7 ms·

How is it a scam? It gave me a ride to the airport for $26 bucks. I took a cab once and it cost over $50 bucks. My need some tweaks here and therem but overall

by 1undo 9y ago

How is it a scam? It gave me a ride to the airport for $26 bucks. I took a cab once and it cost over $50 bucks. My need some tweaks here and therem but overall its a great service for customers

toomuchtodo 9y ago
The rates Uber charges are unsustainable, funded with VC money and underpaying drivers, hence posters comment that Uber is a scam. Uber’s play is to wait out taxis going out of business and then charge you $50.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Because they think no one else can write apps..? Kalanick may be an asshole, but I don't think he's stupid.
unreal37 9y ago
The difference, the $24, comes out of driver's pockets. And also, Uber loses money on every ride. That $26 ride to the airport cost Uber $30. :)
marenkay 9y ago
The missing $24 were health insurance, car insurance, pension payments for the driver etc. All not being paid. Uber is no ride share service, it is a test project to figure out if modern society will accept a larger lower income working class without any social security, and that is what all investment firms bet on.
- Tiktaalik 9y ago
  Additionally taxis are regulated so as to create a reasonably universally publicly accessible transportation system. That is that you can call a cab and it will pick you up and you will have an understanding of the price you will pay. In an Uber/Lyft ride hailing system cabs can only be hailed via an app, and will only accept the most profitable rides. Surge pricing may also make the ride only affordable to the relatively wealthy. In such a system, low income persons in relatively remote areas lose transportation options. Part of the extra price of cabs is the price of creating a transportation system that is accessible to everyone, not just the most wealthy.
  - iopq 9y ago
    Uber and Lyft actually succeeded in creating an accessible system that everyone could afford. You have it all backwards. The common person can actually afford Uber, not cabs.
    - Tiktaalik 9y ago
      Many elderly people are no longer able to drive and aren't technically comfortable with using mobile phones. App based ride hailing dominance reduces accessibility.
      - astrange 9y ago
        A button that calls you an Uber is as easy to build as a button that calls the taxi dispatcher for you, but I don’t think the elderly appreciate the taxi experience of demanding cash because they’re pretending the card reader broke. (You can already get a voice assistant to book a ride for you too.)
        marenkay 9y ago
        Ask your grandma etc if they would use that. Anyone above 50 these days will probably not give you a nice answer to having to use smartphones or voice assistants that usually understand less than a newborn child.
        brucephillips 9y ago
        You've never met a newborn child.
        marenkay 9y ago
        Happen to have a grown up child. Duh.
        9y ago
- iopq 9y ago
  The driver uses that money to pay for his own health insurance and retirement. Contrary to your post, Uber provided me with commercial vehicle insurance when I was driving for them.
  - marenkay 9y ago
    That is the problem here. Employed work means sharing the duties of social security between company and employee. Uber moves their payments on your shoulders. And that point is exactly what makes up Ubers' valuation. Ignoring the questionable ethics of that this should be reconsidered though because comparing to the technical value of their service they are requiring way too many engineers to deliver their services, which is a considerable risk if they grow any further.
    - iopq 9y ago
      There is no duty for a company to provide social security for contractors. Same way as an Uber contractor has no responsibility to drive a certain amount of time or at certain hours.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > The missing $24 were health insurance, car insurance, pension payments for the driver etc. Car insurance, maybe; car companies don't pay health insurance or pensions either for their drivers, who are also characterized as contractors rather than employees.
  - marenkay 9y ago
    That depends on the country. In Europe transportation is regulated, and fees are higher and also arrive at the drivers, since they actually have pensions etc. Meaning Uber eliminates basically the most prominent achievement of the working class with its service. Turning everyone into an independent contractor eliminates social security. Swiftly.
  - gaius 9y ago
    Nope, they are employees http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386 Still waiting on the Inland Revenue to collect all that back NI tho’...
  - acchow 9y ago
    Most of them do some driving on the side to supplement their income.

