> "You have no idea who is picking you up" - 99% of the time this is a moot point.
> "Often times they wont even show up if you aren't at a hotel" - I've never encountered this in my entire life.
I've had cabs refuse to take me to my apartment building, saying they would only go to hotels. Others stating up front 2-3X what the meter rate would be, which of course I refuse. I've had them drive in circles, "miss" the exit to stretch out trip, and not a one seems to know where anything other than major hotels and the airport are in the city, or have GPS. Only half the time will they bother to turn the meter on. Very few will take credit cards without a fight.
Those are just some of my first hand experiences, everyone I know that uses cabs frequently in ATL has the same and/or worse stories. Cabs here basically seem to only want to ferry out of towners to and fro the airport to hotels downtown. Unsurprisingly, Uber has been a huge hit in Atlanta. You can actually get a car in 5 minutes or less some times, that's unheard of.