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Uber London loses licence to operate

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#421

Post by cjsuk »

talldan wrote: post #201
mino wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but that does not work for TfL because of how they charge you. Details: http://news.revolut.com/post/146212645837/touch-it-tap-it-re... I've been charged a wrong amount by TfL a few times in the past, I contacted them (either on the phone or via the webform) and I was always reimbursed. There are basically two situations where you get charged a wrong amount: 1. common: the "touch out" did not work. Just log in…

That's quite interesting. Option 1 has happened to me a few times with an Oyster card, and I've always had issues claiming refunds, receiving this message: "We have been unable to process your refund application, This is due to a technical error." Since switching to using my Monzo card, I've had this issue one time and received the refund no problems. Not sure if that's coincidental.

Ah yes I got a similar error.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#422

Post by danpalmer »

yomly wrote: post #396
danpalmer wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some anecdata related to this – discussing with colleagues today, one mentioned that she had got into an Uber where the driver was clearly not the person registered with Uber, and the car was not the one she was told would pick her up. She mentioned another case she knew of where a driver was sharing the Uber registration with his cousin to earn more money. This sort of activity severely impacts the safety and securi…

Surely when a car arrives with a different licence plate and a different driver, you don't get in? Moreover, you report the driver? I'm not strictly pro-Uber but in any system there will be people who try to break the rules. I would gladly wait another 20 minutes, and warn the driver of calling the police (were they to harass me) to get another Uber. Even fronting the £7 cancellation or w/e is worth it to me for the…

I would under normal circumstances, but if you're alone/in a place you don't know/drunk/woman/at 2am, or even all of those, that's a tough decision on whether it's safer to get in or stay out, and we're socially conditioned to not question these sorts of situations as much as we probably should.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#423

Post by danpalmer »

kaishiro wrote: post #290
danpalmer wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The seatbelt broke 10 mins into the journey while we were on a motorway. It's illegal to stop on the motorway, and being left at the side of the road isn't exactly a great alternative.

In that case it was working when you sat down so it's not like the driver was trying to pull a fast one on you. What did you expect him to do? Like you said, he couldn't just pull over.

Sure, there wasn't a lot he could do right then, but Uber could have:

- Acknowledged the situation.

- Agreed that it was not right.

- Committed to not using that vehicle until the issue was rectified (not that I'd necessarily trust them on this, but it would be good to say).

- Could have refunded me or given me credit for the risk.

I think in a perfect world, the driver would have stopped at the nearest safe place, attempted to fix the belt, and failing that another car would have been dispatched to pick us up and finish the journey, but I realise that's unlikely to happen in a service that cheap.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#424

Post by osrec »

stupidcar wrote: post #295
osrec wrote: post #204

Uber as a company is immoral from time to time, however their service is great, and I'd be sad to see it go from London. TfL operates one of the most expensive public transport systems in the world, and is happy to license black cab drivers (who in my experience, can be rude and are an absolute rip off a lot of the time). Not only that, black cab drivers in my area regularly drive through zebra crossings while people…

Uber isn't going away in London. Never mind the passengers, consider how many thousands of (mostly Labour-voting) people drive for Uber as a job. They might not love their employer, but that doesn't mean they'll be happy become unemployed en-masse. This is a political tactic to try to force Uber into improving its safety and regulatory practices. Whether it works will depend on whether Uber or City Hall blinks first.

I hope you're right. I genuinely believe if Uber was to go away from London, it would be a step backwards. They are the modern taxi, and I would bet they are more fuel and time efficient than black cabs driving round London in the hope of someone flagging them down.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#425

Post by aembleton »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #257
jmkni wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monzo, Monese and Revolut all offer this.

No banks I'll have heard of, then? Do you use one you'd recommend?

I use Monzo and Starling. I'm very happy with both of these and prefer them to my old bank (Halifax).

I've been a happy Monzo user for at least a year, but recently got a Starling account because they have Android Pay and Monzo don't.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#426

Post by danpalmer »

shangxiao wrote: post #293
danpalmer wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The seatbelt broke 10 mins into the journey while we were on a motorway. It's illegal to stop on the motorway, and being left at the side of the road isn't exactly a great alternative.

To be fair that does change the meaning of "didn't work" though.

It worked, then it "didn't work". It "didn't work" for the majority of the journey.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#427

Post by danpalmer »

stordoff wrote: post #353
danpalmer wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The seatbelt broke 10 mins into the journey while we were on a motorway. It's illegal to stop on the motorway, and being left at the side of the road isn't exactly a great alternative.

I'm not really sure what you expect the driver or Uber to do in that situation - there's no good solution AFAICT. The only option would be to leave the motorway at the next exit and arrange alternative transport.

Yeah, it's a tricky situation, but at the very least I would expect Uber to _acknowledge the situation_, rather than just saying "thanks for your feedback". I would have expected an apology, not extensive but literally just "I'm sorry about that, it's in our policy not to have that happen to you and we'll make sure this is fixed". Nope.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#429

Post by danpalmer »

shrewduser wrote: post #397
danpalmer wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some anecdata related to this – discussing with colleagues today, one mentioned that she had got into an Uber where the driver was clearly not the person registered with Uber, and the car was not the one she was told would pick her up. She mentioned another case she knew of where a driver was sharing the Uber registration with his cousin to earn more money. This sort of activity severely impacts the safety and securi…

same thing happens in cabs though all the time.

I'm not sure that's true. Black cabs are highly regulated and others in the comments have written about very low numbers of rapes/etc from black cab drivers. As for private taxi companies, they are subject to the same regulations as Uber, and I'd imagine most have their licences renewed or not for the same reasons.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#430

Post by cjrp »

danpalmer wrote: post #422
yomly wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely when a car arrives with a different licence plate and a different driver, you don't get in? Moreover, you report the driver? I'm not strictly pro-Uber but in any system there will be people who try to break the rules. I would gladly wait another 20 minutes, and warn the driver of calling the police (were they to harass me) to get another Uber. Even fronting the £7 cancellation or w/e is worth it to me for the…

I would under normal circumstances, but if you're alone/in a place you don't know/drunk/woman/at 2am, or even all of those, that's a tough decision on whether it's safer to get in or stay out, and we're socially conditioned to not question these sorts of situations as much as we probably should.

Unless you called a cab to escape a particularly dangerous situation, I can't imagine it ever being a good idea getting into a car with a different driver and registration. You're not getting into a taxi, you're getting into a stranger's car.
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