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I'm curious if Uber/Lyft is going to last in SF. It does not take more than one $90 for 3 mile ride experience for me and my friends to never want to count on L

I'm curious if Uber/Lyft is going to last in SF. It does not take more than one $90 for 3 mile ride experience for me and my friends to never want to count on Lyft again. The way it works is, you think I'll just Uber/Lyft to meet my friends. So you order one say 20 minutes before you're supposed to meet only to find an extremely high price. You pay it so you're not late but then you also vow to plan ahead so you never have to take it again. I haven't taken one since I was burned in June. Another friend got burned last month and I'd guess he's likely to not take another either.

darkwizard42 5y ago
I mean, the $90, 3 mile experience doesn't happen as a surprise occurrence... you agree to the price upfront, so you must have really needed to get somewhere 3 miles away as fast as possible. The price being high is just a function of there not being as many drivers available (its especially bad these days as many drivers have moved on to better jobs or not engaged in the workforce or don't want to do this job during covid times) To your second point, there are still scheduling options, "wait + save" where they do offer pickup 20 min from now and locking in your price, but... if you are using those features couldn't you also use the bus? I don't see any of your problems steering you back towards taxis, especially in SF where they were AWFUL (can't say if they have improved in the last 7 years)
VoidWhisperer 5y ago
I noticed this too. When I was in the bay area previously (temporarily) before moving out here permanently, about 2 years ago, I was able to uber places like the grocery store due to not having a car. Flash forward to today and I actually opted to buy my own car because uber and lyft have become ridiculously expensive
toast0 5y ago
> You pay it so you're not late but then you also vow to plan ahead so you never have to take it again. This is (usually) a better situation than when you're burned by phone dispatched taxi than never comes. At least you got where you were going.

darkwizard42 5y ago

I mean, the $90, 3 mile experience doesn't happen as a surprise occurrence... you agree to the price upfront, so you must have really needed to get somewhere 3 miles away as fast as possible. The price being high is just a function of there not being as many drivers available (its especially bad these days as many drivers have moved on to better jobs or not engaged in the workforce or don't want to do this job during covid times) To your second point, there are still scheduling options, "wait + save" where they do offer pickup 20 min from now and locking in your price, but... if you are using those features couldn't you also use the bus? I don't see any of your problems steering you back towards taxis, especially in SF where they were AWFUL (can't say if they have improved in the last 7 years)

VoidWhisperer 5y ago

I noticed this too. When I was in the bay area previously (temporarily) before moving out here permanently, about 2 years ago, I was able to uber places like the grocery store due to not having a car. Flash forward to today and I actually opted to buy my own car because uber and lyft have become ridiculously expensive

toast0 5y ago

> You pay it so you're not late but then you also vow to plan ahead so you never have to take it again. This is (usually) a better situation than when you're burned by phone dispatched taxi than never comes. At least you got where you were going.