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This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. With Uber we can get mad at the driver rather than the company an

This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. With Uber we can get mad at the driver rather than the company and immediately order another car. So I feel that the convenience has also brought with it inconvenience.

throwaway48375 5y ago
Maybe it depends on the area? I definitely had taxis not show up before.
superhuzza 5y ago
>This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. Are you sure about that? I remember taxis being notoriously unreliable before Uber was around. It seems like that's a major reason Uber took off - passengers could actually see the car was coming, rather than placing a call and just praying the driver didn't pull a no-show. Anyways, I don't think either of us have anything beyond anecdotal evidence so it's hard to say.
- rtb 5y ago
  I think basisword is British (as am I). I think Uber came about because taxis in the US sucked. Over here we never had the same problems with no-shows or overcharging (I'm speaking in general, of course this varied a lot). Uber hasn't done nearly so well in the UK as in the US. Outside of London, you can't find an Uber anywhere and the same local taxi firms from before Uber are still competing, largely based on their local reputation. (Plus now they all have whitelabel apps which have all Uber's features)
marssaxman 5y ago
> This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. Where do you live? Where I live, this kind of thing happened so frequently that the reputation of the entire taxi industry was ruined; people simply had no alternative. Now that they do - I have not witnessed or heard anyone talking about calling a traditional cab at all in the years since Uber came along. I wonder what the actual market figures look like.
- sneeze-slayer 5y ago
  When I need to get a ride someplace, I find myself calling a cab more than uber/lyft these days. The taxis are significantly cheaper than the alternative and are required to take credit cards. A side benefit is that the airport has a fixed price to the city, while rideshare services will often cost double or even triple with demand pricing.
aeternum 5y ago
This was not true in any major city, especially on a Friday/Saturday night. No shows were the norm, best bet on even moderately busy nights was to start walking and hope to flag a passing cab. From a cab driver perspective it makes sense, why travel somewhere empty for a pickup when you can grab a fare on the street?

throwaway48375 5y ago

Maybe it depends on the area? I definitely had taxis not show up before.

superhuzza 5y ago

>This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. Are you sure about that? I remember taxis being notoriously unreliable before Uber was around. It seems like that's a major reason Uber took off - passengers could actually see the car was coming, rather than placing a call and just praying the driver didn't pull a no-show. Anyways, I don't think either of us have anything beyond anecdotal evidence so it's hard to say.

rtb 5y ago
I think basisword is British (as am I). I think Uber came about because taxis in the US sucked. Over here we never had the same problems with no-shows or overcharging (I'm speaking in general, of course this varied a lot). Uber hasn't done nearly so well in the UK as in the US. Outside of London, you can't find an Uber anywhere and the same local taxi firms from before Uber are still competing, largely based on their local reputation. (Plus now they all have whitelabel apps which have all Uber's features)

marssaxman 5y ago

> This happened much less frequently in the past as it would ruin the taxi company’s reputation. Where do you live? Where I live, this kind of thing happened so frequently that the reputation of the entire taxi industry was ruined; people simply had no alternative. Now that they do - I have not witnessed or heard anyone talking about calling a traditional cab at all in the years since Uber came along. I wonder what the actual market figures look like.

sneeze-slayer 5y ago
When I need to get a ride someplace, I find myself calling a cab more than uber/lyft these days. The taxis are significantly cheaper than the alternative and are required to take credit cards. A side benefit is that the airport has a fixed price to the city, while rideshare services will often cost double or even triple with demand pricing.

aeternum 5y ago

This was not true in any major city, especially on a Friday/Saturday night. No shows were the norm, best bet on even moderately busy nights was to start walking and hope to flag a passing cab. From a cab driver perspective it makes sense, why travel somewhere empty for a pickup when you can grab a fare on the street?