The “more rigorous criminal checks” part made me laugh. (And the next thought in the article, which is: These “strengths” are real, but the stupid public is slow to realize them!) Ha! Before Uber, I took a lengthy (probably $40) cab ride (with a stop in the middle to pick up a friend) in San Francisco. Now, I stupidly left my iPhone in the back seat, somehow.
However, I
immediately realized this upon exiting, and
immediately used my friend’s phone to call Yellow Cab
with the cab number of the taxi I just exited to request they send the driver back. They said they would “try.” They failed, despite my follow-up calls and pleas. (And the driver could not have gotten far, as this was in a less dense area of SF.)
A day or two later, I made the trek to the Yellow Cab offices in SF (which took time, Muni + a good walk). I then spent a long time waiting to be seen, only to be told that Yellow was “just a co-operative” that wasn’t liable; and, infuriatingly, they refused to give me the identity of the driver in question. I had wanted to file a police report naming the driver.
I never got my phone back — or an ounce of justice.
This is not a rare or freak incident, as anyone who has ridden taxis enough times can attest. I lost another pricey personal item three years earlier in an Austin cab, and was similarly left without recourse when the driver failed to acknowledge requests for its return.
It’s obvious the accountability that drivers have in any ride-sharing platform far outweigh the supposed criminal checks done by slimeball companies like Yellow Cab. If that same driver tried shit like that on Uber, not only would his rating drop, but he himself would be dropped because Uber itself would actually give a s--t when a customer reported this sort of incident! (And they wouldn't have to hike over to Uber HQ to do so!)