Uber: Crap/Not-Crap?

[camouflage]

I'd risk it anyway. Imagine, you type in your destination into an uber-style app, and within a matter of minutes your electric scooter is there, you hop on and you are at your destination in 5 mins, you hop off and that's it. We can do this Once we have got rid of the cars, it'll be much safer for everyone

Where do I thrust money at your face in return for this marvellous service? Obvs you will call it Scoober.

 

[skyscraper101]

I've used Uber in five countries now and it seems that the UK restrictions on driver/car eligibility are a lot tougher than elsewhere. Everywhere else I've been picked up in any old (or new) car, and by jobbing students or people working part time for extra cash. But in the UK it seems like everyone is professionally licensed and almost always, like 80% of the time running a Toyota Prius.

I checked out the list of eligible cars for being a driver in the UK and it is very restrictive too. Mostly you have to have something that's very new.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Some American Uber drivers were apparently refusing to pick up blind people.

Uber Forced To Pay Advocacy Group $2.38 Million For Not Picking Up Blind People

 

[Yossarian]

I don't usually get Ubers because I don't want to put taxi drivers out of work, now it's becoming an issue of loyalty to my own species.

DMV to Uber: Yank your self-driving cars — or else

 

[redsquirrel]

Anybody still think these pricks aren't scum?

Last month, Southend council found that two cab drivers it had previously stripped of their licences were using the Uber app to pick up passengers in the area. Nasser Hussain, 60, and Nisar Abbas, 37, had been found to be sharing penalty points for traffic offences with other drivers in order to avoid being banned.

 

[bi0boy]

Anybody still think these pricks aren't scum?

Nasser Hussain and Nisar Abbas may well be scum but I doubt anyone on here would have thought so prior to reading about their exploits.

The problem is that taxi licensing authorities don't talk to each other. For years here we've had South Cambridgeshire licensed drivers operating in a dodgy fashion within Cambridge City, this phenomenon has nothing to do with Uber.

 

[redsquirrel]

Sorry that post isn't very clear. I was meaning Uber rather than the drivers (though they're pricks too)

 

[redsquirrel]

More shit on these pricks.

The New York Times reported that for years Uber used a tool called Greyball to systematically deceive law enforcement officials in cities where its service violated regulations. Officials attempting to hail an Uber during a sting operation were “greyballed” – they might see icons of cars within the app navigating nearby, but no one would come pick them up. The program helped Uber drivers avoid being ticketed.

 

[hash tag]

'Prostitute performs sex act on Uber driver' during journey

 

[NoXion]

To be honest I think the greyballing news is far more important than the news that one of their drivers got noshed off. The former is the company actually trying to circumvent the law, while the latter is the action of one driver and focusing on it is just typical media prurience.

 

[maomao]

'Prostitute performs sex act on Uber driver' during journey

As much as I dislike Uber that's hardly their fault. And not nearly as bad as the London woman who walked out to her car from a large well known firm and found the driver masturbating.

 

[hash tag]

It is one of their drivers that allowed it to heppen!

 

[NoXion]

It is one of their drivers that allowed it to heppen!

So fucking what? I bet there are minicab drivers or black cab drivers who've done sleazy shit, that doesn't reflect on those groups as a whole.

 

[Teaboy]

Yeah of all the things to hang uber out over this isn't one of them. Taxi drivers accepting sexual favours over cash payment is a trope that is as old as taxis themselves. There must be 4 or 5 entries in the profanisaurus about it.

The hairy cheque book, the gash card etc etc.

 

[maomao]

Yeah of all the things to hang uber out over this isn't one of them. Taxi drivers accepting sexual favours over cash payment is a trope that is as old as taxis themselves. There must be 4 or 5 entries in the profanisaurus about it.

The hairy cheque book, the gash card etc etc.

Uber drivers don't take cash.

And I'm in the private hire business myself. I have had drivers done for all sorts of things while they've been working for me. I once had one pulled with six kilos of cocaine in his car while he was on my shift and I'll be fucked if I'm taking any responsibility for that. Uber have over a million drivers worldwide. All operating on their own out of sight of any colleagues. Uber's only responsibility is to investigate properly and if necessary end the working relationship.

 

[Elias Hayes]

I've even used uber and found they are great.

 

[Teaboy]

I've even used uber and found they are great.

Well glad that's solved then. Don't know why we needed 9 pages.

 

[hash tag]

I have never used Uber and I will never use Uber; have you seen the state of their cars, the way they drive Etc.
Can't beat a good old black cab

 

[xsunnysuex]

I used Uber a lot for a while. One journey resulted in a sudden swerve around a car that was pulling out. Resulting in a broken finger for me. Probably wasn't the Uber drivers fault. And probably didn't help that I wasn't belted up in the back seat. Hardly use them these days. But I do on occasion.

 

[hash tag]

Had the driver been paying attention, been a little more cautious, such a dramatic swerve would probably not have been necessary.
You knows what you get with a black cab.

 

[maomao]

Had the driver been paying attention, been a little more cautious, such a dramatic swerve would probably not have been necessary.
You knows what you get with a black cab.

Yeah. Right wing opinions, a bumpy ride and a much higher fare.

 

[hash tag]

I would trust a black cab driver much more than I would a Uber driver, from a driving standards point of view and from a "security" point of view; you knows what you are getting.
FWIW, I think I have used a cab once in the last few years as I normally walk or use the bus!

 

[joustmaster]

I would trust a black cab driver much more than I would a Uber driver, from a driving standards point of view and from a "security" point of view; you knows what you are getting.
FWIW, I think I have used a cab once in the last few years as I normally walk or use the bus!

Why is a black cab better from a security point of view?

 

[hash tag]

All black cab drivers are CRB (or modern equilelent) checked and are licenced.

 

[salem]

As are Uber drivers, with an uber your journey is recorded and tracked. With a black cab you have no idea whose cab you're getting into.

 

[salem]

I have never used Uber and I will never use Uber; have you seen the state of their cars, the way they drive Etc.
Can't beat a good old black cab

State of their cars? Usually a modern quiet, comfortable, clean Prius VS a stinking diesel boneshaker based on ancient tech (still at least the paint is thicker then a Rolls Royce guv)

 

[maomao]

All black cab drivers are CRB (or modern equilelent) checked and are licenced.

So are all Uber drivers (in London at least). They are licensed by exactly the same authority (Public Carriage Office) that licenses black cab drivers and undergo the same CRB as all black cab drivers do. The same licensing process that John Worboys went through.

You'd know this if you'd read the thread by the way cause it's at least the third time I've made the point.

 

[maomao]

State of their cars? Usually a modern quiet, comfortable, clean Prius VS a stinking diesel boneshaker based on ancient tech (still at least the paint is thicker then a Rolls Royce guv)

The Vitos are quite nice.

 

[hash tag]

State of their cars? Usually a modern quiet, comfortable, clean Prius VS a stinking diesel boneshaker based on ancient tech (still at least the paint is thicker then a Rolls Royce guv)

I have seen a few that have been covered in dents and were boardering on not being roadworthy.

 

[salem]

I have seen a few that have been covered in dents and were boardering on not being roadworthy.

How did you know they were Ubers? Are you in London? I use then a lot and have never seen one in less then perfect condition.