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Yours seems like a fairly usual reply when either Airbnb or Uber are discussed - "it works for me". Great that it works for you. I have never had a problem wit

by collyw 9y ago

Yours seems like a fairly usual reply when either Airbnb or Uber are discussed - "it works for me". Great that it works for you. I have never had a problem with the cabs where I live (and Uber is banned) Anyway to add my anecdote as a counter to yours. I was back home in Scotland at Christmas last year. Private Cabs were all busy, so we tried an Uber wanted to charge nearly three times what the monopolistic black cabs (the ones you hail from the street) charge. My one and only experience with Uber and it didn't seem good.

baby 9y ago
Cabs are shit in most places around the world. What's great with Uber is that you will avoid that while traveling.
- themistocle 9y ago
  I traveled recently in a foreign country where I did not speak the local language. Uber allowed me to enter my destination and location without confusing the driver. I could never have done this with a traditional taxi cab.
  - thinkpad20 9y ago
    You couldn’t show them the address written down?
    - reaperducer 9y ago
      I've tried that in most countries I've been to. The results have been hit-and-miss. Japan: Works great Turkey: Nope. Thailand: Nope. France: Works, but not always well In a lot of countries, cab drivers are illiterate. And I don't mean functionally illiterate. I mean simply CAN NOT read. Not even a map. If you don't speak the language absolutely fluently, you're screwed.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      I could, but sometimes addresses are not so clear. In my experience taxi drivers like it when you can explain directions and negotiate price. Without common language for me that is quite difficult.
  - collyw 9y ago
    I have managed to take taxis in plenty of countries where I don't speak the language. Don't pretend that its something difficult.
    - Tehnix 9y ago
      Sure it's easy to take a cab. What's more tricky, is not getting scammed. E.g. in Vietnam you'll be looking about various internet sources on which taxi companies are probably not gonna scam you. In France, I had some friends getting scammed in a separate ride from mine. In general, the ability to know beforehand the price, is golden! Adding to this: in countries payment can also be a problem, trivially solved via Uber. Take e.g. when I first arrived in South Korea and took an cab from the airport (fixed rates and in cabs in Korea are nice, so not a complaint there), the taxi couldn't take my card, and I didn't have 100k won in cash (accidentally took a luxury cab), so we had to drive around to find a bank that luckily took VISA.
    - reaperducer 9y ago
      Depends on the country. Travel to a difficult country, or a rural area of pretty much any country, and get back to us.
      - collyw 9y ago
        What do you consider a "difficult" country? I used to lug a kayak around South America with me on public transport and taxis or even the back of trucks that were going the right way (while speaking the language very poorly). The biggest problem I had was getting a taxi in Hungary where the letters look the same but the pronunciation is quite different. Even then it was a case of getting a map out and pointing to the street.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      I am not sure how you were able to communicate if you could not write or speak directions, but I am impressed! I don't think it wasn't possible to do before Uber in general, just for my case.
  - Sargos 9y ago
    This is the primary reason I use Uber when traveling. It makes things so easy.
  - kbart 9y ago
    So people before Uber have never used taxis in foreign countries?/s In most countries taxis already have apps comparable to Uber available on Google Play. Even before that, I've managed to get a taxi in China without understanding a single word or symbol (could be said the same about driver and English) and successfully reach my hotel -- showing a hotel's reservation did the trick (I bet that pointing a finger on a location on a map would also work).
    - jhbadger 9y ago
