5 ms·

Side note, I'm getting fed up with Uber... I'm a decent user, I use it 1-2 a week. Drivers have become worse. They used to have clean cars and were of all eth

by keyle 8y ago

Side note, I'm getting fed up with Uber... I'm a decent user, I use it 1-2 a week. Drivers have become worse. They used to have clean cars and were of all ethnicity. There also used to be a lot of women drivers. Now it's basically taxi drivers with their mate's cars. Cars are now often dirty, greasy interiors, dirty outside and bad smell. And as soon as you have a 'usual' route, or you use the app a lot, you get charged more!! It's so disgusting. I tried to book a trip to the airport for my inlaws using both my account and my wife's account. She rarely uses Uber, and hers showed a 10-15% cheaper rate. Do they think we're stupid? They targetted 'smart' people for using ride sharing as opposed to taxis, and now they try to play us. Let's not even get started about dark UX patterns. It's hard to see peak rates now, and unless you get a bad gut feeling, you wouldn't know you're currently paying more than a cab rate. What about that '3 mins away'? They're always 3 mins away for 10 minutes. Unless they fly close to a black hole it's just lies and horrific UX. The same ride I used to pay $8 for is sometimes $25-32 now. Let's be honest, if anything better came along, I wouldn't look back. At best now, my Uber rides always seem to be just about 10% cheaper than a cab. I must be at "max milking rate". (update: I went from +10 to -1 in 15 mins... I guess I touched a secret society)

