What's your Uber experience?

[N860CR]

That was just using the estimate... I haven't tried it yet. Also quotes DFO to Domestic as $18... Maybe it's out or something

 

[TheRealTMA]

After taxi in Seattle didn't turn meter on, didn't know where the (popular) restaurant was, and tried to charge $25 for a $7 fare, I've become a bit of an uber convert, especially for overseas US trips. We used uber exclusively after that in Seattle and Portland. The price was what they estimated, the driver followed the sat nav ( which routed us nicely around a very heavy traffic snarl) and we didn't have to pay in cash nor worry about the tip. And we could call an uber via web phone without dealing with local phone numbers.

Maybe we'll use them locally more now... Dunno.

 

[puppysparkes]

Is uber in Bris more expensive than Sydney?

I just did a fare estimate from the Valley to the domestic terminal and its estimating up to $65 for the 14km trip.

The most I've paid from west end to the domestic airport is $37, airport link toll included. What rate were you charged? I have been charged $29 for a 3.6km ride which took 15min, toll included (surge rate). I normally walk that trip but there were severe storms that day.

 

[doctau]

Is uber in Bris more expensive than Sydney?

I just did a fare estimate from the Valley to the domestic terminal and its estimating up to $65 for the 14km trip.

I paid $38 for the city end of the valley to the domestic airport last Thursday (including toll). The normal taxi back was $56.

 

[NinnyPoo]

I use them most "taxi" trips in Singapore now and am very happy. Also used in China - very good with Uber Black in an Audi A6 in Shanghai, but not so good in Hangzhou where two did not turn up.

 

[opusman]

I posted this in another thread:

Been using UberX quite a bit the past few weeks in South America and it has pretty much been great - particularly in Peru where it seems to be the only way to get a "metered" taxi that you don't need to negotiate a price with in advance. 10Km trips taking over half an hour in Lima traffic only end up costing around $7. And some of the drivers even offer you bottled water and mints!

 

[Major]

I used Uber yesterday for the first time and was impressed with the service. Watching the little car arriving on your smartphone map is really neat.
Young guy, who was a careful driver, also offered a bottle of water.
I also like the follow up invoice showing the route taken and the opportunity to rate your driver.
No stuffing around with cash or trying to work out what tip, if any, you offer.

A great service. They will do well.

The Australian taxi industry is long overdue for an overhaul.

 

[TheTravellingWino]

I will only use UBER now. Uber X is fantastic as the cars are clean, have always been offered a bottle of water and the fares are great. Uber Black is also worth it for Short to Medium trips around Sydney.

 

[blackcat20]

Used it to get home from a dinner in Richmond, depsite being only a block from the train station. Home in 20 minutes for $30 is well worth it in my mind.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

The new lower uberx prices in melbourne have converted me from using public transportation at times!

 

[puppysparkes]

I finally got to meet an uber x driver for the second time on Sunday in BNE. Glad I did as it was BMW 5 series.

 

[Timtammi]

Uber black in Shanghai a couple of weeks ago was great. Not cheap but really comfortable in a black Audi. They have people's uber there as the entry level service, I wasn't game to try it but would be interested in hearing from anyone who has.

 

[Moindardt]

We were in Sydney for the weekend. Because there is 6 of us, we need Maxi-taxis or SUV's. Over the weekend, we took 3 Maxi-taxi's and 1 Uber black SUV.

All 3 Maxi-taxi were Tarago's with Wheelchair lifts. The first one, I went off my dial after the third time he went more than a foot outside his lane, while texting at 80km/hr. There was a heap more times he was on the line. Not even a sorry. The second one, I lost it when he went out of his lane the second time while posting on a forum. The third one started to text and I had really had enough and told him so. I won't go into the profiling side of it. All 3 you could barely see out the front window from all the devices they had up on them.

In contrast, the Uber Black SUV was an Audi Q7. The driver was exceptional as was the car. It may have cost a little more, but given we had to call him, it would have been about the same price. Nothing I could even think of faulting.

