What's your Uber experience?

[Himeno]

Roughly where in North Belco?

On/near the 313/314/315 bus routes.

And did the fare end up being much more than a cab?

Less then the ~$60 taxi, more then the other Uber airport trips.

 

[Skyring]

Tried Uber for the first time in SYD last week. Requested pick up at North Ryde, est 6 minute wait. The car never appeared to move location and 10 minutes later I had the trip cancelled on me. Quick call to taxi company, 3 minutes later a cab showed up. So far no fee has been charged.

Contact Uber. They'll refund any money charged and give the driver a rocket.

Could be the driver was at home and missed the ping, could be they just wanted you to cancel and hand them the cancellation fee. Whatever, it's not what normally happens.

 

[Franky]

If your talking about the emissions issue... I've joined the class action (Passat owner) and the last we heard was an estimate of fees from the solicitors. They're taking about $1000 per person. I'm truly hoping it results in at least something after suffering through that car for 3 years!

Love my VW Caddy Van, would'nt change it for quids. How did you suffer with your Passat?

 

[N860CR]

Love my VW Caddy Van, would'nt change it for quids. How did you suffer with your Passat?

Constant break downs. It was towed a heap of times back to the dealer during the warranty period (8 from memory) because it would suffer full electrical failures and not power up at all. The dealer was unhelpful each time and kept replacing the battery over and over (obviously there was something bigger wrong with it) stating VW doesn't allow them to investigate if it starts after a new battery is fitted. We'd often be without it for as long as 2 weeks as we "didn't have a booking" when it was towed it.

The final straw was when it was "fixed" yet again. While driving down a highway, it had a total electrical failure so I lost the power steering, assisted brakes etc. Ended up getting it off the road and it was dragged by the RTA emergency car into the dealer. They "fixed" it, promised me it was all tested ok and I took it home on the Friday afternoon. It broke down again in the middle of parramatta road on Friday night.

This went on for 3 years and VW even tried the "well warranty has expired so good luck" line. The service from both the dealer and VW head office in Australia was without a doubt the worst I've ever experienced.

Ended up dumping it at a massive loss.

 

[Quickstatus]

If your talking about the emissions issue... I've joined the class action (Passat owner) and the last we heard was an estimate of fees from the solicitors. They're taking about $1000 per person. I'm truly hoping it results in at least something after suffering through that car for 3 years!

[OT]Im a Passat Alltrack and a Golf TDi both subject to the emissions issue.
I really like the Passat but will go back to a Golf Tdi in the future.[/OT]

Given the nature of UberX, What would be the ideal UberX car for a substantial 40 hr/week UberX driver

 

[DeKa]

[OT]Im a Passat Alltrack and a Golf TDi both subject to the emissions issue.
I really like the Passat but will go back to a Golf Tdi in the future.[/OT]

Given the nature of UberX, What would be the ideal UberX car for a substantial 40 hr/week UberX driver

Corolla Hybrid would be my recommendation.

 

[Skyring]

Given the nature of UberX, What would be the ideal UberX car for a substantial 40 hr/week UberX driver

Second-hand, a couple of years old, preferably with low mileage. Depreciation is a big and hidden cost, and if you buy a new car, you take a big hit just driving it out of the dealer's yard. Let someone else take that hit. One or two year old cars aren't common, but keep your eyes on the ad sites for the model you are looking for.

My yardstick for size is that I need to be able to carry four passengers to the airport, with their luggage. My Golf hatch didn't meet that standard. I was never actually caught out, but it was always a worry that I wouldn't be able to meet the job.

My current Golf wagon is fine in that regard. It is, however, a little squeezy in the back seat, and I'm always moving the passenger seat back and forth. Not that important, because most rides are only a few minutes, and unless the passengers are all generously proportioned - like the four rugby players I picked up one morning, yikes! - they'll survive. Being able to physically fit in luggage is more important than comfort.

Leather - rather than fabric - seats are a must. It hasn't happened to me yet, but if you go picking up drunks, one of them will spew. Or kids will drop something, or on a hot day people perspire. Being able to wipe down the seats, rather than have whatever liquid seep through into the body of the seat is important.

Driver comfort - unlike passenger comfort - is vital. Being able to spend hours at a stretch without feeling cramped or stretched or miserable. If the seating position isn't quite right, then don't buy it. Going along from that is temperature control. Hot and cold days need to be evened out. Aircon is more important than heating, because if you have five people in the car on a hot day, you need to be able to supply enough cold air for all. If it's just the driver alone in a cold car, it's nice to be toasty warm in shirtsleeves, but you can always put on a jacket.