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
> “Do they think we're stupid?” Yes, it seems routine and unremarkable at this point to note that Uber continues to have a frightening contempt for its users and that this has not changed in a meaningful way after the CEO swap.
ProfessorLayton 8y ago
I don't know if I'd call it disgusting, price discrimination is a well established business practice, and your comment suggests that you continue to use Uber's service despite those practices — validating the discriminatory pricing they're giving you. It is your prerogative as a consumer to check multiple car hailing apps and pick the one that suits you best.
- CydeWeys 8y ago
  I'd sooner just catch a cab than have to open up multiple different apps and compare prices all the time. I always know exactly what I'm paying with a cab, and it's no hassle.
  - askafriend 8y ago
    Cabs are: * Much lower quality cars (torn seats, smelly, old, safety issues...no one looks good showing up to a date in a Cab). * Much lower quality drivers (some smoke openly, talk on the phone loudly, don't listen to you, take longer routes than necessary, etc) * No accountability for service * No trip data for safety reasons * No handy log of all your recent trips * More expensive + tip required * Sometimes will pester you to be cash-only (even though the credit card machine works, they'll just lie to you) * Ignore the law and will refuse to give you a ride if you're going to some specific destinations where they don't want to go. I can go on and on. This is in most American cities. I will not take cabs even if they are cheaper. Cabs deserve to be eliminated as a transportation option.
    - frenchy 8y ago
      > tip required Really? I've never tipped a cab, though I rarely use them. What happens when you don't tip?
      - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
        The one time I remember that I didn't tip a cab, he swore at me, wadded up the receipt and threw it at me. This made my expense report somewhat more difficult.
    - KidComputer 8y ago
      Thanks for the ancedata, my personal ancedata for many years of living in NYC is: Cabs: * Cars regulated by state. * Usually cheaper than Uber rides (in my experience always). * Know the city like the back of their hand. * Can file a complaint directly with the state or cab company. * Accountable through a taxi license. * Won't defraud you with bogus cleaning fees. Uber: * Been in two minor car accidents due to driver switching between Waze and GMaps to find the route or just constantly fiddling with their phone. * Had an Uber driver show up in a car that looked nearly totaled. Passenger side door was nonfunctional due to damage. * Poorly maintained cars operated around the clock by operators than get virtually no sleep due to an unlivable wage. * Had a driver travel at high speeds in poor conditions while talking about how they only get a couple of hours a sleep a night and manipulating their phone. * Many drivers clearly living in their car, undergarments and clothes on front passenger seat. * Uncomfortably hit on my girlfriend 100% of the time if she is alone. * Driver complaints often ignored / go into the corporate void. This is why we don't trust ancedata.
MetalGuru 8y ago
Let's be honest, if anything better came along, I wouldn't look back. What about Lyft?
- komali2 8y ago
  Lyft is great. More expensive than Uber but none of the dark pattern bullshit. Every price I've paid had felt "fair."
  - richardwhiuk 8y ago
    Not available in most geographies for me.
- deminature 8y ago
  Doesn't exist outside the US and Toronto, so not an option for many people.
- keyle 8y ago
  Lyft is barely existing in my city. (updated: added 'MY' city)
nightfly 8y ago
Honestly what do you expect, them to keep losing money on every ride? The pricing has been a lie to kill off the competition, but they can't keep it up forever.
Analemma_ 8y ago
I hate to say I called it but... I called this years ago. Earlier in the decade, even on HN, people were raving about how much better Uber was than taxis because “the cars are so clean!”, and I kept saying, “You know this is temporary, right? And that Uber is only better in this regard because the drivers and cars are new?” Ride-hailing takes an incredible toll on cars, and with Uber pushing more costs into drivers that might otherwise be borne by the taxi company, there was no way the original standards of cleanliness would last forever. It all regresses eventually to “minimum amount of maintenance that people will still accept” and so Uber and taxis will be basically indistinguishable given a few more years. Hired cars are a commodity, after all, and this is what always happens to commodities.
- swozey 8y ago
  So long as I don't ever have to deal with a cabbie lying to me that his credit card machine doesn't work or they won't drive a short distance I will happily continue using the apps, even if the vehicles have gotten worse (most of my rides lately have been Minivans obviously bought to cab in). That still gives me a much better experience than dealing with their bullshit.
  - dschep 8y ago
    Cabbie drivers lying about their credit card machine is a moot point if your jurisdiction has a decent regulatory body. In DC if they pull that shit, I just get out with out paying as they're not abiding by the law and the dept of for hire vehicles will have my back.
    - da02 8y ago
      Right. But, people like me hate dealing with confrontation and govt offices. I would just pay with cash and go to a competing service next time (Uber, Lyft, mass transit.) If only there were startup mass transit providers in cities. Just out of curiosity, does DC limit the number of cab drivers?
    - swozey 8y ago
      Last time I had this happen (probably happened 50+ times in my life) it was in Miami and the guy didn't tell me till he got me to the mall, maybe a 5-10 min drive. I told him if he expected cash only he should've told me when I got in at the hotel and not after I pulled out my card. I hopped out and the guy left his car parked in the valet and started following and shouting at me that I need to pay him for his service through the mall. No idea how strict Miami is on this stuff but I didn't really have time to dig into regulations and make phone calls 2 hours before a wedding while I've got some asshole shouting at me and being aggressive. I remember joking to myself "great, my phones dead so I can't Lyft, bet I'll have a great cab experience." That was the last time I ever took a cab. edit: Seems pervasive; https://www.yelp.com/biz/crown-taxi-miami https://www.yelp.com/biz/crown-taxi-miami
sharpy 8y ago
Same for me. A heavy user of Uber. Lyft has always been more expensive for me in the past, but I guess they categorize me as "captive user". Lyft has been cheaper for me of late, so Uber lost me as a customer. At least for now.
tinktank 8y ago
I don't understand your comment about ethnicity. Are they all one ethnicity now?
kevstev 8y ago
> What about that '3 mins away'? They're always 3 mins away for 10 minutes. Unless they fly close to a black hole it's just lies and horrific UX. This is my personal peeve with Uber that drives me nuts. When Uber first came out, the wait was typically a bit longer, but they were honest and upfront about the wait. I had no problem with that. If the wait was 15 minutes, I might order a beer and enjoy the wait at the bar. Or if I am leaving from home, enjoy my couch as opposed to standing outside my building's lobby. I feel like they bait you now by always saying a car is 2-3 minutes away. Then that wait turns to 8, which turns into 8 minutes where the car just sits at an intersection, then it starts counting down. It infuriates me, but hearing about the rest of their business practices, I guess its not surprising. I have adjusted my behavior by not cutting whatever I was doing short until they are a block or two away, but it just makes for such a worse experience- my original pitch to my friends when Uber was new was "now you can have a beer inside the bar and let the cab come to you instead of going outside and fighting for a cab." Its definitely better, but I now feel like I am fighting with the app/algorithm...
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
You're just seeing why metered taxi rates came to be a thing in the first place. Rather than individual drivers it's the platform getting creative about distance and price.
eiaoa 8y ago
> And as soon as you have a 'usual' route, or you use the app a lot, you get charged more!! It's so disgusting. > I tried to book a trip to the airport for my inlaws using both my account and my wife's account. She rarely uses Uber, and hers showed a 10-15% cheaper rate. Do they think we're stupid? They targetted 'smart' people for using ride sharing as opposed to taxis, and now they try to play us. > Let's not even get started about dark UX patterns. It's hard to see peak rates now, and unless you get a bad gut feeling, you wouldn't know you're currently paying more than a cab rate. > ... > The same ride I used to pay $8 for is sometimes $25-32 now. Let's be honest, if anything better came along, I wouldn't look back. The world now is rediscovering the valid motivations for the old taxicab regulations that so many were claiming were holding "innovation" back. Uber's prices were so low mainly because they were using VC money to try bankrupt traditional taxi companies. Once the subsidies run out, Uber will probably at least as expensive as traditional cabs, if not more so, but with consumer-hostile pricing tricks that were once illegal.
isoskeles 8y ago
Literally got in my first Tesla taking Uber home two nights ago.