by 1undo 9y ago

How is it a scam? It gave me a ride to the airport for $26 bucks. I took a cab once and it cost over $50 bucks. My need some tweaks here and therem but overall its a great service for customers

toomuchtodo 9y ago

The rates Uber charges are unsustainable, funded with VC money and underpaying drivers, hence posters comment that Uber is a scam. Uber’s play is to wait out taxis going out of business and then charge you $50.

icebraining 9y ago
Because they think no one else can write apps..? Kalanick may be an asshole, but I don't think he's stupid.

unreal37 9y ago

The difference, the $24, comes out of driver's pockets. And also, Uber loses money on every ride. That $26 ride to the airport cost Uber $30. :)

marenkay 9y ago

The missing $24 were health insurance, car insurance, pension payments for the driver etc. All not being paid. Uber is no ride share service, it is a test project to figure out if modern society will accept a larger lower income working class without any social security, and that is what all investment firms bet on.

Tiktaalik 9y ago
Additionally taxis are regulated so as to create a reasonably universally publicly accessible transportation system. That is that you can call a cab and it will pick you up and you will have an understanding of the price you will pay. In an Uber/Lyft ride hailing system cabs can only be hailed via an app, and will only accept the most profitable rides. Surge pricing may also make the ride only affordable to the relatively wealthy. In such a system, low income persons in relatively remote areas lose transportation options. Part of the extra price of cabs is the price of creating a transportation system that is accessible to everyone, not just the most wealthy.
- iopq 9y ago
  Uber and Lyft actually succeeded in creating an accessible system that everyone could afford. You have it all backwards. The common person can actually afford Uber, not cabs.
  - Tiktaalik 9y ago
    Many elderly people are no longer able to drive and aren't technically comfortable with using mobile phones. App based ride hailing dominance reduces accessibility.
    - astrange 9y ago
      A button that calls you an Uber is as easy to build as a button that calls the taxi dispatcher for you, but I don’t think the elderly appreciate the taxi experience of demanding cash because they’re pretending the card reader broke. (You can already get a voice assistant to book a ride for you too.)
      - marenkay 9y ago
        Ask your grandma etc if they would use that. Anyone above 50 these days will probably not give you a nice answer to having to use smartphones or voice assistants that usually understand less than a newborn child.
        brucephillips 9y ago
        You've never met a newborn child.
        marenkay 9y ago
        Happen to have a grown up child. Duh.
        9y ago
iopq 9y ago
The driver uses that money to pay for his own health insurance and retirement. Contrary to your post, Uber provided me with commercial vehicle insurance when I was driving for them.
- marenkay 9y ago
  That is the problem here. Employed work means sharing the duties of social security between company and employee. Uber moves their payments on your shoulders. And that point is exactly what makes up Ubers' valuation. Ignoring the questionable ethics of that this should be reconsidered though because comparing to the technical value of their service they are requiring way too many engineers to deliver their services, which is a considerable risk if they grow any further.
  - iopq 9y ago
    There is no duty for a company to provide social security for contractors. Same way as an Uber contractor has no responsibility to drive a certain amount of time or at certain hours.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> The missing $24 were health insurance, car insurance, pension payments for the driver etc. Car insurance, maybe; car companies don't pay health insurance or pensions either for their drivers, who are also characterized as contractors rather than employees.
- marenkay 9y ago
  That depends on the country. In Europe transportation is regulated, and fees are higher and also arrive at the drivers, since they actually have pensions etc. Meaning Uber eliminates basically the most prominent achievement of the working class with its service. Turning everyone into an independent contractor eliminates social security. Swiftly.
- gaius 9y ago
  Nope, they are employees http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386 Still waiting on the Inland Revenue to collect all that back NI tho’...
- acchow 9y ago
  Most of them do some driving on the side to supplement their income.