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I'm confused as to why Uber's justification matters. If surge pricing seems unjust to you, don't pay surge prices. Use a competitor, like taxis or your bike.
by natrius 13y ago
I'm confused as to why Uber's justification matters. If surge pricing seems unjust to you, don't pay surge prices. Use a competitor, like taxis or your bike.
- pbreit 13y agoThe "don't use it" argument drives me absolutely nuts. It's a terrible argument and extremely lazy.
- iansimon 13y agoWhy?
- AngrySkillzz 13y agoWhen there are few/no alternatives, or the cost (in terms of money, time, effort, anything) is significantly larger, it is a lazy argument. But that isn't the case here. Uber is a convenience service, and there are easily-found alternatives to it.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoSurge pricing does two things: it decreases demand ("don't use it" as you say) and increases supply (by encouraging more drivers to work). If demand is not decreased, e.g. by increasing costs ("don't use it"), then services will be denied ("can't use it") because you can't pull something out of nothing! Given that you don't believe in the principle of supply and demand (or you think it is extremely lazy, as you said). How would you balance demand with supply in extreme situations? What is the non-lazy solution? I guess we could try: * Force more drivers to drive at the normal price to match demand (the totalitarian approach) * Ensure that there are enough drivers to meet peak demand through subsidies to get them through normal demand times. What else am I missing here?
- pbreit 13y agoThe phrase is normally used as an argument to "quit complaining". In fact, complaining is a perfectly valid behavior and a key way to influence other consumers as well as service providers.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoComplaining is fine. But until you can pull cars/drivers out of your butt, it doesn't do much to increase supply or lower demand.
- pbreit 13y agoI don't mind surge pricing. I think ubers implementation can be very excessive. And I don't like that they don't scale down their commission or their smug attitude on the whole thing.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoWhenever it rains in Beijing, I deal with this problem with normal and black taxis. If the prices become too high, at least I can take the subway.