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Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

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Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#131

Post by serge2k »

alkonaut wrote: post #81
chrisseaton wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if tipping is an option, through a kind of cultural game-theoretic pressure, the situation will always devolve into the restaurant norm. at least that's how it is in the states In the UK tipping in restaurants is optional and, while it sounds really weird to say this, I don't think the waiters and waitresses seem to care either way. I don't get a different reaction from them if I tip or if I don't. They don't seem…

This is the case in every country I have ever been. If you read a travel guide for any country it might say that tips are usually given to taxi drivers, restaurant staff etc, but only in the US has zero tipping almost become equivalent to not paying the tab in full. Also, when I go to the US with 5-10 year intervals the norms for tipping seem to have always crept upwards.

It's pretty much 20% here it seems.

Then they raised the minimum wage. So restaurants added a 20% service fee on to cover it. Okay, fine. That's actually the outcome I wanted.

Except some places left the tip line. So now people still tip out of obligation.

Never ends.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#132

Post by mintplant »

I've noticed Google Maps will sometimes give me Uber ads when I'm looking up directions ("this route only $N on Uber" or such). Idle speculation but I wonder if this was a mistake for Uber -- perhaps Google has seen a high rate of click-through on these and will now try to get in on that action themselves.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#133

Post by 1propionyl »

mmanfrin wrote: post #3

Honestly I wish they wouldn't try to compete on price. Maybe I'm alone with this, but I'd rather not feel obligated to tip a driver because the ride is so cheap. Pay them a living wage, let me pay the exact fee, and let me not have to carry goddamn cash like I used to in the era of Taxis. e: Addressing common replies: "This is for people commuting already" -- okay, point taken; my point about Uber/Lyft still stands.…

Tipping is in my mind toxic to long term growth of ride sharing. It makes the user have to think, it's just bad UX.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#134

Post by serge2k »

TheOneTrueKyle wrote: post #94

When I was younger and financially unstable, I had a decision to make. Take a crappy restaurant job or live out of my car. I chose to live out of my car. Every time I hear the argument that people in the restaurant industry are getting unfair pay, I ask myself, "I wonder who made that decision to work there in the first place" Stop this bullshit tipping. These people made a choice and then chose to complain about it.…

They are getting unfair pay in some places, thanks to bullshit laws that give them a truly ridiculous minimum wage.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#135

Post by pasbesoin »

speg wrote: post #7
mmanfrin wrote: post #3

Honestly I wish they wouldn't try to compete on price. Maybe I'm alone with this, but I'd rather not feel obligated to tip a driver because the ride is so cheap. Pay them a living wage, let me pay the exact fee, and let me not have to carry goddamn cash like I used to in the era of Taxis. e: Addressing common replies: "This is for people commuting already" -- okay, point taken; my point about Uber/Lyft still stands.…

I took an Uber home from the train station last week and it was less than $15. I'm not sure how much a taxi would've been, probably at least $25. I don't feel good about it. How can someone provide good service if they're taking home so little? I fear that soon Uber will be overrun with poor service because all the quality drivers have been driven out by low costs.

Haven't looked in detail, but I continue to wonder about those outsized losses. Seems they are monopolizing the market using investor dollars to price below cost.

Many taxi services have been their own racket. But I don't view the above as moving to a better, sustainable model -- not at the current prices.

It seems this -- Uber drivers earning more than the profit/cost structure merits -- is a stopgap towards cornering the driverless car livery ("taxi", etc.) services, at which point labor expenses significantly decline and the old-school competition has been severely crippled if not eliminated.

P.S. I'm not a user of Uber -- or Lyft, etc. Suburban car owner. By I don't like market manipulation and monopolization -- good things don't tend to follow. Even as I watch one friend benefit quite significantly -- and essentially -- from the current Uber presence.

For their sake, as well as the larger picture, I wouldn't mind being proven wrong. But I've yet to reach any level of comfort with much of these "sharing" services/businesses.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#136

Post by dragonwriter »

mintplant wrote: post #132

I've noticed Google Maps will sometimes give me Uber ads when I'm looking up directions ("this route only $N on Uber" or such). Idle speculation but I wonder if this was a mistake for Uber -- perhaps Google has seen a high rate of click-through on these and will now try to get in on that action themselves.

In some places (all, IIRC, outside of the US), the Google Maps ride service feature already supports non-Uber ridesharing services. In the US, I think it only has Uber, but its basically a feature that lets GMaps be a platform for commoditizing ride services.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#137

Post by icantdrive55 »

eropple wrote: post #16
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Talk to your drivers about it. So far they've all told me that they get more passengers thanks to the app, and the pay from Uber's base rate outweighs unpredictable tips. [edit] NYC, and the drivers are pretty candid about still picking up rides from black car dispatchers and competitors. I have no reason to question their honesty.

I think it's worth considering whether those drivers are incentivized to tell you the truth. I can't say either way, but I wouldn't put it past Uber to instill reasons for defensive praise of the service.

I've had some lousy jobs, and it seems like the worse the job is, the less the employees complain. It's a weird form of denial, or something else?

Safeway bucks that observation. Safeway managed to irritate every employee, including my deceased father. He hated that company with a passion. In his late twenties, he became an electrician, and loved the work, and union pay.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#138

Post by draw_down »

alkonaut wrote: post #69

Can we stop calling every new taxi service "ride sharing"? Are people "sharing" anything in any meaningful way? The drivers car isn't shared, he sells a ride, that's a Taxi. A medallion or other arbitrary system doesn't define what a taxi is. Can I tell uber I want to share a ride to the airport with any stranger? (my taxi co will do that)?

If you use the "pool" feature you are sharing rides, though.

Re: Google Takes on Uber with New Ride-Share Service

#140

Post by eddieh »

alkonaut wrote: post #69

Can we stop calling every new taxi service "ride sharing"? Are people "sharing" anything in any meaningful way? The drivers car isn't shared, he sells a ride, that's a Taxi. A medallion or other arbitrary system doesn't define what a taxi is. Can I tell uber I want to share a ride to the airport with any stranger? (my taxi co will do that)?

Yes, you can tell them you want to share a ride with a stranger. These are ride sharing services. Sometimes there isn't enough demand for sharing or you pay extra to ride alone.
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