GatewayRedbirds.com

Ever been haiku
about Uber? No? Market
pricing is hot, bros.

Well, I guess I'll be trying Uber for the first time tomorrow. I'm doing the barcycle with some friends in Soulard and I was just going to take a bus there and then a cab home since I can walk three blocks to catch a bus that will drop me off right in front of McGurk's where we are meeting the thing but in talking to a girl I met Sunday who is joining us... it was decided that she'll get an Uber and pick me up and get us there and then I'll get us home in an Uber. And we'll both use that first time customer promo to save us even more compared to cabs so that works well.

Pretty tired of hearing the slobber and jizz for Uber. Again, their short-term play is no benefits for anyone, creating drivers-be-damned demand, and raising that VC until they've built a bridge to God. Their long term play is not having any people to treat one way or another. In a society that is increasingly concerned about wealth distribution, this should be more alarming.

Taxi companies are horrible, and needed to be disrupted. But this is one hell of an ugly unicorn. If I read/hear one more guy brag about being an early investor in Uber, (Chris Sacca on Shark Tank, most recently), well... I guess I'll just throw up again.

I finally caved and used Uber for the first time on Christmas Eve. Good lord Uber is cheap. I was going to take the Metrolink to Belleville, IL and then have somebody grab me from there since my aunt and uncle are close but decided to get an estimate from Uber. From 44 and Vandeventer they got me all the way to Belleville for $33. And I had a code for my first ride which knocked that price down another $15 although I insisted the guy take a $20 tip from me since it was Christmas Eve and I took him a long way from home. He was also cool enough to make a detour and drive past my destination to find a Walgreen's because I realized at the last minute that I had forgotten something.

After finally using it, Laclede Cab's app works every bit as good as Uber and in almost the exact same way and has for years. While I enjoyed my ride, I have to say that the driver had me worried for a minute though. As we were chatting on the way over all of a sudden he asked me if I would freak out if he showed me something and started digging in his center console. I said I wouldn't but had no idea where he was going with it and was honestly a bit worried. Then he hands me his work ID. He works for the same company that I do. Small world. I think I mentioned the deal with our company being bought recently and that was enough for him to make the connection. Then we had a lot more in common to talk about.

Anyway, I still plan on sticking to cabs when I need a ride but will consider Uber for anything a decent distance even though I'm still not a fan of the people running the company. I'm OK with the idea itself but I don't trust the company is actually doing their background checks and I really don't like their response any time something does happen with one of their drivers.

Uber made the cover of my local newspaper this month. And by local, I mean created on my computer.

[SHOW]

http://www.portlandbugle.com

I've started using Uber some and I still don't like the people running the company but otherwise it works great. I just wish their stupid navigation system wouldn't keep directing the drivers to the alley behind my apartment. It sends them on some five minute loop to get there when if they had any sense they would just keep going straight the five doors down to my building.

I still always try to use Laclede Cab and will always book with them first but if there isn't a cab on the way to me within five minutes, I'll book with Uber also and take whoever accepts first. Normally it is Uber.

We've pretty much stopped using Uber since we left South Carolina last Fall. It seems to be pretty common throughout the Twin Cities proper, but we live in pretty much the farthest east suburb (30-40 minutes to downtown Minneapolis, 20 minutes to downtown St. Paul), and there is zero Uber presence here. We're fine to catch an Uber if we are in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul and are drunk and need a ride home, but if we're staying in our town/area and drinking, we're stuck with waiting a long time for a cab. We've tried, and no Uber driver accepts our request on our app because they're too far away initially.

I mean, I can't necessarily say I blame them. The business is in the downtown metro, not the far suburbs.

Some industrious individual has a real opportunity in Austin now, if he could find a way to treat people alright. Are people pissed there?

tlombard wrote:I've started using Uber some and I still don't like the people running the company but otherwise it works great. I just wish their stupid navigation system wouldn't keep directing the drivers to the alley behind my apartment. It sends them on some five minute loop to get there when if they had any sense they would just keep going straight the five doors down to my building.

I still always try to use Laclede Cab and will always book with them first but if there isn't a cab on the way to me within five minutes, I'll book with Uber also and take whoever accepts first. Normally it is Uber.

Have you tried typing in your address?

I signed up to drive and my background check has been pending for 62 days. While I appreciate their scrupulousness, it seems like it's taking too long.

Oh yeah. I've typed in my address. It shows the right address. The stupid GPS just keeps sending them all the way around one way streets to get to the alley (which is one way in the opposite direction of my actual street). About half of the drivers are smart enough to figure it out and just keep going straight. I even stand on the curb to the street to book. A few of the drivers have told me that the GPS does that constantly in areas with alleys and/or one way streets.

My annoyance isn't really with GPS, I get that it isn't exactly easy to program a system to account for every weird thing that humans do with roads and such but the drivers should have the sense to know that if they turn on Flad, can see that the street ends in 100 yards... they probably shouldn't take a detour that takes them off of Flad when my address is on Flad.