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Comment by mhuffman | Hacker News Reader

>Uber would consistently lie about the availability of a WAV vehicle

Uber lies about the availability of all vehicles, I think! I live in a town where there are no Uber drivers, but if you open up the app it will show 3 available with times and prices and even let you book one! Of course it doesn't exist and they will never show up. I am not sure why they do this other then to look like they have coverage to shareholders or something.

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Not defending the practice (which feels so dishonest) but it's a chicken and the egg thing of their on demand drivers system.

I know there are drivers who basically sit at home and check the current rates and when it's "worth it" to them they walk out and jump in the car and do a few rides.

That wouldn't happen if people were looking in the app seeing no drivers and not putting in that they needed a ride.

On the other hand, actually having at least one real driver would a) allow that driver to make bank by being basically a monopoly, until b) other real drivers saw this and entered the market making everything kosher.

A monopoly with a TAM of $0 doesn't seem terribly interesting to me

I was under the impression that the drivers had some input into what they would be willing to drive for and competition would do the rest. But if Uber has internal caps, that would make critical mass impossible in smaller towns.

No because Uber's reimbursement for their drivers is so low that most lose money once expenses get factored in. This is because I er looks at drivers as an expense and have consistently cut rates over time.

That is a good point, I was under the impression that the drivers had some input into what they would be willing to drive for and competition would do the rest. But if Uber has internal caps, that would make some small towns just untenable.

This is true, but while that is annoying for an able bodied individual, it can be a crisis for someone who is not. The one time I successfully called an Uber WAV only to have it be a crazy long wait, I canceled not because of the annoying wait because by then I had no faith that I would ever be able to hail a ride back, and I was trying to get to an area with steep hills in every direction.

Agreed, I also live in a location with effectively no drivers and I have the same experience. I'd say based on that, the claim that it is specific to WAV is not the case.

That bit me the other day. Had an emergency and needed to grab a ride, and uber listed a few cars with ~10-15min wait. 2hrs later nothing.

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