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Most people I know tried uber and moved back to more reliable black cabs and minicabs in London. Uber often seems to have 'ghost cars' on the map - never seem

Most people I know tried uber and moved back to more reliable black cabs and minicabs in London. Uber often seems to have 'ghost cars' on the map - never seem to be real or reachable - maybe trying to inflate the perception of availability of cars? The large number of drivers who refuse dogs, especially guide dogs for registered blind people is appalling. The London transport regulator wanted to bring uber under reasonable regulation, uber bugged their users to go and annoy the regulator to back off.

robk 10y ago
Black cabs can be truly vile, with horribly racist drivers and nasty attitudes. And I certainly wouldn't say minicabs are any more reliable than black cabs unless you're paying 2x the price of a black cab, and then your UberLuxe is probably just as reliable.
actionwords 10y ago
Well a very large percentage of Londoners aren't permitted to have contact with dogs so I think you should reconsider what you're trying to subliminally say.
austinjp 10y ago
Just a data point: this is not my experience, nor that of my many London Uber-using friends. We exclusively find it prompt, reliable, and drivers are courteous to the point that some offer to play the passenger's choice of music, give them lollies, etc. An Uber-XL will happily carry a bicycle or large amounts of luggage. And I've not once experienced an Uber driver refusing to take me anywhere. "South of the river? Not at this time of night guv". Pffff. Black cabs are now campaigning and many rally behind the slogan "the safest ride with the greatest guide" (from memory). This betrays how fundamentally they have failed to understand the trouble they're in. Safety: Uber purport to address this with registrations and reviews. (This may be fallible, but no more than black cab registration). "The greatest guide"?? Puh-lease. Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide, nor to offer their opinions on anything. Perhaps a tiny minority of tourists may feign interest for a few minutes. Perhaps. Unfortunately for black cab drivers, it seems that the current generation have sat cosily on the monopoly they inherited, and they've been caught napping. None of this is intended as an anti-black cab rant, I simply think they're failing to deal with the primary issue: the times they are a-changing. Edit: typo.
- throwaway_xx9 10y ago
  > Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide That's not just wrong, but unimaginative.
  - collyw 10y ago
    There are Taxi tours of Belfast where they show you around the sites. The guy we got made a pretty good tour guide.
    - austinjp 10y ago
      Well, passengers who are booking a tour expect a tour. So... I don't think this compares to the average cab passenger in e.g. London. But I take your point, and I was over-zealous in my previous comment.
    - grkvlt 10y ago
      Interesting. Apparently, during the 'euphemisms' the public bus service was often disrupted by terrorism or bomb threats, so sharing rides in black taxis became common in Belfast as an alternative.
  - austinjp 10y ago
    It seems I've underestimated the quality of taxi tours, and over-stated my position. Black-cab taxi tours of London are apparently very high quality [0] although I'm uncertain of how much in-demand they are. I was envisaging the passengers who book a cab to travel from A to B, not explicit tour bookings. I find it odd that cabbies are rallying behind the "safest ride with the greatest guide" slogan when Uber appear to do a reasonable job regarding background investigations [1], and the "greatest guide" is only required for a minority (I presume) of bookings. To me, it feels that black-cabs have had a monopoly on being able to pick up passengers and charge high fares. They're now being undercut by Uber, and they're fighting back by emphasising their current business model. Surely their business is suffering precisely because their operating model has failed to predict and adapt to change? [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1888678-Reviews-London_Black_Taxi_Tours-London_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d188... [1] See footnote in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-Uber-was-better-than-Londons-black-cabs.-And-then-it-all-kicked-off....html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-...
msoad 10y ago
Uber always shows fake cars on the map. To prevent fraud.
- cloudjacker 10y ago
  elaborate?
  - bitJericho 10y ago
    to "prevent" fraud.
  - msoad 10y ago
    In some places people will hail the Uber driver and bypass the app altogether.
- mcintyre1994 10y ago
  Uber have denied this (July 15) - do you have any evidence? http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-07/28/uber-cars-always-in-real-time http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-07/28/uber-cars-alw... > "It's real time analytics and the cars you see on the app are the cars driving around London," > "If we know it's going to be busy we can tell our drivers, but that doesn't affect when people open their app. There might be a ten second delay from their GPS, but it's not that you open up the app and there are three cars around you, and they're not there. That's definitely not correct." (emphasis mine)
  - vacri 10y ago
    Here is an (apparent) uber drivers forum that has the drivers themselves talking about the app having ghost cars http://uberpeople.net/threads/ghost-cars.12091/ http://uberpeople.net/threads/ghost-cars.12091/
Mvandenbergh 10y ago
Most people I know use it all the time, except if a black cab happens to be right there on the street. Worth noting that ubers in London are all licensed minicabs, it's not like some American cities where they may not be insured for commercial use.
marcosscriven 10y ago
I've found Uber to be really good in London. Black cabs cost way more, and in any case are far less likely to available to hail outside of very central areas.
DanBC 10y ago
> The large number of drivers who refuse dogs, especially guide dogs for registered blind people is appalling. It's a really bad idea for them to do that unless they have a medical exemption (which they can get for dog allergies). Disability rights activists are vigorous, and would happily book rides with their guide dogs hoping to get denied service so they can then go to court. It's an easy win for them. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783lhl http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783lhl > We also hear from Jade Sharp, who complained to Transport For London when a number of Uber drivers refused to take her and her guide dog. Five of them have been successfully prosecuted and fined. (I have no idea if this BBC Radio 4 programme about visual impairment is available outside the UK. Sorry.)
- vacri 10y ago
  You make it sound like the problem is 'litigious people with disability', rather than 'providing a service to the general public but discriminating against certain members'.
  - wnoise 10y ago
    I thought he made it sound as if 'litigious people with disability' was the solution to 'providing a service to the general public but discriminating against certain members'.

