What's your Uber experience?

[Pushka]

They dont know the destination until theyve accepted the ride.

Ok. They always know where I'm going when I get in so I presumed that meant from the get go. In which case some angst on short trips makes sense.

 

[Skyring]

I think Skyring has hinted at the quantum of "great money" as uber suggests uber partners may make. The consensus is that you can't make a reasonable livIng out of it.

I wonder how superior it will be when more taxi drivers jump over to uber (and carrying over some of their legacy taxi culture)

My observations are that there is and always has been a large overlap between the set of Uber drivers and the set of taxi drivers.

They each have their advantages. Taxis can accept street hails and use taxi ranks, for example.

There are still some excellent cabbies around. I recently spotted a gent from my cabbing days who is the epitome of honesty and reliability. Still driving, six years after I gave it away.

And there are a great number of scoundrels. Who are the reason I left. Hard to compete with the crooks.

Uber has more transparency, a greater consideration for the passenger, better systems. Not perfect, but overall it's a better product.

 

[Skyring]

Ok. They always know where I'm going when I get in so I presumed that meant from the get go. In which case some angst on short trips makes sense.

It makes no sense at all. Getting stressed over a few dollars is no way to live one's life.

I'll accept pretty much any Uber ping, even if it's a twenty minute drive to pick up. It means I'm the closest car (or the closest car willing to take the job) and someone has pressed the button, wanting a lift. If they hang on, once they can see how far away I am, they really need me.

Long drives to pick up rarely mean short rides.

And if they do, so what? It's the luck of the draw. At the end of the shift, it evens out. I'll make roughly the same money whatever I do.

Short rides with experienced Uber passengers are also an excellent source of five star ratings. If the elderly passenger is used to getting grumpy Uber drivers on their regular trips back from the supermarket with a bag or two of groceries, then they will appreciate someone who treats them like a human being instead of an inconvenience all the more.

And if a driver really really cares about the few dollars less a short fare means, they should find something else to do.

 

[Skyring]

Maybe Skyring will share some knowledge on the net return to an Australian Uber driver, and I suspect then that a tip / gratuity isn't such a bad idea. The general consensus is that Uber is a superior service compared to taxis, yet a taxi will cost you roughly half to 3 times the same trip in an Uber.

My net per hour (before income tax) is $15.45 average over the two financial years I've been driving, according to my spreadsheet.

That's after paying the car expenses, so I pay for the car and I make a bit extra for travel. That's part-time, four hours a weekday.

I'm enjoying it, but I'm not super-tired all the time like I was as a cabbie.

I think tipping Uber drivers is a bad idea, because Uber will see it as an excuse to drop rates, and drivers will start badgering passengers for tips, either overtly, or by being obsequious.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Another two Uber rides and both very enjoyable. Admittedly one guy turned up like he just got out of bed, but he was very quick and a neighbour. I'd never met him before but we had a great chat and he started talking about how my son had told him all about solar (we have a large array) so I asked him if he knew my son. He replied "yep, I bring him home after the nightclubs lots of times ... great kid". I guess that should be seen as a positive!

 

[aaronm]

I've had nothing but positive experiences with Uber, especially for airport trips. Half the price of a cab, far more pleasant drivers and cars, and they show up quickly. Have had a few work-home trips lately in the middle of the day, only a 10 minute trip and I do feel kind of guilty when the fare is only $7 or so. I'd be quite happy if the minimum trip price was a little higher to compensate, maybe $10 is a more reasonable minimum.

 

[dajop]

Have started using Grab in Singapore - two rides so far and both very quick to arrive and found me straight away (uber has been hit and miss), I guess so far only small sample size. Have noticed it is 10% more expensive than uber - but seems to have more driver, maybe that explains quick pickups. And now I'm back to email receipts - which means I can send straight to expense claim system instead of mucking around with screen shots (uber just won't solve the issue I am having with email receipts not coming to me - their customer service is woeful).

I also used Uber in Jakarta a couple of weeks ago - not a fan as unlike most places i've caught uber tolls not automatically added - which rather defeats the purpose of taking uber (either that or I was ripped off, but usually uber lists tolls separately and no such item on the receipt).