Sound system and electronics. As much flexibility as possible. My Golf has radio, CD, Aux, USB, SD card and Bluetooth, and I'll use all of them. Passengers sometimes like to share their music - in fact I encourage it - and an aux cable lets them do it without having to fiddle around with Bluetooth. My phone has my own music, and a lot more available via streaming, and I just Bluetooth it to the speakers. I have a generous data plan, Apple Music, and Siri, so if someone asks have I got any Seventies rock or jazz or whatever, I can battle with Siri without taking my hands off the wheel. A CD stacker would be handy, but I only have one disc, and that's Mozart, which is a nice soothing background. The SD card is very useful - I preload it up with jazz and house music and audiobooks and it's fairly easy to get the tracks I want. This goes to driver comfort as much as being able to give passengers the sort of music they want.

A robust power system. I need to be able to power my dashcam, recharge my phone, offer cables to passengers - who sometimes are down to their last few dregs of phone charge - and occasionally run a GPS. I have a four socket array which fits into a little cubby in the console.

Beverage holders - as many as possible. I always have a cup of coffee on the go, often a passenger will jump in with their own drink, and I try to have four bottles of water available. Incidentally, the Golf has a chilled glovebox, so I can whack a couple in there.

Engine and gearbox are up to the driver's driving style. A good battery to handle periods of a half hour or so with the engine off. The Golf 7 will turn the engine on or off as needed to keep things going. My 2.0 TDi has plenty of oomph if I need it, and uses 6.3 L/100km. Automatic with a manual up/down which I never use, and adaptive cruise control. I'm very happy with it.

If I had my druthers, I'd like the Passat wagon, which has a bigger boot and (more importantly) a bigger backseat. But then it would be a bigger car, and I like being able to get into and out of tight spaces.

Or a Chrysler 300C or Statesman. But then I'd be spending more upfront and more on fuel and it would be a drain.

I like driving a slightly upmarket European car, but I guess the best guidance is to look at what models are being used in the taxi fleet, though they are generally chosen for the numbers, rather than driver satisfaction. I can beat any Canberra taxi from a standing start at the lights, which is occasionally useful when I'm dropping passengers at the airport and I want to be able to put them close to the doors, rather than have all the good spaces taken by a half dozen cabs who got ahead of me at the lights.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Let me tell you, if the app tells me someone is coming to get me in a Yaris, i cancel instantly and request again. Yes it happens.

 

[Happy Dude]

Constant break downs. It was towed a heap of times back to the dealer during the warranty period (8 from memory) because it would suffer full electrical failures and not power up at all. The dealer was unhelpful each time and kept replacing the battery over and over (obviously there was something bigger wrong with it) stating VW doesn't allow them to investigate if it starts after a new battery is fitted. We'd often be without it for as long as 2 weeks as we "didn't have a booking" when it was towed it.

The final straw was when it was "fixed" yet again. While driving down a highway, it had a total electrical failure so I lost the power steering, assisted brakes etc. Ended up getting it off the road and it was dragged by the RTA emergency car into the dealer. They "fixed" it, promised me it was all tested ok and I took it home on the Friday afternoon. It broke down again in the middle of parramatta road on Friday night.

This went on for 3 years and VW even tried the "well warranty has expired so good luck" line. The service from both the dealer and VW head office in Australia was without a doubt the worst I've ever experienced.

Ended up dumping it at a massive loss.

WTF? This is incredible. No compensation from VW/dealer at all? Didn't some poor soul die after being rear-ended by a truck when her Golf lost power?

 

[Shamrock55]

On the subject of being collected in a wide variety of Ubers...

Got to Perth one day and was met with a very happy driver...in a Suzuki Swift! They're great little fun cars but I was like "where do I put my suitcase dude?". Down came the back seat. Seriously thought a Swift was too small for any public service type job!

Another trip to Perth saw me collected by a nice large, late-model Mercedes, but absolutely filthy inside and out! The driver was a really stressed guy who had lost a lot of money since the slowdown in mining and was driving a massive number of hours trying to pay back his debt. He said "I dont have time to clean it i'm always driving". He then practically threw me out when we got to my destination so he could hunt another fare. Felt sad for the bloke he was obviously under serious financial pressure.

Just back from a trip to Chicago and LA, used Uber a lot in both cities and the options for vehicle types are so much more varied in the US. We got UberBlack or UberXL large 7 seater SUVs to get colleagues back from trade shows all in one group, or just the standard Ubers with Priuses for smaller groups. Got collected in a huge Lincoln town car one night, almost limo size for standard prices!

