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More than once I had a SuperShuttle driver tell me their credit card machine wasn't working. When I told them I didn't have cash, they'd insist we stop at the A

More than once I had a SuperShuttle driver tell me their credit card machine wasn't working. When I told them I didn't have cash, they'd insist we stop at the ATM on the way home. When I pointed out that the website where I booked plus the outside of the actual van we were in said they accept Visa, they'd really get in a huff. Always magically had paper credit card slips, though. Some of them really sounded vaguely threatening, with the Always Sunny style implication that I needed them to get home. Lucky for me I'm a reasonably large guy and could've just called a cab if needed - I'm sure their shtick worked on a lot of foreign travelers and people who felt intimidated or wanted to avoid confrontation. For all the hate that Uber gets, I'll always appreciate them for being the first mode of transportation where you have some form of recourse against your driver via ratings/complaints, so the driver has an incentive not to be a total scumbag.

legohead 7y ago
I took my first SuperShuttle on my last conference trip to SF. I didn't talk about payment until I was already at destination, at which point he told me he didn't have a machine. I thought it odd, and just gave him cash. He told me $19 even though the guy at the airport told me $18. Gave him a $20 and went on my way. Also the ride was very odd. The guy mentioned how he wished he could drive a tank, and even had tank models in the shuttle. And he drove very aggressively and angrily. I couldn't help but thinking he was in the wrong business...
- awillen 7y ago
  Yeah, the drivers always tended to be a little off... I had one guy run up on the curb while he was looking at his phone, and he yelled when I told him to get off of it. That was the last one I took. I had another one where the driver got into a shouting match with a customer he dropped off because they didn't tip - at least SS gave me a refund on that one. I think the reality is that it was a very low-cost franchise, so you'd get people who weren't the kind that could manage normal office jobs but could scrape together 20k.
- Jamwinner 7y ago
  Nobody is in the right business. There arent exactly lines to become shuttle drivers for dismissive people who assume malice when the damn machine is a POS.
  - awillen 7y ago
    When someone in that industry tells me the machine is broken, I presume they're being dishonest because it benefits them (they avoid fees and presumably tax reporting to the income) and I've seen too many cabs have their machines magically working if you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid. Also, if the machine actually isn't working, they always used to have paper slips to make CC charges. Those are never mentioned unless you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid. Dishonesty by omission is very much still dishonesty, and telling someone that the CC machine is broken implies that they can't accept CCs at all.

legohead 7y ago

I took my first SuperShuttle on my last conference trip to SF. I didn't talk about payment until I was already at destination, at which point he told me he didn't have a machine. I thought it odd, and just gave him cash. He told me $19 even though the guy at the airport told me $18. Gave him a $20 and went on my way. Also the ride was very odd. The guy mentioned how he wished he could drive a tank, and even had tank models in the shuttle. And he drove very aggressively and angrily. I couldn't help but thinking he was in the wrong business...

awillen 7y ago
Yeah, the drivers always tended to be a little off... I had one guy run up on the curb while he was looking at his phone, and he yelled when I told him to get off of it. That was the last one I took. I had another one where the driver got into a shouting match with a customer he dropped off because they didn't tip - at least SS gave me a refund on that one. I think the reality is that it was a very low-cost franchise, so you'd get people who weren't the kind that could manage normal office jobs but could scrape together 20k.
Jamwinner 7y ago
Nobody is in the right business. There arent exactly lines to become shuttle drivers for dismissive people who assume malice when the damn machine is a POS.
- awillen 7y ago
  When someone in that industry tells me the machine is broken, I presume they're being dishonest because it benefits them (they avoid fees and presumably tax reporting to the income) and I've seen too many cabs have their machines magically working if you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid. Also, if the machine actually isn't working, they always used to have paper slips to make CC charges. Those are never mentioned unless you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid. Dishonesty by omission is very much still dishonesty, and telling someone that the CC machine is broken implies that they can't accept CCs at all.