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I don't understand why Uber can't get their shit together. In the US they have competition from Lyft and I can almost understand why they have to push the bound

I don't understand why Uber can't get their shit together. In the US they have competition from Lyft and I can almost understand why they have to push the boundaries. In London they have very little competition and therefore don't need to engage is controversial business practices. Personally I don't see what my alternative will be if their service ceases, they have that little competition. Although I am kind of annoyed at the decision it's understandable. I hope with Kalanick out Uber will quickly become a better corporate citizen and get this license renewed. NB: I'm aware of black cabs, Hailo, etc. but none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having more than a few drinks for safety reasons.

bencollier49 9y ago
What's Lyft like here in London? I just downloaded it, much use?
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  AFAIK it isn't available in London.[1] [1] https://www.lyft.com/cities https://www.lyft.com/cities
  - dabeeeenster 9y ago
    It's not available in the UK at all.
- chairmanwow 9y ago
  Lyft is US only
gtsteve 9y ago
There's MyTaxi, Gett and Addison Lee has an app. I used to use Hailo before it became MyTaxi. It's certainly not as cost-effective but what I did like were the flat-rate rides you could get. They weren't black cabs, but more like Uber Luxes or Uber Execs and probably 20% cheaper than black cabs. With Uber gone, I'm sure the market would provide something else.
- dogma1138 9y ago
  And Kabbee which just unifies all car hires. In London Uber was the cheapest for short drives < 15-20 min for pretty much everything beyond that the reverse bid system or Kabbee provided cheaper fares.
  - gtsteve 9y ago
    Thanks, I hadn't heard of that firm. Looks like I might be needing it.
- Herald_MJ 9y ago
  Correct me if I'm wrong here: MyTaxi and Gett are solely for black cabs? This makes them a lot more expensive than private hire. Their UX is also slightly behind Uber's offering. Addison Lee are also overpriced, and are not a company I'm willing to support due to their director's comments about cyclists and public transport. One service you haven't mentioned here is Green Tomato, which have a tolerable app, but seem to have so few cars on the road that the wait time for a car is often a lot higher than Uber. Potentially this could be an opportunity for them if Uber truly do disappear from London.
  - zero_one_one 9y ago
    Addison Lee also tend to seemingly employ many drivers who drive as if they're doing their best to kill you, themselves, and any cyclists or unwary pedestrians around them. Worse still, this activity is actively encouraged by Addison Lee's own corporate policy
  - gtsteve 9y ago
    I don't know about now but Hailo (now MyTaxi) certainly used to do regular cars as well as black cabs. You could book them ahead of time and they were quite a good service. In the early days they were a lot better than Uber, which was quite unreliable in London at the time. At the time I was working late on a startup and I could be there after the last tube had gone so I just expensed a cab home.
  - 9y ago
scaryclam 9y ago
To be honest, few people here in London bother with taxis. Public transport is very good, can be faster than sitting in traffic, and is cheaper. Most folks ordering taxis either don't know where they are going, missed the last train or are wealthy enough to not care about the cost. Uber literally made no impact on the quality if life to your average Londoner and won't be missed.
- iamben 9y ago
  This seems rather subjective? Anecdotally, many of my friends and colleagues use Uber frequently, especially at night.
  - gtsteve 9y ago
    Anecdotally, my friends do as well. I used to take public transport but at the end of a night out, a cab is a lot nicer so long as it's within my price comfort point. A black cab isn't really in that comfort zone for me.
    - SamColes 9y ago
      Pre-uber I'd take the night bus, as I'm not paying £50 or £60 for a black cab from town to my home. Post uber that same journey is now less than £25 and well worth paying for to avoid the occasional horrors on the night bus.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- googleme 9y ago
  I could not disagree more - often times, especially if travelling with multiple people it is far more convenient, comfortable and can even be more affordable than taking public transport. While I agree that London has great public transport, Uber has been a game changer for myself and many people I know.
  - 9y ago
dagw 9y ago
Last time I was in the UK I tried Gett, and at least for the few rides I used it for it worked perfectly fine. Even at 2am.
Certhas 9y ago
Where does the cost saving vs black cabs come from? Is it from drivers working for less mostly (I have seen example calculations that claim that)? Then the fundamental innovation of Uber is not to make things more efficient but to eliminate labor laws, workers safe guards and unions. In my books, your convenience is not really a good argument for getting rid of those.
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  I think you've missed my point. I agree with Uber losing their license. They need to be a better corporate citizen. I think they can do that and still offer a lot of benefits.
- zimablue 9y ago
  Unions aren't a good way to set prices. Wages in each industry shouldn't be set by how hard it is to unionize them and how well they capture regulators to ban competition. We need to find a better way. Noone in London sheds a tear for black cab drivers, Uber just exposed the extent of their price fixing racket. The innovation in making it much much faster and easier to hail a cab.
geocar 9y ago
> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I disagree, and let me tell you why: https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again. > I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having more than a few drinks for safety reasons. If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London. Getting in a stranger's car who might not know how to drive (as I've noted), or worse (see below), is a terrible idea. * http://nypost.com/2017/08/18/uber-driver-accused-of-raping-woman-who-passed-out-in-back-seat/ http://nypost.com/2017/08/18/uber-driver-accused-of-raping-w... * http://q13fox.com/2017/09/21/woman-accuses-uber-driver-of-rape-suspect-pleads-not-guilty/ http://q13fox.com/2017/09/21/woman-accuses-uber-driver-of-ra... * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815554/Uber-driver-accused-trying-rape-passenger.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815554/Uber-driver-... * https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4251165/uber-driver-caught-bragging-how-he-was-tempted-to-rape-a-passenger/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4251165/uber-driver-caught-bra...
- klausjensen 9y ago
  I am not 100% sure what I am looking at in that pic... Does it show that he took a massive detour (presumably to extract more money from you)?
  - gtsteve 9y ago
    That's how I read it.
  - arjie 9y ago
    The guy took the wrong exit twice. It's less likely to be malicious than accidental. Uber will refund you your money but you lose the time. Either way, hardly an argument to get a hotel.
- gtsteve 9y ago
  This has happened to me before. I wrote to Uber's support and they recalculated the correct route and refunded me the difference. Did you try that? This sort of thing happens with black cabs outside airports from time to time but with Uber you at least have some sort of way of getting your money back.

