Uber

Chat about non-baseball topics. No political discussions!
Post Reply
User avatar
go birds
-go birds
Posts: 31895
Joined: February 5 10, 9:54 am

Re: Uber

Post by go birds »

a majority of their losses come from paying their drivers. which seems odd to me because uber drivers barely make anything and that's before paying for their own gas, insurance, etc.

i was reading awhile back that they were banking on recovering most of those losses when their self-driving cars hit the roads.

but when you think about it, insurance is going to be outrageous.

regarding my comment about the headlights, that was more of a joke in reference to the fact that when uber first started, it was actually a really nice experience. the person picked you up in a nice car, was very courteous to you, and made the ride enjoyable. Now if you want that (or if youre a woman who wants to be ensured of a safe ride home) you have to pay an upcharge.

these days, i've ridden in cars that are barely street legal with some extremely rude drivers.

Lyft is the way to in my mind. Never had one bad experience with lyft.

tlombard
tl;dr
Posts: 5053
Joined: May 21 09, 12:41 pm

Re: Uber

Post by tlombard »

To me the whole 'losses coming from paying the drivers' thing is just BS and has to be designed to try and put the blame for why they aren't profitable on the 'contractors' instead of executives where it should probably be. If the driver doesn't take a fare then they don't pay them a penny so putting the losses on paying drivers who generate the revenue and get nothing but their share of that revenue doesn't seem right to me.

It's almost like a manufacturer who is losing money on every widget sold blaming the store that stocks the widget because they don't get the full price that the customer pays for the product. Not exactly but I can't figure out the best way to put my vague thought into words.

And I've definitely had varying experiences with Uber after the first couple of months as well. What seems to have happened is that cab drivers are just switching over to Uber in increasing numbers and basically running their own cab service with whatever they've got available only without any actual regulations in place. I have literally had Uber drivers who used to drive me home from the bar when they were cab drivers.
Last edited by tlombard on December 21 16, 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
vinsanity
Chili dog truther
Posts: 8772
Joined: July 3 06, 2:19 pm
Location: Indianapolis

Re: Uber

Post by vinsanity »

go birds wrote:when uber first started, it was actually a really nice experience. the person picked you up in a nice car, was very courteous to you, and made the ride enjoyable. Now if you want that (or if youre a woman who wants to be ensured of a safe ride home) you have to pay an upcharge.
It's not really an up-charge. When uber first started it was professional drivers charging the uberblack prices. It used be about $15 for me to get downtown from my house in Uber, before Uberx. Now it's $8 in UberX but UberBlack is $15.

tlombard
tl;dr
Posts: 5053
Joined: May 21 09, 12:41 pm

Re: Uber

Post by tlombard »

Off topic from the financial subject that I'm more interested in but that was always nice when (in the pre-Uber days) the cab showed up and the driver already knew where I was going so I didn't have to try and give directions cutting through the park, dealing with the one way streets that don't go all the way between major roads in my neighborhood, etc. Even just the basic knowledge is nice compared to a new Uber driver who's not familiar at all with the area. I get so frustrated with Uber drivers when they turn on my street and then the navigation tells them to loop around the neighborhood and tries to get them to pick me up in the alley behind my building. The address is XXXX XXXX. You just turned on XXXX and my place is not even 100 yards away. WHY WOULD YOU TURN OFF OF MY F'ING STREET!!!! I'm always outside trying to flag them down before they turn but most don't even pay attention and then I have to walk down to the corner on the other side of my building and flag them down there when they get confused after going around the block. How about you use your brain a little instead of trusting everything the stupid phone tells you to do dummy.

User avatar
go birds
-go birds
Posts: 31895
Joined: February 5 10, 9:54 am

Re: Uber

Post by go birds »

vinsanity wrote:
go birds wrote:when uber first started, it was actually a really nice experience. the person picked you up in a nice car, was very courteous to you, and made the ride enjoyable. Now if you want that (or if youre a woman who wants to be ensured of a safe ride home) you have to pay an upcharge.
It's not really an up-charge. When uber first started it was professional drivers charging the uberblack prices. It used be about $15 for me to get downtown from my house in Uber, before Uberx. Now it's $8 in UberX but UberBlack is $15.
guess it depends on when uber was introduced to your city.

While i was in San francisco a few years back, uber was fairly new and there were two options--regular uber and the premium service.

A few months later, it came to nashville, and there were two options. Both were nice, but there was no need for the second option unless you had several people needing a ride all at once.

it seems as if the service started going downhill once they started introducing more ride options.

And the NON-RAPE option for women was definitely an upcharge at one point, though that may have changed.

