Hacker News Reader

Comment by dahdum | Hacker News Reader

Did you take many taxis before Uber/Lyft? It was an adversarial relationship - your taxi driver would try their very best (they practice every day!) to rip you off any which way they can. Their lobby stopped any competition or reform, and they exploited the most vulnerable.

I have no sympathy at all for the taxi cartels - only their victims.

View on HN

I did take taxis in Melbourne and Sydney before and after the arrival of Uber. I never had any issues with any taxi drivers, except one racist arsehole in Townsville.

Hah. Australian ex-pat living in Seattle. Took my girlfriend and her daughter to Australia to catch up with my family, etc. We did Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne. Hell, even with Uber... multiple pretty openly racist drivers in Cairns (I am extremely left wing, but my partner and friends like to tease that I could pass for a 'good old boy', so too many people feel comfortable just erupting in tirades and assuming I'll be in agreement).

Actually, in CNS, the most common problem was cancelations with Uber. Of maybe a dozen or more Uber trips I took in 4 days there, only one or two didn't have any cancelations. Usually it required one or even more cancelations before a driver would actually "commit".

I used to get the opposite problem using GoCatch to call taxis to the airport in the morning. They were so keen for my business they would often call me up to confirm they were on the way. I had no desire for a phone call at like 5.30am...

I did - this doesn't match my experience at all.

IME, Uber is universally sketchy, whereas cab company/cartel sketchiness varies by city.

"Their lobby stopped any competition or reform, and they exploited the most vulnerable." applies to both Uber and cab cartels.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com