bencollier49 9y ago

What's Lyft like here in London? I just downloaded it, much use?

k-mcgrady 9y ago
AFAIK it isn't available in London.[1] [1] https://www.lyft.com/cities https://www.lyft.com/cities
- dabeeeenster 9y ago
  It's not available in the UK at all.
chairmanwow 9y ago
Lyft is US only

gtsteve 9y ago

There's MyTaxi, Gett and Addison Lee has an app. I used to use Hailo before it became MyTaxi. It's certainly not as cost-effective but what I did like were the flat-rate rides you could get. They weren't black cabs, but more like Uber Luxes or Uber Execs and probably 20% cheaper than black cabs. With Uber gone, I'm sure the market would provide something else.

dogma1138 9y ago
And Kabbee which just unifies all car hires. In London Uber was the cheapest for short drives < 15-20 min for pretty much everything beyond that the reverse bid system or Kabbee provided cheaper fares.
- gtsteve 9y ago
  Thanks, I hadn't heard of that firm. Looks like I might be needing it.
Herald_MJ 9y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong here: MyTaxi and Gett are solely for black cabs? This makes them a lot more expensive than private hire. Their UX is also slightly behind Uber's offering. Addison Lee are also overpriced, and are not a company I'm willing to support due to their director's comments about cyclists and public transport. One service you haven't mentioned here is Green Tomato, which have a tolerable app, but seem to have so few cars on the road that the wait time for a car is often a lot higher than Uber. Potentially this could be an opportunity for them if Uber truly do disappear from London.
- zero_one_one 9y ago
  Addison Lee also tend to seemingly employ many drivers who drive as if they're doing their best to kill you, themselves, and any cyclists or unwary pedestrians around them. Worse still, this activity is actively encouraged by Addison Lee's own corporate policy
- gtsteve 9y ago
  I don't know about now but Hailo (now MyTaxi) certainly used to do regular cars as well as black cabs. You could book them ahead of time and they were quite a good service. In the early days they were a lot better than Uber, which was quite unreliable in London at the time. At the time I was working late on a startup and I could be there after the last tube had gone so I just expensed a cab home.
- 9y ago

