Uber comes to Australia

[moa999]

From speaking to a few drivers the advantage of Uber is that they can attract fares in their downtime.
Uber have a few drivers on payroll who seem to be instructed to service the CBD and East areas who have Uber on fulltime, then they have an adhoc network of drivers who take their own bookings as well but will turn Uber on when they have a gap.
These drivers in particular see Uber as a great benefit as it gives them a job when they were otherwise vacant.

 

[moa999]

Seems Uber has introduced flat fares to airports
(good in peak, expensive in off-peak) - personally I think this is silly as off-peak is when Uber drivers could usefully get a fill in fair.

Sydney
CBD-Dom - $65
CBD-Intl - $75

Melbourne
CBD-Airport - $80

Note that this includes all tolls plus CC fee.
Melbourne is good value where a cab can be as much as $70 (inc all the fees in my view).
Sydney less so.

Also the Melbourne CBD is tightly defined
https://www.uber.com/cities/melbourne#cities
unsure if Sydney is whole of Uber's redbox area
https://www.uber.com/cities/sydney#cities

Also have $10 off links if anyone interested.

 

[DeKa]

Anyone feel like a boat ride this afternoon?

http://blog.uber.com/2013/04/06/sydney-harbour-not-just-for-photographs/

We wish we owned our own Maltese Falcon, but we’d don’t. Uber is here to make living in Sydney classier and easier by introducing efficiency to all modes of transport. From 4pm this Sunday you can open your regular Uber app and select the BOAT option to see what’s floating nearby. Fares for this promotion will be $3 per minute. All Uber Boats carry at least 8 passengers.

Jump aboard while you can – after Sunday, our Boats will likely be back in dock for Winter.

 

[moa999]

Note also that having checked my Credit Card Bill,
some CCs (eg. WOW Qantas Mastercard) are charging the foreign biller surcharge on Uber.

 

[DeKa]

Note also that having checked my Credit Card Bill,
some CCs (eg. WOW Qantas Mastercard) are charging the foreign biller surcharge on Uber.

If you complain, they will rebate it.
The GM also posted elsewhere on AFF they are aware and are changing to a local bank.

 

[ontheroadagain]

Can see where this will add value but my personal experience is that I use a Hire Car over a cab because of the relationship I have with the driver and the trust, rapport etc I have built with him over the years.

It's a simple phone call or SMS to give him my flight details and he will either do the pick-up himself or send another driver he has a relationship with who will also have my details etc should anything change.

Price is always agreed upfront and he will invoice me to avoid any of the Credit Card / Cabcharge surcharges.

I'm sure Uber will get traction here but the one sticking point for me is I don't know who they are going to send and if that's the case, it might as well be a cab

 

[ontheroadagain]

For the record, Uber hasn't contacted any of the drivers I use so not sure who they are using

 

[Hvr]

Some interesting comments about Uber from the USA.

[h=1]Uber Forced Driver Shortage to Boost Surge Pricing[/h]
The news comes by way of a San Diego Uber user, whose driver read aloud a message he'd received from the transit startup:

This Valentines day, while traveling through San Diego in an Uber car, Lane heard something that disturbed him. "The driver had a Ford Sync system, and it read his text messages out loud." The message, which came wedged between numerous texts about a promotion for free roses, said, "UberX is very close to SURGE. It's Valentine's Day! People will be out all night and we didn't activate new drivers to make earnings even higher this weekend."

​

 

[bismarck]

Some interesting comments about Uber from the USA.

Somewhat concerning. I have been a big fan of them since they launched but rarely use when they activate surge pricing.

Hope this was an aberration and not an indication of how they're now going to do business.


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly

 

[DeKa]

I don't use them when they use surge pricing either.
I've noticed sometimes they put a 'bonus' for cab drivers when booking a taxi using Uber in Sydney. Recently I saw a $10 bonus. I had booked a cab elsewhere, but no driver had accepted it.. so I cancelled that and tried Uber. The cab came almost instantly, and an extra $10 on a ~$50 cab fare, when combined with no 10% credit card fee ended up being pretty good value.

 

[TomVexille]

Any chance they launch Uber X here in Australia?

 

[Major]

It's a pity they are not available in Brisbane

 

[moa999]

Any chance they launch Uber X here in Australia?

Uber already has three car types in Sydney - Taxi, Black, Lux.

Can't see a UberX style vehicle as can't see anyone else licensed to carry passengers.

---

Also got a note the other week that they are launching in Bangkok - I think because I must have opened the App when there a year ago

 

[TomVexille]

Uber already has three car types in Sydney - Taxi, Black, Lux.

Can't see a UberX style vehicle as can't see anyone else licensed to carry passengers.

Only Black down here in Melbourne.

I can see licensing being the sticking point with UberX in Australia.

 

[qaz]

Any chance they launch Uber X here in Australia?

yes - https://www.uber.com/cities/melbourne

$0 flagfall but both $0.85/km distance and $0.45/min time charges with a $5 minimum fare

 

[TomVexille]

yes - https://www.uber.com/cities/melbourne

$0 flagfall but both $0.85/km distance and $0.45/min time charges with a $5 minimum fare

Interesting. Might give it a go at some point.

 

[PLANT]

So you can sign up as a driver....just got to the over 24yr old, own car less than 9years...what else is needed to become a driver?
Anyone know anyone that is one?

 

[tgh]

My son uses them in 'frisco , and after a bit of a registration hiccup with my 'Oz phone # , we also used the service.
So much tidier and easier than a cab , even when the costs are higher.. at least when the job is allocated your uber is there when you expect it.
The premium pricing is a bit annoying .. but when it's raining dogs and coughs and the cabs are non existent.. who's complaining.
We also used a couple of black cars on a special day and found the service expensive but very very convenient.
Much to like, and a brilliant example of a business model utilising modern technology.

 

[lovestotravel]

Used Uber in Melbourne about 20 times now over the past 6 or so months.

Mostly great experiences but a few duds, still beats a taxi in 99% of cases though, the worst experiences

1. Manic driver - Told him to slow down many times as his constant lane changing was beyond normal driving - I reckon he didn't like our longish job and was going to miss his next real job (such as an airport transfer)

2. Someone else took our Uber - Saturday night, driver stopped about a block from where we were waiting, we walked fast towards the car as we could see it there, someone else got in and he drove off. Tried calling him 10 times, no answer.

 

[tgh]

Conceptually, the feedback feature should sort out the difficult drivers.
Like ebay in the early days , feedback can be a very powerful tool as long as management pay attention.