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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Just get an Uber!

121 replies

AlwaysCountYourPennies · 22/01/2023 18:01

I see this suggested on so many threads. Do people not realise that Uber are not available in vast areas of the country?

OP posts:
LlynTegid · 22/01/2023 18:03

Or not available at a given time of day.
Or breaking the law on relevant matters as they were in London.
Or being such a poor 'employer' they have to advertise that they now pay sick pay when relevant to their drivers.

ThinWomansBrain · 22/01/2023 18:03

mini-cab?

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 22/01/2023 18:05

I think it's mainly just a term to mean get a taxi. I've lived rurally and taxis were available just expensive.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 22/01/2023 18:05

Ditto decent public transport, access to many airports for cheap flights, safe and well populated places to walk at night, an abundance of takeaways that deliver etc etc. This board is very London-centric and many of those who live in the capital appear to have no concept that other places are different.

LlynTegid · 22/01/2023 18:11

@CeeceeBloomingdale I agree if you have not lived outside London, you are less likely to be aware of how limited some services such as public transport and taxis/minicabs are.

I lived out of London for 15 years as an adult and have not forgotten.

dancinfeet · 22/01/2023 18:11

small rural northern town here- two taxi firms and one independent taxi driver. The taxi firms shut at 7pm on weekdays and the independent driver will only do evening runs if they are out of town, as it’s worth the money. we have one bus through the town hourly, until 10pm. Some people have no idea.

ChildminderMum · 22/01/2023 18:13

I live in a small town and you can't even get a taxi after 6pm or on Sundays Grin

RampantIvy · 22/01/2023 18:14

Do people not realise that Uber are not available in vast areas of the country?

Clearly not.
Unfortunately, a lot of the local taxi drivers moved across to Uber because the pay and conditions were better, so our local taxi services have suffered. Uber doesn't come out to our village.

SweetSakura · 22/01/2023 18:14

I just see it as saying "get a taxi" though. (But then I am an aging luddite so have never ordered an Uber)

butterfliedtwo · 22/01/2023 18:16

It's shorthand for taxi to me too.

Martinisarebetterdirty · 22/01/2023 18:16

I agree! I’m now in London but I will never forget living in the North and if I missed my 6pm bus I had to walk for miles as it was the last one. I rhapsodise about the tube now, feel so lucky.

Original poster
AlwaysCountYourPennies · 22/01/2023 18:24

butterfliedtwo · 22/01/2023 18:16

It's shorthand for taxi to me too.

But if you live in a rural or semi rural area it isn't easy to find a taxi.
I live on the edge of a town and getting a taxi isn't easy.

OP posts:
whataboutsecondbreakfast · 22/01/2023 18:26

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 22/01/2023 18:05

I think it's mainly just a term to mean get a taxi. I've lived rurally and taxis were available just expensive.

Lots of rural areas don't have taxis - especially not at weekends, in the evening or during the school run - unless you book weeks in advance.

Proteinpudding · 22/01/2023 18:29

We're in a small town so not exactly rural, but taxis are very limited here too. Two local taxi firms tend to be available for supermarket trips on weekdays, but nothing on weekday evenings, and on weekends you'll need to book well in advance! Taxis from the nearest city won't come out to us.

MoveOnTheCards · 22/01/2023 18:32

I live in London and tbh getting an Uber here these days is nearly impossible!

TinyArsePhone · 22/01/2023 18:33

How is it "shorthand for taxi"? It's not shorter!

YANBU anyway. Round here you can't get a taxi without booking ahead and even then not after about 9pm unless you want an airport transfer or other long journey that is worth their while. And when I say booking ahead I mean at least a day ahead. There are 2 taxis (and I don't mean 2 taxi firms, I mean 2 taxis as in one man bands with one taxi each) in our nearest town 5 miles away and 1 in our village but that one's a minibus so £££. All require at least a days notice and don't answer the phone in the evening!

And we aren't even that rural! 25 miles from two major cities and 15-20 miles from 3 smaller cities.

EmmaEmerald · 22/01/2023 18:33

Now I'm curious how many people think it just means "get a cab".

I always interpreted it as Uber specifically.

MoveOnTheCards · 22/01/2023 18:34

Before anyone tells me I’m missing the point, I do get it. Lived rurally for years before here and had 2 buses to the nearest town a day and had to book the only cab in the area a week before!

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 22/01/2023 18:36

It grates on me the way people say iPhone instead of phone.

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 22/01/2023 18:36

As in both do ha. I'm such a crank

sobeyondthehills · 22/01/2023 18:53

EmmaEmerald · 22/01/2023 18:33

Now I'm curious how many people think it just means "get a cab".

I always interpreted it as Uber specifically.

On here I usually think it means get a cab. In RL I think it means uber.

But on here like PP I just think, that is not the easy solution you think it is, either a cab or an Uber

RampantIvy · 22/01/2023 19:10

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 22/01/2023 18:36

It grates on me the way people say iPhone instead of phone.

Yep. I was going to say that.

We are an Android household, and the assumption that everyone has an iPhone really grates on me.

AWaferThinMint · 22/01/2023 19:12

I can't even get a taxi from where I live. Once cabs find out where I live I am often refused a fare.

EmmaEmerald · 22/01/2023 19:26

AWaferThinMint · 22/01/2023 19:12

I can't even get a taxi from where I live. Once cabs find out where I live I am often refused a fare.

Well, don't just leave us hanging....is it haunted?

Toottooot · 22/01/2023 19:33

The city I bide in has almost 50% less taxi drivers than before covid. Nae so easy to just get a taxi - no Uber service either.

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