or CEOs, founders. Even Apple (CEO Jobs was famous for not donating even a penny to charity, being a "d*ck" to his co-workers... etc). Does that mean you stop using iphones? Or stop filling Gas because Chevron and Exxon 'don't care about the environment'?
By that notion -- judging a company or service based on moral behavior and deciding to not use them -- one cannot properly function on a day to day basis in the modern world.
Since forever. At the bottom of this comment I've linked a study saying 50% of people will change their purchasing power on a companies perceived moral.
Brand has always been a massive component of a companies value and sales driver. There's a strong reason companies publicise good acts, donations to charities etc and have been doing this since early days of the modern economy. And this is increasing important the more elastic and comparable a product/service.
>By that notion -- judging a company or service based on moral behavior and deciding to not use them -- one cannot properly function on a day to day basis in the modern world.
This feels all or nothing. People act on what they know. Or what they care about. One does not have to be fully informed to have these decisions. Nor stop using a product where you feel let down by a companies morals. Only use an alternate when a person feels the alternate is a reasonable replacement.
The study I found with a quick search. https://theamericangenius.com/business-marketing/company-eth...
For Uber the world is like a big Risk board. They invade territories all over the world and roll the dice. Some they win and some they lose, but they win more than they lose, and the more territories they hold, the more armies they get to play with next round.
Buses run on time. Every taxi I've taken here is clean. Pricing is upfront. An app exists so I can order a cab, but in the center of town, I know exactly where to find a cab if I'm out at a bar. I can also walk the 45-55 minutes home from there, but I don't always want to in winter.
I prefer a system that doesn't screw over drivers. I don't want to be rated by the driver on whether or not I'm a good passenger. It seems trivial. I want someone driving for pay to have a special driver's license endorsement.
I don't want to willingly give money to a company with a culture such as them. If I were in an area where another such service was available instead, I'd choose the one that is willing to work with lawmakers and cities instead of flagrantly avoiding them.
That's not to say that taxi service is good everywhere or doesn't need change. I'm a supporter of public transportation and wish it were expanded. I'd only take Uber if there was absolutely no other option whatsoever, though.
PS: Here in Austin, Texas we managed to ban Uber for a while because they didn't adhere to proper background check regulations. Then they lobbied some politicians to have the state of Texas change the laws. Needless to say I'm not a fan.
I know what I'm talking about, I drive, bike, and walk in this city, and I pay attention and I know the laws. And I don't know where you get that this is to make myself "feel better," because my intent is to make these cars' presence uglier for the neighborhoods in which they behave this way.
If you know the laws and see a car breaking a law, then call the police and tell them someone is breaking the law
Do you live in a city with a big gigcar presence? These incidents only last a minute, so other strategies are necessary. FWIW, they are invariably also blocking the bike lane.
Illegal, dangerous, and inconsiderste driving seems to be a general “commercial driver” thing more than just an Uber thing. They think they own the road.