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Not trying to defend Uber, but I can't remember any positive PR about them, apart from raising a huge amount of cash. So, honest question: any good stories abou

Not trying to defend Uber, but I can't remember any positive PR about them, apart from raising a huge amount of cash. So, honest question: any good stories about them?

wvenable 12y ago
My wife used Uber for the first time during a recent trip to Tampa and couldn't rave about it more. Comparatively, here in Vancouver, we are massively underserved by the taxi monopoly to the point that even when I have free taxi chit from work, I still end up taking transit. But talking about how terrible taxi companies are isn't really news.
- alphadevx 12y ago
  Worse (and most expensive) taxi ride I every had was in Toronto recently, absolutely shocking service. Is that common in Canada?
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    Ontario governments have a serious cultural problem with regulatory capture. Government-supported private monopolies aren't really seen as a failure of government, and so the economy suffers a bit from the proliferation of them. I'm perfectly happy with Big Government or free market solutions, but we seem to take the worst-of-both-worlds approach here.
personZ 12y ago
There was a time, not too long ago, when Uber was held high here on HN and most tech sites: Uber represented the democratic, egalitarian alternative to the evil taxi empire. Out with the old king... As an aside, quite some time ago I canvased a number of taxi companies in the Toronto area to gauge their interest in creating essentially an open platform Uber -- a product that would offer a rich user experience similar to Uber (not copying Uber, but naturally the functionality will converge), but integrated with their dispatch systems and so on. Running a contract development shop, I was essentially pitching a researched, well considered solution to the Uber threat. There were no biters (even though those same companies seem to have endless time to petition in the media and government), and it remains a silo'd world of terrible apps, and still a fertile ground for disruption.
- israelitaxiuser 12y ago
  In Israel we have these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GetTaxi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GetTaxi They're OK, I guess.
- Spooky23 12y ago
  Not sure how the market works in Toronto, but in many US cities, the taxi business pays the bills with direct government support (Medicaid taxi) and makes money off of drunks and business travelers whose circumstances prevent rental of a car or use of a hotel shuttle. It's also a cash business that doesn't benefit from a clear audit trail of work activity.
res0nat0r 12y ago
In the 30 or so times I've used them I've had a good story to tell others and recommend their service since it is fast, cheap and efficient.
faitswulff 12y ago
For the most part, the ride system works well. Which, I suppose, proves that word of mouth is more powerful than negative PR.
- enjo 12y ago
  Anecdotally, at least, the negatives do seem to be making some impact (at least here in Denver). I've met an increasing number of people who have heard of the $500 rides who are scared to touch Uber.
enjo 12y ago
I use them almost every day. In cities all over the country. They are better than Taxi's in literally every single way. I actually have nothing but positive things to say about them.
applecore 12y ago
In the early days, Uber was just about the coolest thing you could do with your phone. You could press a button and a black car would arrive in minutes to take you wherever your group wanted to go.

Not trying to defend Uber, but I can't remember any positive PR about them, apart from raising a huge amount of cash. So, honest question: any good stories about them?

wvenable 12y ago

My wife used Uber for the first time during a recent trip to Tampa and couldn't rave about it more. Comparatively, here in Vancouver, we are massively underserved by the taxi monopoly to the point that even when I have free taxi chit from work, I still end up taking transit. But talking about how terrible taxi companies are isn't really news.

alphadevx 12y ago
Worse (and most expensive) taxi ride I every had was in Toronto recently, absolutely shocking service. Is that common in Canada?
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Ontario governments have a serious cultural problem with regulatory capture. Government-supported private monopolies aren't really seen as a failure of government, and so the economy suffers a bit from the proliferation of them. I'm perfectly happy with Big Government or free market solutions, but we seem to take the worst-of-both-worlds approach here.

personZ 12y ago

There was a time, not too long ago, when Uber was held high here on HN and most tech sites: Uber represented the democratic, egalitarian alternative to the evil taxi empire. Out with the old king... As an aside, quite some time ago I canvased a number of taxi companies in the Toronto area to gauge their interest in creating essentially an open platform Uber -- a product that would offer a rich user experience similar to Uber (not copying Uber, but naturally the functionality will converge), but integrated with their dispatch systems and so on. Running a contract development shop, I was essentially pitching a researched, well considered solution to the Uber threat. There were no biters (even though those same companies seem to have endless time to petition in the media and government), and it remains a silo'd world of terrible apps, and still a fertile ground for disruption.

israelitaxiuser 12y ago
In Israel we have these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GetTaxi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GetTaxi They're OK, I guess.
Spooky23 12y ago
Not sure how the market works in Toronto, but in many US cities, the taxi business pays the bills with direct government support (Medicaid taxi) and makes money off of drunks and business travelers whose circumstances prevent rental of a car or use of a hotel shuttle. It's also a cash business that doesn't benefit from a clear audit trail of work activity.

res0nat0r 12y ago

In the 30 or so times I've used them I've had a good story to tell others and recommend their service since it is fast, cheap and efficient.

faitswulff 12y ago

For the most part, the ride system works well. Which, I suppose, proves that word of mouth is more powerful than negative PR.

enjo 12y ago
Anecdotally, at least, the negatives do seem to be making some impact (at least here in Denver). I've met an increasing number of people who have heard of the $500 rides who are scared to touch Uber.

enjo 12y ago

I use them almost every day. In cities all over the country. They are better than Taxi's in literally every single way. I actually have nothing but positive things to say about them.

applecore 12y ago

In the early days, Uber was just about the coolest thing you could do with your phone. You could press a button and a black car would arrive in minutes to take you wherever your group wanted to go.