It was like comparing dodgy backpackers with a 5 star hotel. Will definitely order one, next time I need one.

 

[teamhamsandwich]

They have people's uber there as the entry level service, I wasn't game to try it but would be interested in hearing from anyone who has.

I catch peoples uber a few times a week. It's great. Often they speak really good english as well.

Only downside to uber in china is they call you straight away. I can't speak chinese. The whole point of the gps in the app is so I can tell the driver exactly where I am. Why the need to call me? It just makes things awkward.

 

[Timtammi]

That's interesting they didn't call me when I used Uber Black in Shanghai.

 

[smit0847]

All 3 Maxi-taxi were Tarago's with Wheelchair lifts. The first one, I went off my dial after the third time he went more than a foot outside his lane, while texting at 80km/hr. There was a heap more times he was on the line. Not even a sorry. The second one, I lost it when he went out of his lane the second time while posting on a forum. The third one started to text and I had really had enough and told him so. I won't go into the profiling side of it. All 3 you could barely see out the front window from all the devices they had up on them.

I hope you rated them badly. Uber doesnt want these drivers anymore than you do.

 

[Moindardt]

I hope you rated them badly. Uber doesnt want these drivers anymore than you do.

Maybe we call things different up here. Maxi-Taxi's are the large Taxi's. Not Uber.

My point was the Uber driver was fantastic where as traditional taxi service was abysmal.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Cannot get a taxi in Bordeaux today as they are all on strike and have airport / train stations etc blockaded as protest to the UberX parasites or whatever they call themselves working in Bordeaux - good luck to them too.

 

[burmans]

Had an interesting conversation with my daughter after the news on last night about the guys trying to arrest UberX drivers at the airport. I was saying I thought Uber was better but she then raised the suggestion that she wouldnt go on Uber due to safety issues, and raised the point that when she gets in a taxi she takes a note of the cab no and texts it to her mother.

I then suggested we deconstruct this argument.

1. Are we suggesting that cab drivers cannot be dangerous? Answer no - there was a case last year where a cab driver raped about 12 women.
2. Are then cabs safer than Uber? This was when she raised the point about taking the taxi number.
3. I then raised the point that the fact that the reason that the taxi driver was not caught quickly was
a) There is no obvious record of who catches which taxi/when. (The fact she feels that she has to sms the taxi number to her mother is in itself an admission that there is a flaw in their security/safety arrangements.)
b) even if we know the taxi number the taxi isn't tracked, so there is no corroborating evidence that the cab driver did take these women
Not entirely sure what the situation here was but would suggest (a) was a major problem then (b) compounded.
4. Whereas with Uber, the cars are GPS tracked so we have a record of which car picked, where, when and how they went from there.

My view, and Im keen to know what others feel is that while getting into a car with an unknown person will always be a risk, I actually feel the Uber experience provides more info to at least ensure an offender of this type gets caught quickly, and hence as a parent I would feel more comfortable.

There is of course a registration system for taxi drivers and I would be supportive of such being required for Uber/UberX as well but frankly, seeing the buch of taxi drivers on the show last night, there is no strong evidential support to suggest this has raised the standard much for taxi drivers.

 

[Alanslegal]

I had exactly the same discussion here at work with two girls in my team - primarily they are concerned that there is a bigger risk with UberX drivers. One even said, the same thing as your daughter, that when they catch a taxi late at night she would call a friend advising they are inside the taxi and that they should arrive home by X time - and loud enough so the driver could here (so s/he wouldn't try anything!). I told her if you had to resort to that, then you assume drivers can't be trusted.

I gave her some of the pro's ... like the fare is estimated before you accept, you are advised of the driver and the vehicle so you know who's coming, there is GPS tracking on your phone & the drivers phone so if you dispute the fare, it is easily retrievable, if you lose your phone, you can work out which car you were in, if anything bad happens which can happen in any mode of public transport, at least you have a record. I even went one step further and said, at least with Uber you automatically get a record of the driver and car registration whilst in almost all cases, when you get in a taxi they would never record the taxi plate down anyway.