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I've noticed they've started amending the quoted price (after the ride) in London as well. Albeit not to this level. Completely anecdotally, Uber was great whe

by iamben 3y ago

I've noticed they've started amending the quoted price (after the ride) in London as well. Albeit not to this level. Completely anecdotally, Uber was great when the drivers didn't know where they were taking you. You booked, someone turned up, you got in and they drove you there. Now if it's 2am and you're going to a part of town that's in the slightest bit out of the way, good luck (and watch the price surge as you struggle to get someone to take you). And don't get me started on the jobs that get accepted when the driver is "2 minutes away," but are clearly doing a job on another rideshare app and don't turn up for 15 minutes...

tedivm 3y ago
It may have been great for you, but I regularly had drivers refuse to take me or abandon the ride once they saw the destination. The worst part is that they report you as not showing up, and then uber/lyft both will add no show fees for the ride that you then have to fight over. When Uber was a black car service it was great, although expensive. Now it's just expensive.
- iamben 3y ago
  But at this point haven't they already accepted the journey / aren't you already in the car? As annoying as it is, seems like an easy case to argue/win - they have your GPS location, that of the driver and the fact you've got in the cab?
  - tedivm 3y ago
    Yeah, I've literally been kicked out of cars before. "As annoying as it is" is my point, it's super annoying and I shouldn't have to do it.
  - zo1 3y ago
    This is purely Uber trying to keep the truth from both sides. They know drivers don't want to take short/crappy/long/etc drives. They know these drivers use various means to avoid taking those rides, yet they do nothing about it because if they did they'd lose half their "taxi driver" contingent of drivers. So instead they play this cat mouse game that just drags the problem out whilst everyone is equally unhappy.
swozey 3y ago
> Uber was great when the drivers didn't know where they were taking you. I remember this era with absolute DISDAIN. I HATED getting drivers who didn't know the area at all vs one who grew up in Austin or something. That was the difference between getting stuck some parade/festival traffic for 25 minutes vs taking a couple of back blocks and getting their in 15. I wonder if they account for traffic like that nowadays, I'd imagine not since they want you in the car longer. Not to mention having to constantly stare at gps, not knowing what lanes to be in, etc.
- iamben 3y ago
  To clarify, I meant the drivers had no idea of the destination until you're in the car and they press the start journey button. The drivers may or may not have local knowledge, I know a lot of drivers I chatted with used to drive minicabs before they did rideshare. That said, I mostly use public transport unless it's super late, and at 2am the city is usually quiet enough that the sat nav route works fine.
  - swozey 3y ago
    Oh wild. I don't know if I used Uber that early on. It was banned from wherever I lived for years which was really frustrating. That sounds kind of awful for the drivers, like if you'd planned to only do 2 hours of driving but someone decided to have you take them city to city or something at the end of your day.
    - iamben 3y ago
      I've never driven Uber (can someone weigh in if they have?!), but from chatting to the drivers the app was designed to try and align drivers with journeys that didn't do that (not that I've ever met a driver that would turn down a large fair!). Apparently there was also a 'heading home' setting that would offer them jobs in the general direction of their home.
jrockway 3y ago
It seems that Uber varies this by city. In NYC, they don't see your destination until they pick you up (local law, I guess).

by iamben 3y ago

tedivm 3y ago

It may have been great for you, but I regularly had drivers refuse to take me or abandon the ride once they saw the destination. The worst part is that they report you as not showing up, and then uber/lyft both will add no show fees for the ride that you then have to fight over. When Uber was a black car service it was great, although expensive. Now it's just expensive.

iamben 3y ago
But at this point haven't they already accepted the journey / aren't you already in the car? As annoying as it is, seems like an easy case to argue/win - they have your GPS location, that of the driver and the fact you've got in the cab?
- tedivm 3y ago
  Yeah, I've literally been kicked out of cars before. "As annoying as it is" is my point, it's super annoying and I shouldn't have to do it.
- zo1 3y ago
  This is purely Uber trying to keep the truth from both sides. They know drivers don't want to take short/crappy/long/etc drives. They know these drivers use various means to avoid taking those rides, yet they do nothing about it because if they did they'd lose half their "taxi driver" contingent of drivers. So instead they play this cat mouse game that just drags the problem out whilst everyone is equally unhappy.

swozey 3y ago

> Uber was great when the drivers didn't know where they were taking you. I remember this era with absolute DISDAIN. I HATED getting drivers who didn't know the area at all vs one who grew up in Austin or something. That was the difference between getting stuck some parade/festival traffic for 25 minutes vs taking a couple of back blocks and getting their in 15. I wonder if they account for traffic like that nowadays, I'd imagine not since they want you in the car longer. Not to mention having to constantly stare at gps, not knowing what lanes to be in, etc.

iamben 3y ago
To clarify, I meant the drivers had no idea of the destination until you're in the car and they press the start journey button. The drivers may or may not have local knowledge, I know a lot of drivers I chatted with used to drive minicabs before they did rideshare. That said, I mostly use public transport unless it's super late, and at 2am the city is usually quiet enough that the sat nav route works fine.
- swozey 3y ago
  Oh wild. I don't know if I used Uber that early on. It was banned from wherever I lived for years which was really frustrating. That sounds kind of awful for the drivers, like if you'd planned to only do 2 hours of driving but someone decided to have you take them city to city or something at the end of your day.
  - iamben 3y ago
    I've never driven Uber (can someone weigh in if they have?!), but from chatting to the drivers the app was designed to try and align drivers with journeys that didn't do that (not that I've ever met a driver that would turn down a large fair!). Apparently there was also a 'heading home' setting that would offer them jobs in the general direction of their home.

jrockway 3y ago

It seems that Uber varies this by city. In NYC, they don't see your destination until they pick you up (local law, I guess).