      Did they really have those apps pre-Uber or did they simply adjust to compete by releasing their own app later? Nothing wrong with that, companies adjusting their model to compete, but at least where I live, cabs hadn't changed their model since the 1950s at least. Now, some of them are beginning to release apps, but they wouldn't have bothered without Uber and Lyft taking their business.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      Those are interesting techniques. In my case I was in a foreign country and did not have a map or hotel reservation. I also did not know about local taxi companies. My visit was not exactly well-planned.
      - kbart 9y ago
        If you had a phone and Internet to call Uber, you also had a map. Of course, I don't deny that it's much simpler with Uber or a taxi app, but telling that Uber is the only mean to get a taxi in a foreign country is like telling that people couldn't eat before inventing a spoon.
        themistocle 9y ago
        Yeah my intention was just to share that I found it easier. In my case the map wasn’t working. I was on a public WiFi hotspot and I didn’t know where or how to hail a cab. I’m sure it is technically possible to do without the convenience, but doing all the communication over the app in advance saved me from walking four hours in the rain and likely getting lost.
  - lightbyte 9y ago
    Counter anecdote to your anecdote: I took tons of cabs when I was visiting Colombia and I didn't know a single bit of Spanish. I'd just pull up google maps, click on where I wanted to go, show them the screen. Every single one was perfectly fine.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      Not having mobile data in my case meant that I was scrambling from public wifi to the cab. I could not use Google translate or other tools in the car. I also would have no way to negotiate price or insure that I was going the correct place. Not saying that Uber is the only way, but that for me it was helpful.
      - nbanks 9y ago
        I didn't realize that Uber worked without mobile data.
        themistocle 9y ago
        Yeah I actually used it from a public WiFi and then ran outside to meet the driver when he got close enough.
- collyw 9y ago
  I don't think thats entirely fair. They vary a lot, some places good some places bad.
w0m 9y ago
Pre-Uber, cabs near me worth horrendous. I'd book a cab to go to the bar on St Patties day a week in advance, and they'd just not show; they found someone else on the way and that maximized their profit so they grabbed that fair. So 30m after I'm supposed to be inebriated; I call company, they say they sent another, and 30m later it also never shows. One of us then bite the bullet and play DD for the night (group of 5 congregated to share the cab and hitchhike back). I think 'Cabs Suck' was pretty ubiquitous comment in many many areas of the country pre uber/lyft; it's an industry that needed to be disrupted badly.
Tloewald 9y ago
Surge pricing is actually a great feature. It’s the low base bay, lack of benefits, and screwing with liability that are loathsome. You had a choice of NO CAB or an Uber at triple rate. Didn’t want to pay? Clearly someone else did. Economics at work. One of my early experiences with Uber was much the same, trying to get my family home from the national zoo in Washington DC in a sudden rain storm. Cabs — not available. Uber — surge pricing. Totally worth it. That said I use Lyft exclusively now because of Uber’s moral vacuum.
- collyw 9y ago
  We hailed a black cab there and then, so it was quicker than Uber and a fraction of the price. (Just to clarify, the cheaper private hire cabs where you book in advance were all busy. Usually I avoid black cabs - the ones you hail on the street, as they cost way more. These expensive back cabs were still less than half of the price of Uber).
  - malandrew 9y ago
    If TNCs didn't exist, then almost all the black cabs would have been in use and you would have been back with "no black cab" as an option. The only reason it's now easy to hail a vehicle on the street is increased competition from TNCs.
    - collyw 9y ago
      It was never difficult to hail a black cab, its just the costs were high.
- Asooka 9y ago
  I prefer waiting longer for a cab to be available, than only rich people taking cabs. With uber at a triple rate, I have to wait longer on average for the fare to go down, than to catch a free cab by chance when the fare stays flat.
- alistairSH 9y ago
  a choice of NO CAB or an Uber That's not what he said. Private-hire taxis are not the same as "black cabs". The first is more like what we'd call a car service in the US (call and schedule in advance). The second is what we know as a yellow cab (hail on the street).

