Uber

[Flute56]

I am abroad at the moment and using uber for the first time to get around and it just occurred to me that if ubers are very match cheaper how can mini cab offices keep going because I'm pretty sure someone would want to pay cheaper price for their journey using uber because you get me from the airport to home is 53 pounds but with an uber it would probably be about 20 pounds which quite frankly I would prefer to do because it won't cost as much but the only thing stopping me from using uber before was you have to give your card details to the company but I found out that it's quite safe and you can get an uber faster than a mini cab because sometimes when I have phoned my local mini cab office to get her cab to go somewhere they sometimes say we have no cabs available for about 20 minutes but the only thing I don't like with an uber is it if you don't take the journey they will still charge you and able to charge you a cancellation fee if you cancel the uber

Why don't some people like uber drivers because the uber drivers that I've had since using uber abroad have been pleasant and friendly but with my local mini cab office back home I have found that some of the drivers are not so nice because if you book a journey and there's very heavy traffic and you have to be somewhere at a certain time you suggest a quicker route to save the traffic and they don't like it and they say we are the driver we go this way don't argue if you don't like it get out now and those particular drivers I have refused to use again one particular driver whenever I went back to my mini cab office because I dared to suggest cutting the traffic he said I'm not using her again so when I booked the cab and they said this is the car and the drivers saw who I was he said I'm not taking her

Te ARA sing I have found is that with a local taxi office I was journey back from Sainsbury's and the driver took the long way round so I said oh this is the long way round it's more expensive and the lady driver said no this is not more expensive and when we got home it was more expensive side complained to the office and they said they would have a word with her because they told me that what she charged was not the regular cost for that journey and I think she was trying it on just to get more money out of me

We don't have Uber in my area so use a local firm

I'm in mondo , no mini cab offices left here all Uber.

I didn't know Uber was cheaper

Why is it cheaper?

I love using Ubers when I’m holiday, this year I’ve used them in New York and Doha and the longest time I’ve had to wait for one is a minute. They appear like magic!
I always choose the not to talk option and that suits me well.

We don’t have uber in our area yet, but I know the taxi drivers for our local firm are concerned about it coming.

When I tried to book a taxi cab to the airport and they gave me the cost I said to them oh and uber would be cheaper and the controller said to me I wouldn't know I don't know anything about uber I don't believe him

I've just been reading about the safety of women using ubers and the fact that uber drivers can and have raped women

Mini Cab prices are ridiculous (and also their drivers are as capable of assaulting a woman as an Uber driver is).

In my experience the price point is less by about 15%.
from the airport to my moms by taxi $30 plus tip, Uber $24
From my mom’s to the hospital $40, return by cab $55.
The assault history I believe was long ago however I suppose any cab driver could potentially do similar.
You can prebook trips.
I like that there’s no cash exchange, I’ve been fortunate in that all my drivers were interesting. My last driver was from Nigeria, studying mental health nursing whilst working at the prison.

Largely as the utilisation is higher than 'normal" cabs, but running cost may also be lower as they don't require a local cab office.

Uber's is also run at a loss (in most financial years) to dominate the market.

I don't understand it because a few hours ago I checked the price of an uber going from my home to Heathrow Airport and the cost came up at 56 pounds but that was based on the time being in the evening and I have been told that the price is cheaper if you call an uber during the day so I just put in the same details because in the UK it is morning time and the price had increased from 56 pounds to 77 pounds I have never ever paid 77 pounds to get from home to Heathrow using my local mini cab

We use Uber quite a bit as we live in London. I don't think I it is cheaper than a cab but it's very convenient. Click on app, add details and the car is normally there within 5 mins.

I am wondering whether it's because I am actually using the app in the evening of the country I'm in and it's recognizing the time asking for it in the evening and putting it in for a country thinking that I'll get a daytime price I don't know

It’s dynamic pricing, maybe there’s a lot of traffic or not many drivers out at the moment, also it’s the weekend, Ubers prices fluctuate based on a whole bunch of stuff.
https://www.uber.com/en-GB/blog/uber-dynamic-pricing/

What a con.

Mini cab drivers have fixed prices per miles.

Ubers prices fluctuate based on a whole host of factors, time of day, demand etc.

Our local taxi firm is quite large and has always operated a bit like Uber, with a mobile app etc. Annoyingly most drivers now work for both the local firm and Uber, if the prices are high on Uber, you will not get a taxi in the local app, or if Uber prices are low, you can only get a taxi on the local app. It’s annoying but can’t really blame the drivers.

I have lost count how many times one app has said there are no drivers near by, so I have booked on the other and paid more, for the taxi to show up with both taxi plates on the car (so clearly was available just didn’t want to do the job for the lower fair.)

It’s not a con, it’s a valid business model.

I have 4 different apps on my phone - Uber, Bolt, FreeNow and the local taxi company.

Uber is the cheapest by far 80-90% of the time. Due to the dynamic pricing, sometimes it’s slightly more expensive than a normal cab (especially for airport trips, as they need to charge a drop-off fee, plus there’s no guarantee they’ll have a quick turnaround so the increase makes sense). In those cases I just quickly compare all apps and go with the cheapest / shortest waiting time.

I need to check the cost of an uber from Heathrow Airport to where I live and I just checked on my phone and the cost was 55 pounds

That cost of £55 is the same as it would cost me in a cab so I don't really understand how an uber can be cheaper when the cost is the same whether I use an uber from the airport or a cab so could somebody explain this and is it because whether it's an uber or a cab it's a fixed price