I’m pretty sure a taxi ran over Bill’s dog and stole his wallet once. And then a cabbie kicked him in the shins.
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I’ll use Lyft or taxi companies will, you know, join the 21st century?
I get it. You drive a taxi. You love taxis.
I don’t have anything against you but I don’t call a cab these days when I want a ride. I don’t have the time to wait and hope they show up. I just call uber.
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Right. And what do you do when it’s 2AM on New Year’s Eve and all the bars let out and you can’t get a taxi because there’s not enough supply to meet the demand? You walk. I don’t know if Uber’s surge pricing actually does get more drivers out on the road during high demand times… But that’s the supposed theory behind why they do it (I assume it definitely reduces demand, which is another reason that they claim for using it). I guess a handy experiment would be to see what happens to the number of drivers on the road if they DON’T use surge pricing during a high demand time.
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We are totally in favor of breaking down corporate monopolies, empowering individuals and disrupting existing old-school industries until it impacts getting our drunk on. We also are disgusted by the practices of Disney Corporate, which makes us cry ourselves to sleep when we get our inevitable gender-inclusive Disney hard-on.
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I’d kick a dog in the shins, but I draw the line at stealing his wallet. A dog’s gotta eat!
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There is no mention in the BB article of any failure on the part of the Uber app and the customer never mentioned any of the things that you report. If there is a broader, Uber fucked up New Year’s Eve pricing worldwide story, THAT would be a big deal. This is a drunk person unhappy about throwing away his money. FWIW - I assume that legally the uber payment contract is entered into when installing the app and registering a credit card. If drunk people can’t enter into an agreement to pay for transit services I guess we’ll have to revert to good old drunk driving to get home.
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My normal ride is $30. I knew I’d be paying 9X more for THAT, but had no idea that the additional 40 fucking miles would cost anything at all? That’s REALLY the guys defense? He had a driver with 9X surge pricing take him for more than half a lap around Edmonton on NY eve.
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Are you preemptively giving me shit over an issue I’ve yet to actually mention? Dude…cmon…
“Imposed regulation” versus “no regulation” represents a false dichotomy. There is another option, “self-regulation” aka self-discipline, which is preferable in pretty much every possible scenario.
FWIW I would never agree to surge pricing, because they are not providing 8.9 (or whatever) times the service.
I’ve taken Uber a few times, also Lyft. Also taxis. And offering a post-ride relief, via the email with the map, etc., is fine, but mainly useful if you have a quiet life (no kids/parents/family) and lots of time to go over that sort of thing. As much as I love the convenience of the app, as opposed to calling a cab company and dealing with their heavily-accented receptionist (why is that always the case?), I also like the consistency of cab fares. I understand the rationale behind surge pricing, but I find it annoying having to shop around for transportation. Check Uber, check Lyft, check taxis… Matter of taste. I’m from NY, and I like the “hail and forget” system.
Not the topic of this article, but there’s also a cultural divide. Younger people I know prefer ride-shares not just because it’s hideously awkward for them to call someone up on the phone (tempora/mores etc), but they like that the Uber driver is more likely to be a person just like them, as opposed to an immigrant, who makes them uneasy with their funny accents and all…
Another cultural/generational difference is that some younger people I know would HATE to have a meter - they prefer the fantasy that it’s a buddy giving you a ride. I find that bizarre, but that’s the nature of cultural/generational differences.
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I am the uber-shit-giver, pre-emptively giving and taking shit from those worthy and unworthy.
Which of those are you?
btw – since your avatar is a dog, and your 'nym includes the word “pants”, where do you stand on the “dog-pants” controversy? Two legs, or four-legs?
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Except for those scenarios that involve large groups of people who, statistically, contain a non-insignificant number of those who lack self-regulation.
But, when dealing with a perfectly spherical cow in an ideal market filled with well-informed, rational actors – yes.
Isn’t that the point of raising prices when demand is high and supply is low? Service providers are incentivized to enter the market (driving down the [surge] price) and actors are enabled to accept only the services they believe provides them with an equivalent utility for their barter good (“money” for most of us).
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Obviously I am extra worthy, uber worthy if you will.
And dogs pants are dumb. Dog hoodies on the other hand are excellent.
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It’s hard to argue with that!
Quick, buy 'em while you can! Surge-prices hit soon!
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Not possible for Uber to have a monopoly unless they bribe their way into one the same way the traditional taxi companies have.
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My standard tends to be ‘effective’, not ‘positive’. I’ve never had a positive subway or coach bus experience. I’ve had a grat time in a limo, but that was many times as expensive - but just as effective.
My one uber experience involved a 4-seat car coming to pick up six of us, and watching him circle the block repeatedly but never quite make it to where we were… so we went to him… that was 20 minutes in the cold.
Me and another guy walked 10 feet away , hailed a cab, and beat them to the hotel by 20 minutes and for 5 bucks cheaper.
YMMV.
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And there’s nothing wrong with that. I was just pointing out the fact that people complaining about being over charged by a unregulated business is silly. If you’re on a budget call a taxi and be patient, if money’s not a concern take an Uber. I’m completely for a free market, the playing field could be more level but hey, it is what it is.
Also I’d like to add that I actually sold my small business recently and am no longer in the transportation industry, so I don’t have a dog in this fight. And no it wasn’t because of Uber or Lyft taking my market share (I was running airport shuttles).
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Why isn’t it? They have $50B in the war chest. They can undercut the competition until the cows come home. In my experience most cabbies I knew/know quit the taxi gig and signed up to Uber and Lyft becausee that’s where the customer base is.
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Remember this happened in Edmonton, though. Walking around Edmonton for hours on New Year’s Eve is a good way to die of cold. It’s been -20C for the daytime high. So walking isn’t a real option.
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