Uber London’s licence to operate

My experience with Gett, so far, has been good. Solved the problem of not knowing when a taxi would arrive, being able to track my route, definitely being able to pay by card, being able to rate the driver, being able to contact the driver.

Whenever I’ve used Uber you also get charged for time spent idling, just possibly at a lower rate?

I think it is more expensive than Uber (don’t know against Lyft/ Grab) but my main problem wasn’t price, it was the above. I only use taxi’s for occasional short trips though, I would possibly feel differently if using them more regularly/ for longer trips.

I don’t even like Uber (I use Gett instead) however I believe that the market should be the one deciding - everyone should be allowed and people should vote with their wallets. If Uber was that bad nobody would be using it and they’d be out of business since long ago, and yet they’re still alive and well.

Granting an artificial monopoly to black cabs or some other Uber competitor is just as scummy to the other companies as Uber itself.

2 Likes

Whilst I am appalled by the previous uber company culture, I think that the new CEO will turn things around and so I’m willing to support them.

I was a very early user of uber in Silicon Valley and it transformed the way I went out. Taxis in that area were such a pain to use that I would use my hire car to go out in the evening. With uber it was so simple to organise a car and relatively cheap, I’d use them to go to the restaurant and happily have a glass or two of wine with my meal, knowing I would not be driving back to the hotel.

In London I use uber all the time - often it is cheaper and faster than the tube if there are two or more of you.

So they should fix their corporate issues, but be allowed to operate

1 Like

I’ve only had positive experiences with uber, my household use it circa 6 times a week and with young kids we view it as opening up the whole of london to us, affordably. We’ve compared to black cabs, Gett and Addison Lee and simply cannot get a better deal than uber. To us, unless someone else steps up, it would be disastrous if uber disappeared.

1 Like

I’ve honestly never had a bad experience with Uber.

I went to London for the first time this week for an interview and my flight from Glasgow > Stansted was 40 minutes late, meaning I only made it into central London roughly 5 minutes before my interview was due to start. If it wasn’t for Uber I’d have been even more stressed than I already was. It’s a bit like McDonald’s when you go abroad - it’s always the same thing for the most part, so it’s familiar and you know how everything works. Regardless of where you go, Uber still generally functions the same way. I don’t know what I’d have done if I had to try and find my way to a taxi rank or hurriedly try to order a private taxi.

That said, they obviously have some problems, so it’d be nice to see them clean things up because their product is genuinely great. It’d be a shame to have to fall back to less convenient options when I’m next in London.

2 Likes

I have used Uber for years, I found them cheap and reliable and never had any issues with them however when they kept blocking my account I reverted back to my local company who are much cheaper than Uber ex. £4.90 fixed from the pub home in local or £7-9 in an Uber normally circa £8.

The local company can be ordered by app and have the same setup as Uber, only difference is that they are unreliable on a Thurs to Sat Night or when I need them in a rush so that is where Uber comes in.

For me I don’t care if Uber stay or go, I did with out them before and don’t really need them now.

I’ve not been charged for the time spent idling, I’d didn’t know that was a thing? I spent 30min stuck in traffic and it was roughly the same price back from town

I checked this, as I was sure I had seen it before.

The trip fare you see at the end of a ride is calculated by taking into account:

  • base fare: the price for pickup
  • time: from start to end of a trip
  • distance: miles or kilometers of route
  • surge pricing (if applicable)
  • tolls and other fees (if applicable)

Seems like they got it back after a court battle, thankfully!

3 Likes

Glad to see this!

1 Like

Uber is good coz they have cars everywhere but people should look to their local companies again, Uber is really expensive now so not worth it unless I need a car fast.

That’s just it though isn’t it - I’ve never ever planned ahead to want a taxi. It’s usually the end of a night out, or returning home after buying more than I intended and it’s too awkward to get on the tube. I remember years back you might have said your night out had to end at 1am as there would be a taxi outside waiting, but I don’t think anyone I know has done that in a long, long time. Being able to see on a map that there are cars nearby, and have them arrive within a few minutes of you deciding it’s time to leave, is exactly why people keep using them, and paying for the convenience.

3 Likes

My local has GPS on all their cars as well now which is just like Uber the only thing though on a Friday/Saturday night they are unreliable so that’s when Uber comes in.

I have never seen a local company anything like as cheap as Uber, especially one that doesn’t get awkward about taking cards

4 Likes

This is the same journey using my local vs Uber, Uber will be on the highest side of the cost due to the distance. My local is fixed cost and also takes card no issue.

IMG_2079

IMG_2078

1 Like

I’d better move into your house then :wink:

1 Like

Uber has never been great over long distances because it’s not designed for that. It’s designed for quick, cheap and short distances that normally only span a city or area within a city.

One local cab company actually doing it right does not mean the entire industry is. It’s great that yours has moved on with the times but far too many haven’t.

That example was a 7 mile journey so not that far but a short quick journey then say from my house to town 2.9 miles away is £5.65 fixed Uber would be £9+

A lot of local companies use Cordic and that has the tracking system now so it’s not that difficult to obtain.

1 Like

I don’t know the specifics of where you live but sorry, I don’t think the majority of local cab firms are even close to this yet. You have an example but there are hundreds more where it isn’t the case.

Like I said, Uber works on the assumption that you can get a lot of fares in a short space of time. If you live outside a major city then the costs go up because they are less likely to pick a fare up at the other end of your journey or on their way back. In London, Manchester etc they are almost guaranteed to have people wanting rides at the end so there is no “return” cost that most cab firms have (back to the depot).

All the times I’ve used Uber I haven’t had a bad experience and not to mention it’s considerably a lot cheaper than if I was to use a black cab or other taxi companies.

2 Likes