Sorry, but Uber is a 100% improvement service improvement over cabs in many areas.
I lived in Chicago for six years and not one single cab I took during the whole six years would accept a credit card, despite being obligated to do so. If I didn't have cash I was told that we could drive to an ATM or I could get out.
Not to mention that the drivers almost invariably talked on the phone the entire time. And while not the norm, I had half a dozen confrontations with cab drivers who were obviously trying to scam me with "broken meters" or obviously roundabout routes.
I haven't had a single bad experience with an uber or lyft. Most are unremarkable, which is fine. So 100% of my cab experiences in Chicago were bad and 100% of my uber/lfyt experiences have been fine or better.
Of course not everywhere is Chicago (though US cab companies generally seem to have miserable service). Tokyo taxis have world class service, and it is perhaps not a coincidence that Uber has only a tiny presence there.
> Tokyo taxis have world class service, and it is perhaps not a coincidence that Uber has only a tiny presence there
Funny you mention this. I actually had a bad taxi experience in Japan of all places: asked the hotel to call for one multiple times, 40 minutes later it never showed up, so I requested an Uber, and got a car in 5 minutes (this was in Kyoto, though, not Tokyo)
Can't agree more. Lately I've been taking taxis from the airport, since it's usually more convenient to just wait in line at the taxi stand than to play roulette with the apps. And oftentimes cheaper. But the last time I took a taxi the damn card reader didn't work and the driver made me feel like a criminal, and I had to download some app to pay via Apple Pay.
Their card reader probably worked fine. My theory is the cab driver prefers to use their own payment methods because they are “off the record” and they probably turn into cash in the drivers pocket much faster than using the one provided by the cab service.
Sorry, but Uber is a 100% improvement service improvement over cabs in many areas.
I lived in Chicago for six years and not one single cab I took during the whole six years would accept a credit card, despite being obligated to do so. If I didn't have cash I was told that we could drive to an ATM or I could get out.
Not to mention that the drivers almost invariably talked on the phone the entire time. And while not the norm, I had half a dozen confrontations with cab drivers who were obviously trying to scam me with "broken meters" or obviously roundabout routes.
I haven't had a single bad experience with an uber or lyft. Most are unremarkable, which is fine. So 100% of my cab experiences in Chicago were bad and 100% of my uber/lfyt experiences have been fine or better.
Of course not everywhere is Chicago (though US cab companies generally seem to have miserable service). Tokyo taxis have world class service, and it is perhaps not a coincidence that Uber has only a tiny presence there.