robk 10y ago

Black cabs can be truly vile, with horribly racist drivers and nasty attitudes. And I certainly wouldn't say minicabs are any more reliable than black cabs unless you're paying 2x the price of a black cab, and then your UberLuxe is probably just as reliable.

actionwords 10y ago

Well a very large percentage of Londoners aren't permitted to have contact with dogs so I think you should reconsider what you're trying to subliminally say.

austinjp 10y ago

Just a data point: this is not my experience, nor that of my many London Uber-using friends. We exclusively find it prompt, reliable, and drivers are courteous to the point that some offer to play the passenger's choice of music, give them lollies, etc. An Uber-XL will happily carry a bicycle or large amounts of luggage. And I've not once experienced an Uber driver refusing to take me anywhere. "South of the river? Not at this time of night guv". Pffff. Black cabs are now campaigning and many rally behind the slogan "the safest ride with the greatest guide" (from memory). This betrays how fundamentally they have failed to understand the trouble they're in. Safety: Uber purport to address this with registrations and reviews. (This may be fallible, but no more than black cab registration). "The greatest guide"?? Puh-lease. Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide, nor to offer their opinions on anything. Perhaps a tiny minority of tourists may feign interest for a few minutes. Perhaps. Unfortunately for black cab drivers, it seems that the current generation have sat cosily on the monopoly they inherited, and they've been caught napping. None of this is intended as an anti-black cab rant, I simply think they're failing to deal with the primary issue: the times they are a-changing. Edit: typo.

throwaway_xx9 10y ago
> Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide That's not just wrong, but unimaginative.
- collyw 10y ago
  There are Taxi tours of Belfast where they show you around the sites. The guy we got made a pretty good tour guide.
  - austinjp 10y ago
    Well, passengers who are booking a tour expect a tour. So... I don't think this compares to the average cab passenger in e.g. London. But I take your point, and I was over-zealous in my previous comment.
  - grkvlt 10y ago
    Interesting. Apparently, during the 'euphemisms' the public bus service was often disrupted by terrorism or bomb threats, so sharing rides in black taxis became common in Belfast as an alternative.
- austinjp 10y ago
  It seems I've underestimated the quality of taxi tours, and over-stated my position. Black-cab taxi tours of London are apparently very high quality [0] although I'm uncertain of how much in-demand they are. I was envisaging the passengers who book a cab to travel from A to B, not explicit tour bookings. I find it odd that cabbies are rallying behind the "safest ride with the greatest guide" slogan when Uber appear to do a reasonable job regarding background investigations [1], and the "greatest guide" is only required for a minority (I presume) of bookings. To me, it feels that black-cabs have had a monopoly on being able to pick up passengers and charge high fares. They're now being undercut by Uber, and they're fighting back by emphasising their current business model. Surely their business is suffering precisely because their operating model has failed to predict and adapt to change? [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1888678-Reviews-London_Black_Taxi_Tours-London_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d188... [1] See footnote in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-Uber-was-better-than-Londons-black-cabs.-And-then-it-all-kicked-off....html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-...

msoad 10y ago

Uber always shows fake cars on the map. To prevent fraud.

cloudjacker 10y ago
elaborate?
- bitJericho 10y ago
  to "prevent" fraud.
- msoad 10y ago
  In some places people will hail the Uber driver and bypass the app altogether.
mcintyre1994 10y ago
Uber have denied this (July 15) - do you have any evidence? http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-07/28/uber-cars-always-in-real-time http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-07/28/uber-cars-alw... > "It's real time analytics and the cars you see on the app are the cars driving around London," > "If we know it's going to be busy we can tell our drivers, but that doesn't affect when people open their app. There might be a ten second delay from their GPS, but it's not that you open up the app and there are three cars around you, and they're not there. That's definitely not correct." (emphasis mine)
- vacri 10y ago
  Here is an (apparent) uber drivers forum that has the drivers themselves talking about the app having ghost cars http://uberpeople.net/threads/ghost-cars.12091/ http://uberpeople.net/threads/ghost-cars.12091/

Mvandenbergh 10y ago

Most people I know use it all the time, except if a black cab happens to be right there on the street. Worth noting that ubers in London are all licensed minicabs, it's not like some American cities where they may not be insured for commercial use.

marcosscriven 10y ago

I've found Uber to be really good in London. Black cabs cost way more, and in any case are far less likely to available to hail outside of very central areas.

DanBC 10y ago

> The large number of drivers who refuse dogs, especially guide dogs for registered blind people is appalling. It's a really bad idea for them to do that unless they have a medical exemption (which they can get for dog allergies). Disability rights activists are vigorous, and would happily book rides with their guide dogs hoping to get denied service so they can then go to court. It's an easy win for them. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783lhl http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783lhl > We also hear from Jade Sharp, who complained to Transport For London when a number of Uber drivers refused to take her and her guide dog. Five of them have been successfully prosecuted and fined. (I have no idea if this BBC Radio 4 programme about visual impairment is available outside the UK. Sorry.)

vacri 10y ago
You make it sound like the problem is 'litigious people with disability', rather than 'providing a service to the general public but discriminating against certain members'.
- wnoise 10y ago
  I thought he made it sound as if 'litigious people with disability' was the solution to 'providing a service to the general public but discriminating against certain members'.