by keyle 8y ago

mlthoughts2018 8y ago

> “Do they think we're stupid?” Yes, it seems routine and unremarkable at this point to note that Uber continues to have a frightening contempt for its users and that this has not changed in a meaningful way after the CEO swap.

ProfessorLayton 8y ago

I don't know if I'd call it disgusting, price discrimination is a well established business practice, and your comment suggests that you continue to use Uber's service despite those practices — validating the discriminatory pricing they're giving you. It is your prerogative as a consumer to check multiple car hailing apps and pick the one that suits you best.

CydeWeys 8y ago
I'd sooner just catch a cab than have to open up multiple different apps and compare prices all the time. I always know exactly what I'm paying with a cab, and it's no hassle.
- askafriend 8y ago
  Cabs are: * Much lower quality cars (torn seats, smelly, old, safety issues...no one looks good showing up to a date in a Cab). * Much lower quality drivers (some smoke openly, talk on the phone loudly, don't listen to you, take longer routes than necessary, etc) * No accountability for service * No trip data for safety reasons * No handy log of all your recent trips * More expensive + tip required * Sometimes will pester you to be cash-only (even though the credit card machine works, they'll just lie to you) * Ignore the law and will refuse to give you a ride if you're going to some specific destinations where they don't want to go. I can go on and on. This is in most American cities. I will not take cabs even if they are cheaper. Cabs deserve to be eliminated as a transportation option.
  - frenchy 8y ago
    > tip required Really? I've never tipped a cab, though I rarely use them. What happens when you don't tip?
    - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
      The one time I remember that I didn't tip a cab, he swore at me, wadded up the receipt and threw it at me. This made my expense report somewhat more difficult.
  - KidComputer 8y ago
    Thanks for the ancedata, my personal ancedata for many years of living in NYC is: Cabs: * Cars regulated by state. * Usually cheaper than Uber rides (in my experience always). * Know the city like the back of their hand. * Can file a complaint directly with the state or cab company. * Accountable through a taxi license. * Won't defraud you with bogus cleaning fees. Uber: * Been in two minor car accidents due to driver switching between Waze and GMaps to find the route or just constantly fiddling with their phone. * Had an Uber driver show up in a car that looked nearly totaled. Passenger side door was nonfunctional due to damage. * Poorly maintained cars operated around the clock by operators than get virtually no sleep due to an unlivable wage. * Had a driver travel at high speeds in poor conditions while talking about how they only get a couple of hours a sleep a night and manipulating their phone. * Many drivers clearly living in their car, undergarments and clothes on front passenger seat. * Uncomfortably hit on my girlfriend 100% of the time if she is alone. * Driver complaints often ignored / go into the corporate void. This is why we don't trust ancedata.

MetalGuru 8y ago

Let's be honest, if anything better came along, I wouldn't look back. What about Lyft?

komali2 8y ago
Lyft is great. More expensive than Uber but none of the dark pattern bullshit. Every price I've paid had felt "fair."
- richardwhiuk 8y ago
  Not available in most geographies for me.
deminature 8y ago
Doesn't exist outside the US and Toronto, so not an option for many people.
keyle 8y ago
Lyft is barely existing in my city. (updated: added 'MY' city)

nightfly 8y ago

Honestly what do you expect, them to keep losing money on every ride? The pricing has been a lie to kill off the competition, but they can't keep it up forever.