Its a great service for when you are brand new to a city and don't have taxi numbers....but can be hit and miss in terms of consistency of quality.

Certainly saves me money. Wellington airport to my house is usually $80+ with a taxi, with Uber its usually $50.

 

[Danger]

What are people's experiences with Uber from SYD T3 to the city (circa Town Hall station)? I seem to recall there being a dedicated Uber waiting spot. What sort of cost can I expect, around 8.45am on a weekday morning? The train being $17 one way (I seem to recall same day returns being free once upon but maybe I'm mistaken) I would have thought Uber would be very competitive.

 

[bismarck]

What are people's experiences with Uber from SYD T3 to the city (circa Town Hall station)? I seem to recall there being a dedicated Uber waiting spot. What sort of cost can I expect, around 8.45am on a weekday morning? The train being $17 one way (I seem to recall same day returns being free once upon but maybe I'm mistaken) I would have thought Uber would be very competitive.

They can pick up in the general public pick up area. Pretty sure SACL tacks on a fee. Haven't actually used it so can't comment on price.

At that time of day, and if going to the city I would probably find train more convenient than battling traffic. Don't think Uber would be cheaper.

 

[Marty_]

I had my first bad experience in Los Angeles, after a lengthy run of good or unremarkable trips in AU and the US.

On checking my CC statement, I noticed the fare from downtown LA to LAX appeared high. I logged in at the Uber website and checked it out, but the route map seemed in order and the same fare was displayed.

For some reason I thought to actually check the distance between by origin and destination using Google Maps only to find that it was roughly half that displayed on the trip report.

Then I realised the driver had dropped me at LAX, then turned around without terminating the trip and retraced the route precisely in reverse, all the way back to my hotel. That way it was not evident on the map because the return trip simply went over the top of the original.

I contacted Uber who spoke with the driver and told me he claimed I had left a bag at the hotel and had to go back to fetch it. I said that was not true and they refunded me.

Pretty outrageous stuff!

 

[stoneman]

Cheeky bugger!

 

[Skyring]

Cheeky bugger! 

Clever cookie. Or, more likely, someone else thought of it and the idea spread. I hope Uber check to see how many other drivers are doing it and terminate them.

If I have the slightest suspicion that a passenger is unhappy with the route I've chosen, I tell them that Uber keeps track of every metre of the journey, will email them a map afterwards, and if they think that the driver has gone the long way, to contact them and Uber is very good at refunding any excess. Which they are.

And occasionally I make a mistake. If there's something non-standard about the ride, I might get out of my routine and forget to end the ride, or I might have one of those left/right moments. But I contact Uber as soon as I can and get it fixed. Or I end the ride a little early so that my error is nullified.

 

[Warks]

Still haven't used Uber here in Aus (no need) but last month's experiences in Seattle were nothing but good. Amazingly cheap too. I managed to do it all without data too - was on wifi whenever I requested a car and managed to stay in range until I got into the car. Drivers from all backgrounds, had a very interesting talk with a bloke from Afghanistan who was just getting to the most intriguing part of his story when we got to the airport!

 

[N860CR]

WTF? This is incredible. No compensation from VW/dealer at all? Didn't some poor soul die after being rear-ended by a truck when her Golf lost power?

Yes all in all it was a shocking experience.

Both the dealer and VW had an absolutely awful attitude throughout the entire ordeal. Everytime it was taken back I was made to feel like a massive inconvenience to them. The total lack of care factor was astounding. On one occasion we waited at the long term carpark at the airport for 8 hours in total while VW assistance tried to organise a tow truck (they sent three until one was finally suitable to tow it). This resulted in me being eventually abused down the phone by a VW assistance call centre worker.

Even after the car was dragged by a rope into the dealer by the RTA, nobody could care less in the slightest.

As the warranty expired (and the dealer tried to refuse to continue fixing the thing) I did contact VW Aus and outline absolutely everything that had gone wrong with the car. Their response was "there's no such thing as VW in Australia, we just import them" and "we are under absolutely no obligation to repair any car in a timely manner".

I'm unsure if the other manufacturers are any better when it comes to service, however the issue with VW is that the cars are so unreliable that there's a better chance you'll have to deal with them.

 

[Quickstatus]

I would have taken them to court.

 

[Franky]

I would have taken them to court.

A visit to Consumer Affairs early in the piece prior to the warranty expiring might have helped the cause.

 

[mannej]

A visit to Consumer Affairs early in the piece prior to the warranty expiring might have helped the cause.

Don't forget the notion of an implied warranty.