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Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

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Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#81

Post by kwhitefoot »

Overtonwindow wrote: post #39

I've finally deleted Uber and it's primarily because of the tipping issue. I've had almost universal good service around the world with Uber drivers, but the tipping thing is getting aggressive, and subtle hints are rapidly become overt demands. Uber was great when it started but government corruption and meddling, combined with Uber's greed, and the corrupt taxi industry fighting it, is killing the service. Small im…

Why should you tip anyone? You are buying a service for an agreed price, why should the price go up when you get to the point where you pay?

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#82

Post by elahd »

uptownfunk wrote: post #65
elahd wrote: post #15

I've been in standoffs with Uber/Lyft drivers where the driver calls or texts me saying they don't want to pick me up for whatever reason and demand that I cancel the hail. Drivers don't want to be the ones who cancel because canceling reduces their rating. I don't want to cancel because I both don't want the hit to my rating and I don't want to have to follow up with Uber/Lyft to request a cancellation fee refund. L…

This is so irritating and happens to me often, I just don't have the time to follow up with it like the parent did. This coupled with the workplace politics and mistreatment of women as well as the lack of select or black car service at my client site has led me to just rent a car from Hertz for the week. It's been enjoyable to be honest, the only thing is I can't work while I'm in the car, which isn't really an issu…

It's pervasive. I can go on about fraud and sketchy drivers with all of the ride sharing services.

My fiance requested a Gett ride to JFK from midtown Manhattan for the two of us. The driver checked us into the cab while he was still en route to pick us up -- a very circuitous route -- accumulating ~$20 in travel fees. He kept calling to make excuses about why he was delayed. When the driver finally picked us up, he assured us that he'd reach out to Gett to have the additional charges removed.

Two weeks later, no update. We reported the issue to Gett. They not only refused to issue a refund, but they banned my fiance from the service!

She ended up requesting a chargeback for the full fare -- not just the additional charges -- which Visa granted. We don't want to bother with the T&LC again -- neither of us have the time.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#83

Post by dreamcompiler »

leephillips wrote: post #64
dreamcompiler wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to the drawbacks everybody else has mentioned, with taxis I often got a driver with no familiarity with the city, no GPS, and a very rudimentary command of English. So the ride consisted of me using my phone to figure out a route and using hand signals for "turn here." (Pre-smartphone, it was even worse.) And this was in NYC where taxis are actually good.* None of this nonsense happens with Uber or Lyft.…

When I was young and still lived in my home town of NYC I got into a cab to go to Grand Central. The driver spoke no English and had no idea where that was. I used gestures to get us there. So I know. Can one expect Uber to be better?

Yes, Uber is much better. The drivers all have smartphones with GPS and they know where you're going before you get in the car. So even if their English is limited, it's much less of an issue.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#84

Post by CPLX »

galdosdi wrote: post #75
CPLX wrote: post #10

There's a lot of reasons to hate Uber these days but I'm not sure this is one of them. The problem with cancellations is real, I have to cancel rides constantly because I live and work in Brooklyn Heights/ DUMBO and the app just can't seem to get the hang of the river, the bridges, and the expressway that runs through our neighborhood. It's pretty much routine to get assigned a car and then watch as it speeds over yo…

WOW, are you serious? After all these huge amounts of venture capital, Uber still uses bird's distance rather than (easily obtainable) estimated travel time in all areas? What a joke.

I mean I'll give them some credit that their algorithms are at least trying to be aware of the route rather than as-the-crow-flies distance of course, but they seem to have trouble handling New York's bridges and tunnels.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#85

Post by charlesdm »

elahd wrote: post #79
rwmj wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say the $1000 dollar fine was a waste of time. It seems like a good result (not for you in particular, but for taxi users in general).

Yes, but... they were fined for failure to appear, not for any wrongdoing, so no precedent is set (if that's even a concept in T&LC court).

That's interesting. They must, overall, not be getting many complaints then? Or is $1,000 less than what any lawyer to represent them would've cost them?

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#86

Post by qeternity »

waqf wrote: post #55
qeternity wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The credit card market is a huge money maker and incredibly competitive. Have you seen the bonuses that US banks offer?