by collyw 9y ago

baby 9y ago

Cabs are shit in most places around the world. What's great with Uber is that you will avoid that while traveling.

themistocle 9y ago
I traveled recently in a foreign country where I did not speak the local language. Uber allowed me to enter my destination and location without confusing the driver. I could never have done this with a traditional taxi cab.
- thinkpad20 9y ago
  You couldn’t show them the address written down?
  - reaperducer 9y ago
    I've tried that in most countries I've been to. The results have been hit-and-miss. Japan: Works great Turkey: Nope. Thailand: Nope. France: Works, but not always well In a lot of countries, cab drivers are illiterate. And I don't mean functionally illiterate. I mean simply CAN NOT read. Not even a map. If you don't speak the language absolutely fluently, you're screwed.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    I could, but sometimes addresses are not so clear. In my experience taxi drivers like it when you can explain directions and negotiate price. Without common language for me that is quite difficult.
- collyw 9y ago
  I have managed to take taxis in plenty of countries where I don't speak the language. Don't pretend that its something difficult.
  - Tehnix 9y ago
    Sure it's easy to take a cab. What's more tricky, is not getting scammed. E.g. in Vietnam you'll be looking about various internet sources on which taxi companies are probably not gonna scam you. In France, I had some friends getting scammed in a separate ride from mine. In general, the ability to know beforehand the price, is golden! Adding to this: in countries payment can also be a problem, trivially solved via Uber. Take e.g. when I first arrived in South Korea and took an cab from the airport (fixed rates and in cabs in Korea are nice, so not a complaint there), the taxi couldn't take my card, and I didn't have 100k won in cash (accidentally took a luxury cab), so we had to drive around to find a bank that luckily took VISA.
  - reaperducer 9y ago
    Depends on the country. Travel to a difficult country, or a rural area of pretty much any country, and get back to us.
    - collyw 9y ago
      What do you consider a "difficult" country? I used to lug a kayak around South America with me on public transport and taxis or even the back of trucks that were going the right way (while speaking the language very poorly). The biggest problem I had was getting a taxi in Hungary where the letters look the same but the pronunciation is quite different. Even then it was a case of getting a map out and pointing to the street.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    I am not sure how you were able to communicate if you could not write or speak directions, but I am impressed! I don't think it wasn't possible to do before Uber in general, just for my case.
- Sargos 9y ago
  This is the primary reason I use Uber when traveling. It makes things so easy.
- kbart 9y ago
  So people before Uber have never used taxis in foreign countries?/s In most countries taxis already have apps comparable to Uber available on Google Play. Even before that, I've managed to get a taxi in China without understanding a single word or symbol (could be said the same about driver and English) and successfully reach my hotel -- showing a hotel's reservation did the trick (I bet that pointing a finger on a location on a map would also work).
  - jhbadger 9y ago
    Did they really have those apps pre-Uber or did they simply adjust to compete by releasing their own app later? Nothing wrong with that, companies adjusting their model to compete, but at least where I live, cabs hadn't changed their model since the 1950s at least. Now, some of them are beginning to release apps, but they wouldn't have bothered without Uber and Lyft taking their business.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    Those are interesting techniques. In my case I was in a foreign country and did not have a map or hotel reservation. I also did not know about local taxi companies. My visit was not exactly well-planned.
    - kbart 9y ago
      If you had a phone and Internet to call Uber, you also had a map. Of course, I don't deny that it's much simpler with Uber or a taxi app, but telling that Uber is the only mean to get a taxi in a foreign country is like telling that people couldn't eat before inventing a spoon.
      - themistocle 9y ago
        Yeah my intention was just to share that I found it easier. In my case the map wasn’t working. I was on a public WiFi hotspot and I didn’t know where or how to hail a cab. I’m sure it is technically possible to do without the convenience, but doing all the communication over the app in advance saved me from walking four hours in the rain and likely getting lost.
- lightbyte 9y ago
  Counter anecdote to your anecdote: I took tons of cabs when I was visiting Colombia and I didn't know a single bit of Spanish. I'd just pull up google maps, click on where I wanted to go, show them the screen. Every single one was perfectly fine.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    Not having mobile data in my case meant that I was scrambling from public wifi to the cab. I could not use Google translate or other tools in the car. I also would have no way to negotiate price or insure that I was going the correct place. Not saying that Uber is the only way, but that for me it was helpful.
    - nbanks 9y ago
      I didn't realize that Uber worked without mobile data.
      - themistocle 9y ago
        Yeah I actually used it from a public WiFi and then ran outside to meet the driver when he got close enough.
collyw 9y ago
I don't think thats entirely fair. They vary a lot, some places good some places bad.

w0m 9y ago

Pre-Uber, cabs near me worth horrendous. I'd book a cab to go to the bar on St Patties day a week in advance, and they'd just not show; they found someone else on the way and that maximized their profit so they grabbed that fair. So 30m after I'm supposed to be inebriated; I call company, they say they sent another, and 30m later it also never shows. One of us then bite the bullet and play DD for the night (group of 5 congregated to share the cab and hitchhike back). I think 'Cabs Suck' was pretty ubiquitous comment in many many areas of the country pre uber/lyft; it's an industry that needed to be disrupted badly.

Tloewald 9y ago

Surge pricing is actually a great feature. It’s the low base bay, lack of benefits, and screwing with liability that are loathsome. You had a choice of NO CAB or an Uber at triple rate. Didn’t want to pay? Clearly someone else did. Economics at work. One of my early experiences with Uber was much the same, trying to get my family home from the national zoo in Washington DC in a sudden rain storm. Cabs — not available. Uber — surge pricing. Totally worth it. That said I use Lyft exclusively now because of Uber’s moral vacuum.

collyw 9y ago
We hailed a black cab there and then, so it was quicker than Uber and a fraction of the price. (Just to clarify, the cheaper private hire cabs where you book in advance were all busy. Usually I avoid black cabs - the ones you hail on the street, as they cost way more. These expensive back cabs were still less than half of the price of Uber).
- malandrew 9y ago
  If TNCs didn't exist, then almost all the black cabs would have been in use and you would have been back with "no black cab" as an option. The only reason it's now easy to hail a vehicle on the street is increased competition from TNCs.
  - collyw 9y ago
    It was never difficult to hail a black cab, its just the costs were high.
Asooka 9y ago
I prefer waiting longer for a cab to be available, than only rich people taking cabs. With uber at a triple rate, I have to wait longer on average for the fare to go down, than to catch a free cab by chance when the fare stays flat.
alistairSH 9y ago
a choice of NO CAB or an Uber That's not what he said. Private-hire taxis are not the same as "black cabs". The first is more like what we'd call a car service in the US (call and schedule in advance). The second is what we know as a yellow cab (hail on the street).