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WHAT sustainably priced competitors? Taxis? Great. Back to running up the meter, ignoring me when it rains, and have mercy if you are disabled or have a dog. Ta

WHAT sustainably priced competitors? Taxis? Great. Back to running up the meter, ignoring me when it rains, and have mercy if you are disabled or have a dog. Taxis are what created Uber. When regulators run Uber out of business it’s back to Taxis.

ceejayoz 5y ago
As an example, there's a meal app called ChowFun that charges restaurants a monthly fixed service fee instead of UberEats/Grubhub's abusive 30% commissions. It's just as user-friendly and I don't feel like shit for using it. There's room for a sustainable middle ground, IMO.
- jquery 5y ago
  What makes you assume ChowFun is a sustainable and scalable business model? How do you know Uber's 30% commissions haven't changed significantly since you last read about them? What makes you so sure Uber isn't constantly trying to innovate in that space to create the most sustainable business possible? That would align the users and and the stockholders, so I'd be surprised if they were pursuing anything so short term as "abusive 30% commissions" (which maybe were just a quick bootstrap idea).
asdff 5y ago
What is ironic is I've had uber drivers do just about all of that in recent history. Want to go to the airport? The 15 drivers circling nearby on the map ignore you since its too long of a drive, the one driver going the opposite direction on the freeway 10 miles away from you snipes your ride, and now you wait 25 minutes for them to circle almost blindly around the city and hope they don't cancel on you and make you have to repeat the entire process while trying to make a flight on time. Then airport rides are apparently special and now cost $80.
- kelnos 5y ago
  Just as counterpoint, I've gone to and from the airport (SF<->SFO) four times in the past month, and each time I got a car within the normal amount of time I'd expect.
  - asdff 5y ago
    Service for these sorts of companies always seems to be best in their flagship market of SF. In LA county its been hell for over a year now.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
  > Want to go to the airport? The 15 drivers circling nearby on the map ignore you since its too long of a drive I've seen cherry-picking by taxi drivers. Do Uber drivers even get to see the destination before they accept?
alkonaut 5y ago
> Back to running up the meter, ignoring me when it rains, and have mercy if you are disabled or have a dog. Why is this argument always coming up? "Uber does good stuff because the competition (taxis) suck"? If there is a good taxi market, then there are excellent taxi companies. I book one on an app, I see where it is, I pay in the app. I did for a decade. What's the problem? The problem is that there was a medallion system in some cities, that make taxis suck. The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. To Judge the profitability of Uber, look at how it does in every citi where there is good competition. Because any city can do that, with the flip of a switch. Just deregulate taxis and Uber is a taxi company among others.
- kelnos 5y ago
  > The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. And yet it turns out that was the solution for many cities. Because otherwise I didn't see those bad medallion systems changing.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
  > The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. Why is that "obvious"? A lot of our society functions because rules get ignored where necessary.
  - alkonaut 5y ago
    The solution to the problem of a company operating outside the (spirit) of the law is usually adjusting the law (clarifying, removing), or cracking down on the violation. That is progress regardless. Just accepting the status quo is pretty strange though. But new labor regulations etc have already been added in some of the markets.

ceejayoz 5y ago

As an example, there's a meal app called ChowFun that charges restaurants a monthly fixed service fee instead of UberEats/Grubhub's abusive 30% commissions. It's just as user-friendly and I don't feel like shit for using it. There's room for a sustainable middle ground, IMO.

jquery 5y ago
What makes you assume ChowFun is a sustainable and scalable business model? How do you know Uber's 30% commissions haven't changed significantly since you last read about them? What makes you so sure Uber isn't constantly trying to innovate in that space to create the most sustainable business possible? That would align the users and and the stockholders, so I'd be surprised if they were pursuing anything so short term as "abusive 30% commissions" (which maybe were just a quick bootstrap idea).

asdff 5y ago

What is ironic is I've had uber drivers do just about all of that in recent history. Want to go to the airport? The 15 drivers circling nearby on the map ignore you since its too long of a drive, the one driver going the opposite direction on the freeway 10 miles away from you snipes your ride, and now you wait 25 minutes for them to circle almost blindly around the city and hope they don't cancel on you and make you have to repeat the entire process while trying to make a flight on time. Then airport rides are apparently special and now cost $80.

kelnos 5y ago
Just as counterpoint, I've gone to and from the airport (SF<->SFO) four times in the past month, and each time I got a car within the normal amount of time I'd expect.
- asdff 5y ago
  Service for these sorts of companies always seems to be best in their flagship market of SF. In LA county its been hell for over a year now.
tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
> Want to go to the airport? The 15 drivers circling nearby on the map ignore you since its too long of a drive I've seen cherry-picking by taxi drivers. Do Uber drivers even get to see the destination before they accept?

alkonaut 5y ago

> Back to running up the meter, ignoring me when it rains, and have mercy if you are disabled or have a dog. Why is this argument always coming up? "Uber does good stuff because the competition (taxis) suck"? If there is a good taxi market, then there are excellent taxi companies. I book one on an app, I see where it is, I pay in the app. I did for a decade. What's the problem? The problem is that there was a medallion system in some cities, that make taxis suck. The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. To Judge the profitability of Uber, look at how it does in every citi where there is good competition. Because any city can do that, with the flip of a switch. Just deregulate taxis and Uber is a taxi company among others.

kelnos 5y ago
> The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. And yet it turns out that was the solution for many cities. Because otherwise I didn't see those bad medallion systems changing.
tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
> The solution to bad regulation obviously can't be having a company just circumvent it. Why is that "obvious"? A lot of our society functions because rules get ignored where necessary.
- alkonaut 5y ago
  The solution to the problem of a company operating outside the (spirit) of the law is usually adjusting the law (clarifying, removing), or cracking down on the violation. That is progress regardless. Just accepting the status quo is pretty strange though. But new labor regulations etc have already been added in some of the markets.