Yes, but I don't think they're competing on refund policy. It sure isn't what's in large print in the ads, and besides, the policy is mostly dictated to them by the credit card network (which isn't so competitive, it's largely a Visa/MC duopoly) and by legislation (which isn't at all competitive).

What? Of course they are. If I felt like my credit card didn't have my back on the chargeback policy, then I'd be far more likely to go to a competitor. It may not be what's on the ads, but you do realize customer retention is a huge part of competition, not just customer acquisition.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#87

Post by duncan_bayne »

elahd wrote: post #25
qeternity wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, exactly. Parent comment is just someone who wants to believe that regulation is inherently good and productive.

I do, up to a point. My experience with "sharing economy" taxi companies is that they really, truly, do not care about their drivers or their customers. It's a free for all where customers and drivers are basically left to sort things out themselves. IMO, this is where regulation comes in. In a city like New York, taxis are a part of our public infrastructure -- like buses, subways, etc. There should be baseline serv…

> It's a free for all where customers and drivers are basically left to sort things out themselves.

And yet it works _better_ than when things are regulated, and people seem to prefer it.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#88

Post by uptownfunk »

elahd wrote: post #82
uptownfunk wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so irritating and happens to me often, I just don't have the time to follow up with it like the parent did. This coupled with the workplace politics and mistreatment of women as well as the lack of select or black car service at my client site has led me to just rent a car from Hertz for the week. It's been enjoyable to be honest, the only thing is I can't work while I'm in the car, which isn't really an issu…

It's pervasive. I can go on about fraud and sketchy drivers with all of the ride sharing services. My fiance requested a Gett ride to JFK from midtown Manhattan for the two of us. The driver checked us into the cab while he was still en route to pick us up -- a very circuitous route -- accumulating ~$20 in travel fees. He kept calling to make excuses about why he was delayed. When the driver finally picked us up, he…

That's just ridiculous I won't even bother with that app. Client service should be #1 always.

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#89

Post by thriftwy »

galdosdi wrote: post #78
thriftwy wrote: post #20

I think that decision to withhold the destination of the ride from drivers was a very bad idea they should repeal. They wanted to be sure that drivers don't choose convenient riders and leave less convenient ones unserved, but a) it didn't work, only introduced this "you cancel, no, you" game after destination becomes apparent, and b) opportunistic drivers can no longer give a ride to people who go in the same direct…

In order to do that, they'd have to increase the price for rides to less attractive (to drivers) destinations. A trip that ends somewhere unlikely to have another customer available (like an outlying residential area in the evening) is way less attractive than an identical time/distance trip to somewhere with lots of likely fares (a central business district, for example) So, if drivers can see the destinations, they…

This assumes that rides outnumber drivers so that drivers can be picky. In practice tho, it should be the other way around: drivers should be choosing between a paid ride to "bad" destination, and no ride for some time while they're waiting. You can trivially teach the algorith to give better rides to less choosy drivers first.

Second, if you still have amateur drivers on your platform who do ad-hoc carpooling, chances that they're looking for an one-way drive to the same "bad" destination because they have further non-cab business there. You can teach the algorithm to offer a selection of rides to such drivers for their first ride in a few hours. Or even let them to specify where they want to go. Maybe it's already implemented by someone?

And yes - Uber price is always unpredictable for a rider, so why not just factor in destination desirability into it?

Re: Uber is charging passengers a $10 cancellation fee even when the driver cancels

#90

Post by DrScump »

danpalmer wrote: post #33
leephillips wrote: post #29

What's wrong with taxis? I've taken plenty of cabs, but never an Uber or Lyft. In a city you can easily flag them down, or find a number and phone for one. Many cab companies have had phone apps for years, too. If you prefer Uber, can you explain why? Because there are tons of complaints here about the company.

Speaking for London, the only taxis that you can hail are "black cabs" which are very heavily regulated (and generally high quality), but 2-3x the price of an uberX. You can book a taxi from a local taxi company, but that's typically over the phone, and ideally needs to be done in advance, they are often ~1.5x the price of an uberX.

  (and generally high quality)
To be licensed, cabbies must master a comprehensive London geography/traffic test, the knowledge required to pass it is literally known as "The Knowledge"[0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom...

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