Even travelling through Europe I’ve been refused a ride because it was too short, and got overcharged by 2-3x once. I’d use Uber at this point even if it’s more expensive than a taxi.
Since Uber, granted, they’ve massively improved. But take it away and, of course, the incentive structure guarantees one outcome.
There really are no “legitimate taxicab companies” in Toronto.
You have dispatching companies and companies that rent out cars with branding to drivers, but they’re all independent contractors.
In theory a dispatching/car providing company could boot a contractor off of its system, but it’s a fine line for them where they’ve taken fewer risks on this than Uber, because they absolutely do not want to be considered employers.
Even if you haven’t encountered the “card not working, cash only”, I’m surprised you never encountered the “right too short”/“don’t want to go there” refusal.
Instead I get Uber drivers who refuse to come to my pickup spot and drive around in circles hoping I’ll cancel the trip first so they can still get paid something.
Wouldn't you just respond "Sorry, no cash!" and walk away? It's literally true for me - I rarely have more than $10 cash on hand, because I never need it.
I’ll stand for a half hour in the rain before I take another Toronto cab.