Here's the thing I don't understand -- if the main attraction (from a customer point of view) is the app (with everything that comes with it), why haven't the cab companies got in on the same game? Either put out their own app to hail rides (and maybe give their cabs a more luxury look to them), or sign up as Uber/Lyft drivers themselves? Or is there something I'm missing?
in sf, specifically, the taxi companies are utter shit (and evil, to boot). I badly broke my leg and, because I lived too far from public transportation to crutch over, had to take taxis to work 4-5 times a week, often both ways. No taxi company in sf will reliably come, even if you make it clear that you are going to take a cab at least 4 days a week for most of the next year. Instead, even when you are in the middl…
By law, I still have to use a taxi when returning from the airport here in Seattle (as opposed to Uber). I have had perhaps 2-3 positive experiences, some neutral ones, and many bad experiences with rude taxi drivers on their phones who drove erratically and tried to scam me with overlong routes.
And up until Uber and others arrived, they would either try to make me feel like shit for paying with a card, lie to me about it not working, or they would use carbon paper card readers circa 1985. Uber forced them to modernize in that respect, at least.