 

[kyanar]

Tried using Uber in Miami, bloody terrible. Every single pickup thus far has been cancelled by the driver, with a rebooking attempt - surprise, surprise! - showing a 2.4x surge. Lyft, by contrast, has been mostly excellent (except for the one with the trainee driver that didn't speak any English, kept going up one way roads the wrong way, and took 90 minutes to go 12 miles).

Can definitely say I won't be sad to see Uber finally collapse under the weight of its own arrogance.

 

[Skyring]

Tried using Uber in Miami, bloody terrible. Every single pickup thus far has been cancelled by the driver, with a rebooking attempt - surprise, surprise! - showing a 2.4x surge. Lyft, by contrast, has been mostly excellent (except for the one with the trainee driver that didn't speak any English, kept going up one way roads the wrong way, and took 90 minutes to go 12 miles).

Can definitely say I won't be sad to see Uber finally collapse under the weight of its own arrogance.

Uber should get onto drivers gaming the system like this. I guess they don't because they make more money out of surge fares, as does the driver.

Yes, that's my biggest gripe about Uber. Their horrid corporate ethics. They don't pay their fair share of taxes - Uber Australia is run out of the Netherlands, for example, and they pay no GST, passing that burden onto the driver, who therefore is paying the ATO 10% of the entire fare, even though he only gets 75% of what the passenger pays.

They drop rates when they reach a certain driver/passenger percentage. Sure, there's more passengers, but drivers have to work longer to make the same money. Eventually there aren't enough hours in the day.

They advertise the gross fare amounts to drivers, saying they can make (say) $35 an hour, not mentioning that they then take their 25% cut, the driver has to pay the full 10% GST, the cost of fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, phone data, water, mints and all the rest of it is borne by the driver. Before paying income tax. Drivers won't get rich working for Uber.

They promote guaranteed returns for specific periods, such as Saturday nights or early mornings. Yes, you might get $25/hour guaranteed, but that's the gross figure, it's spread over the whole time you're online, and there are conditions, such as being in the (undefined) core area and not rejecting more than 10% of jobs. Those bonus dollars can be very hard to come by.

Basically, they are misleading and evasive in their business model. That doesn't inspire confidence and it's not a recipe for long-term success anywhere but in Trump's America.

 

[dajop]

Yes, that's my biggest gripe about Uber. Their horrid corporate ethics. They don't pay their fair share of taxes - Uber Australia is run out of the Netherlands, for example, and they pay no GST,

Yes they are providing (most of the time) a reasonable product but their ethics seem rather low. Likewise in Singapore the show is run out of Netherlands - and charges come out of Netherlands too, so you take a ride in SG, use a SG credit card and pay in SGD and you, as the customer, get charged a foreign transaction fee by your bank. For my card it is only 0.8% (trivial, especially if earning 1.2 KF miles/$) - but some cards have higher charges. Their main rival, Grab processes locally, so you don't incur such a fee.

 

[Deleted member]

And they choose to take the trip knowing the destination.

How so? (Extra letters)

 

[Pushka]

How so? (Extra letters)

Already asked and responded to.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Another comparison.
Uber yesterday CNS to H-CNS = $13.79
Taxi this morning H-CNS to CNS = $31.10

I've never paid that much for that route in the past, so I'm thinking the taxi had an early surcharge (05:15) but normally I expect $25 in a taxi.

 

[scwappy]

I don't use cabs as they are far too expensive. I try to use GoCatch where possible as I don't like Uber as a company but availability is no where near as good

 

[Daver6]

I needed to get to Perth airport on Monday morning. I normally just use Uber, but with the QF points and Amex statement credit I thought I'd try the Ingogo taxi app. I installed it a few days in advance and set-up my account.