User avatar
go birds
-go birds
Posts: 31895
Joined: February 5 10, 9:54 am

Re: Uber

Post by go birds »

tlombard wrote:Off topic from the financial subject that I'm more interested in but that was always nice when (in the pre-Uber days) the cab showed up and the driver already knew where I was going so I didn't have to try and give directions cutting through the park, dealing with the one way streets that don't go all the way between major roads in my neighborhood, etc. Even just the basic knowledge is nice compared to a new Uber driver who's not familiar at all with the area. I get so frustrated with Uber drivers when they turn on my street and then the navigation tells them to loop around the neighborhood and tries to get them to pick me up in the alley behind my building. The address is XXXX XXXX. You just turned on XXXX and my place is not even 100 yards away. WHY WOULD YOU TURN OFF OF MY F'ING STREET!!!! I'm always outside trying to flag them down before they turn but most don't even pay attention and then I have to walk down to the corner on the other side of my building and flag them down there when they get confused after going around the block. How about you use your brain a little instead of trusting everything the stupid phone tells you to do dummy.
this is a good rant. I have to explain my location literally every single time i call for an uber and that's if they even call anymore. It used to be when they arrived they would call or text. That rarely happens anymore. They park a block away and wait on me. The last few times ive taken uber, I've had to call them and ask them if theyve actually arrive. "oh yea, im waiting at so and so." "oh that's not anywhere near where i live but it's not worth the trouble so i'll come to you".

hell cabs here in nashville dont know where they are going half the time either.

User avatar
Joe Shlabotnik
Hall Of Famer
Posts: 23103
Joined: October 12 06, 2:21 pm
Location: Baseball Ref Bullpen
Contact:

Re: Uber

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

Uber, as a company, sucks. I would never ride with them.

tlombard
tl;dr
Posts: 5053
Joined: May 21 09, 12:41 pm

Re: Uber

Post by tlombard »

Here's another good one. Recently I booked an Uber home from a bar and the driver pulled up IN A CAB!!! He was double dipping and taking whatever came through the cab company or Uber. What kind of garbage is that???

I absolutely can't stand their management and the garbage they try to get away with and how they act like nothing is their responsibility when things go wrong... but because everybody else uses Uber these days it is getting harder to get a cab at times and Uber is just so much quicker that I use it when I just really need to get home like after the bar closes when I don't want to sit around out front waiting on a cab. I do try and use cabs as much as possible though. Normally I take a cab to the bar and then Uber home. I'll actually try and book both via the apps on my phone when leaving the bar and as soon as one accepts the fare I'll cancel the other. 90% of the time Uber is the first to accept and I can cancel the cab before a driver even accepts the trip. I figure that hurts nobody. I wish the cab would be faster since I'm so close that the price is only a dollar or two different but when I've been drinking for a few hours I'm taking the first ride I can get. I'm sure not driving home but then again, I am terrified of drinking and driving after seeing so many friends and family get DUIs that I never even drive to the bar in the first place so I can't do anything stupid.

I was talking to a semi-regular at the bar a few months ago and he used to be a cab driver but now drives for Uber. He said that Laclede has lowered the daily rate to use the cab. They've either reduced or cut out entirely the processing fee for credit cards (can't remember which) and drivers are still leaving left and right. That is really hurting the cab companies because in the end they are paying insurance and maintenance and everything for those cabs whether somebody is driving them or they are sitting on the lot. They make their money off of renting the cabs to the drivers whether the driver ever picks up a fare or sits at home with it. If they don't have drivers, they're in trouble.

tlombard
tl;dr
Posts: 5053
Joined: May 21 09, 12:41 pm

Re: Uber

Post by tlombard »

I'm surprised that Uber hasn't come out after their self driving car blew a red light the other week and tried to claim that they because they are 'innovators' or whatever that normal traffic laws don't apply to them. They try and claim that no other regulations apply to their business model so why not just keep on going and claim traffic laws don't either?

User avatar
pioneer98
Hall Of Famer
Posts: 22249
Joined: July 15 08, 8:24 pm
Location: High A Minors

Re: Uber

Post by pioneer98 »

Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture
Uber’s aggressive workplace culture spilled out at a global all-hands meeting in late 2015 in Las Vegas, where the company hired Beyoncé to perform at the rooftop bar of the Palms Hotel. Between bouts of drinking and gambling, Uber employees did cocaine in the bathrooms at private parties, said three attendees, and a manager groped several female employees. (The manager was eventually terminated.) One employee hijacked a private shuttle bus, filled it with friends and took it for a joy ride, the attendees said.

Post Reply