scaryclam 9y ago

To be honest, few people here in London bother with taxis. Public transport is very good, can be faster than sitting in traffic, and is cheaper. Most folks ordering taxis either don't know where they are going, missed the last train or are wealthy enough to not care about the cost. Uber literally made no impact on the quality if life to your average Londoner and won't be missed.

iamben 9y ago
This seems rather subjective? Anecdotally, many of my friends and colleagues use Uber frequently, especially at night.
- gtsteve 9y ago
  Anecdotally, my friends do as well. I used to take public transport but at the end of a night out, a cab is a lot nicer so long as it's within my price comfort point. A black cab isn't really in that comfort zone for me.
  - SamColes 9y ago
    Pre-uber I'd take the night bus, as I'm not paying £50 or £60 for a black cab from town to my home. Post uber that same journey is now less than £25 and well worth paying for to avoid the occasional horrors on the night bus.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
googleme 9y ago
I could not disagree more - often times, especially if travelling with multiple people it is far more convenient, comfortable and can even be more affordable than taking public transport. While I agree that London has great public transport, Uber has been a game changer for myself and many people I know.
- 9y ago

dagw 9y ago

Last time I was in the UK I tried Gett, and at least for the few rides I used it for it worked perfectly fine. Even at 2am.

Certhas 9y ago

Where does the cost saving vs black cabs come from? Is it from drivers working for less mostly (I have seen example calculations that claim that)? Then the fundamental innovation of Uber is not to make things more efficient but to eliminate labor laws, workers safe guards and unions. In my books, your convenience is not really a good argument for getting rid of those.

k-mcgrady 9y ago
I think you've missed my point. I agree with Uber losing their license. They need to be a better corporate citizen. I think they can do that and still offer a lot of benefits.
zimablue 9y ago
Unions aren't a good way to set prices. Wages in each industry shouldn't be set by how hard it is to unionize them and how well they capture regulators to ban competition. We need to find a better way. Noone in London sheds a tear for black cab drivers, Uber just exposed the extent of their price fixing racket. The innovation in making it much much faster and easier to hail a cab.

geocar 9y ago

> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I disagree, and let me tell you why: https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again. > I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having more than a few drinks for safety reasons. If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London. Getting in a stranger's car who might not know how to drive (as I've noted), or worse (see below), is a terrible idea. * http://nypost.com/2017/08/18/uber-driver-accused-of-raping-woman-who-passed-out-in-back-seat/ http://nypost.com/2017/08/18/uber-driver-accused-of-raping-w... * http://q13fox.com/2017/09/21/woman-accuses-uber-driver-of-rape-suspect-pleads-not-guilty/ http://q13fox.com/2017/09/21/woman-accuses-uber-driver-of-ra... * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815554/Uber-driver-accused-trying-rape-passenger.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815554/Uber-driver-... * https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4251165/uber-driver-caught-bragging-how-he-was-tempted-to-rape-a-passenger/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4251165/uber-driver-caught-bra...

klausjensen 9y ago
I am not 100% sure what I am looking at in that pic... Does it show that he took a massive detour (presumably to extract more money from you)?
- gtsteve 9y ago
  That's how I read it.
- arjie 9y ago
  The guy took the wrong exit twice. It's less likely to be malicious than accidental. Uber will refund you your money but you lose the time. Either way, hardly an argument to get a hotel.
gtsteve 9y ago
This has happened to me before. I wrote to Uber's support and they recalculated the correct route and refunded me the difference. Did you try that? This sort of thing happens with black cabs outside airports from time to time but with Uber you at least have some sort of way of getting your money back.