Monday morning I go to use the app to order a taxi. Pretty easy enough to do, confirming pick-up, destination and price. It tells me usual pick-up time is 4-6 minutes. I push the order button and wait about 4 minutes while it looks for available taxis. I'm trying to figure out how to just cancel when a taxi accepts my booking. Only issue is it estimates 15 minutes to pick-up. I figure out how to cancel, order an Uber and am on my way within 3 minutes. Oh, and paid $31 instead of $52 which the taxi would have cost.

 

[Deleted member]

It never ceases to amaze me how governments know that a corporation is fudging the system, yet choose to do nothing about it.
why not pass a law specific to Uber. something along the lines of " if you headquarter off shore, then you will pay a flat tax (say 15%-20%) on t/o regardless of any operating expenses.
the little guy gets screwed everyday by successive governments. heck if I tried this kind of nonsense, I would be closed down in no time flat. its bully boy tactics, plain and simple.

Uber should get onto drivers gaming the system like this. I guess they don't because they make more money out of surge fares, as does the driver.

Yes, that's my biggest gripe about Uber. Their horrid corporate ethics. They don't pay their fair share of taxes - Uber Australia is run out of the Netherlands, for example, and they pay no GST, passing that burden onto the driver, who therefore is paying the ATO 10% of the entire fare, even though he only gets 75% of what the passenger pays.

They drop rates when they reach a certain driver/passenger percentage. Sure, there's more passengers, but drivers have to work longer to make the same money. Eventually there aren't enough hours in the day.

They advertise the gross fare amounts to drivers, saying they can make (say) $35 an hour, not mentioning that they then take their 25% cut, the driver has to pay the full 10% GST, the cost of fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, phone data, water, mints and all the rest of it is borne by the driver. Before paying income tax. Drivers won't get rich working for Uber.

They promote guaranteed returns for specific periods, such as Saturday nights or early mornings. Yes, you might get $25/hour guaranteed, but that's the gross figure, it's spread over the whole time you're online, and there are conditions, such as being in the (undefined) core area and not rejecting more than 10% of jobs. Those bonus dollars can be very hard to come by.

Basically, they are misleading and evasive in their business model. That doesn't inspire confidence and it's not a recipe for long-term success anywhere but in Trump's America.

 

[moa999]

something along the lines of " if you headquarter off shore, then you will pay a flat tax (say 15%-20%) on t/o regardless of any operating expenses. .

Completely agree but that would also impact plenty of other companies including software, entertainment, even one supermarket chain.

Not that Australian companies are immune with history of companies shifting corporate headquarters or energy companies using marketing desks in Asia to sell commodities produced in Australia

 

[QF WP]

I needed to get to Perth airport on Monday morning. I normally just use Uber, but with the QF points and Amex statement credit I thought I'd try the Ingogo taxi app. I installed it a few days in advance and set-up my account.

Monday morning I go to use the app to order a taxi. Pretty easy enough to do, confirming pick-up, destination and price. It tells me usual pick-up time is 4-6 minutes. I push the order button and wait about 4 minutes while it looks for available taxis. I'm trying to figure out how to just cancel when a taxi accepts my booking. Only issue is it estimates 15 minutes to pick-up. I figure out how to cancel, order an Uber and am on my way within 3 minutes. Oh, and paid $31 instead of $52 which the taxi would have cost.

Glad to hear I won't be the only one to only earn 250 QFF bonus points and switch back to Uber. I had $48 from Airport to Hilton in Mill Street and was expecting more like you paid Uber. Never again. Glorified taxi ordering service - the only benefit picking up from PER airport was that I walked to the rideshare zoze rather than the taxi rank (I'd arrived with a bunch of other people at the same time)

 

[dajop]

OK. Grab again tonight this time from SIN - painless and quicker than Uber (car reached pickup point before I did). I encourage those travelling in SE Asia to look at both Grab and Uber when here, and see what works best.

 

[QF WP]

We had our first use of Uber Select this morning to get from home to airport (family of 2, 2 bags + 4 carry-on).

First tried UberX and first car that accepted was a Starlet or similar. Wasn't going to fit us in so cancelled straight away.

Went up to Select as no Black available. We also have discount code in wife's new Uber account.

A BMW X5 turned up from nearby suburb (a local) so had a great ride.