Analemma_ 8y ago

I hate to say I called it but... I called this years ago. Earlier in the decade, even on HN, people were raving about how much better Uber was than taxis because “the cars are so clean!”, and I kept saying, “You know this is temporary, right? And that Uber is only better in this regard because the drivers and cars are new?” Ride-hailing takes an incredible toll on cars, and with Uber pushing more costs into drivers that might otherwise be borne by the taxi company, there was no way the original standards of cleanliness would last forever. It all regresses eventually to “minimum amount of maintenance that people will still accept” and so Uber and taxis will be basically indistinguishable given a few more years. Hired cars are a commodity, after all, and this is what always happens to commodities.

swozey 8y ago
So long as I don't ever have to deal with a cabbie lying to me that his credit card machine doesn't work or they won't drive a short distance I will happily continue using the apps, even if the vehicles have gotten worse (most of my rides lately have been Minivans obviously bought to cab in). That still gives me a much better experience than dealing with their bullshit.
- dschep 8y ago
  Cabbie drivers lying about their credit card machine is a moot point if your jurisdiction has a decent regulatory body. In DC if they pull that shit, I just get out with out paying as they're not abiding by the law and the dept of for hire vehicles will have my back.
  - da02 8y ago
    Right. But, people like me hate dealing with confrontation and govt offices. I would just pay with cash and go to a competing service next time (Uber, Lyft, mass transit.) If only there were startup mass transit providers in cities. Just out of curiosity, does DC limit the number of cab drivers?
  - swozey 8y ago
    Last time I had this happen (probably happened 50+ times in my life) it was in Miami and the guy didn't tell me till he got me to the mall, maybe a 5-10 min drive. I told him if he expected cash only he should've told me when I got in at the hotel and not after I pulled out my card. I hopped out and the guy left his car parked in the valet and started following and shouting at me that I need to pay him for his service through the mall. No idea how strict Miami is on this stuff but I didn't really have time to dig into regulations and make phone calls 2 hours before a wedding while I've got some asshole shouting at me and being aggressive. I remember joking to myself "great, my phones dead so I can't Lyft, bet I'll have a great cab experience." That was the last time I ever took a cab. edit: Seems pervasive; https://www.yelp.com/biz/crown-taxi-miami https://www.yelp.com/biz/crown-taxi-miami

sharpy 8y ago

Same for me. A heavy user of Uber. Lyft has always been more expensive for me in the past, but I guess they categorize me as "captive user". Lyft has been cheaper for me of late, so Uber lost me as a customer. At least for now.

tinktank 8y ago

I don't understand your comment about ethnicity. Are they all one ethnicity now?

kevstev 8y ago

> What about that '3 mins away'? They're always 3 mins away for 10 minutes. Unless they fly close to a black hole it's just lies and horrific UX. This is my personal peeve with Uber that drives me nuts. When Uber first came out, the wait was typically a bit longer, but they were honest and upfront about the wait. I had no problem with that. If the wait was 15 minutes, I might order a beer and enjoy the wait at the bar. Or if I am leaving from home, enjoy my couch as opposed to standing outside my building's lobby. I feel like they bait you now by always saying a car is 2-3 minutes away. Then that wait turns to 8, which turns into 8 minutes where the car just sits at an intersection, then it starts counting down. It infuriates me, but hearing about the rest of their business practices, I guess its not surprising. I have adjusted my behavior by not cutting whatever I was doing short until they are a block or two away, but it just makes for such a worse experience- my original pitch to my friends when Uber was new was "now you can have a beer inside the bar and let the cab come to you instead of going outside and fighting for a cab." Its definitely better, but I now feel like I am fighting with the app/algorithm...

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

You're just seeing why metered taxi rates came to be a thing in the first place. Rather than individual drivers it's the platform getting creative about distance and price.

eiaoa 8y ago

> And as soon as you have a 'usual' route, or you use the app a lot, you get charged more!! It's so disgusting. > I tried to book a trip to the airport for my inlaws using both my account and my wife's account. She rarely uses Uber, and hers showed a 10-15% cheaper rate. Do they think we're stupid? They targetted 'smart' people for using ride sharing as opposed to taxis, and now they try to play us. > Let's not even get started about dark UX patterns. It's hard to see peak rates now, and unless you get a bad gut feeling, you wouldn't know you're currently paying more than a cab rate. > ... > The same ride I used to pay $8 for is sometimes $25-32 now. Let's be honest, if anything better came along, I wouldn't look back. The world now is rediscovering the valid motivations for the old taxicab regulations that so many were claiming were holding "innovation" back. Uber's prices were so low mainly because they were using VC money to try bankrupt traditional taxi companies. Once the subsidies run out, Uber will probably at least as expensive as traditional cabs, if not more so, but with consumer-hostile pricing tricks that were once illegal.

isoskeles 8y ago

Literally got in my first Tesla taking Uber home two nights ago.