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Waze Carpool

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Re: Waze Carpool

#361

Post by EGreg »

cornholio wrote: post #47
dawhizkid wrote: post #12

The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…

Unlike Uber, they appear to talk about a real carsharing system, as opposed to a taxi service with a lower entry barrier. The prices will be much lower since we are talking about the marginal cost of adding another passenger to an already happening trip - and with full info on where people are going, Waze effectively has an endless supply of trips that are happening, it's just a matter of displaying a pop-up "Hey, Al…

In many jurisdictions, accepting payment for a ride causes you to be a taxi service, and regulated like one. I wonder how Waze would deal with this!

Re: Waze Carpool

#364

Post by triplesec »

dawhizkid wrote: post #12

The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…

Sounds like their monetisation strategy. But there are issues with network intermediaries' structural moneymaking strategies. The French startup blablacar.com is the biggest existing player in the market for real ridesharing, at least in Western Europe. And It does take some customer service to run these things. I've used it a fair amount.

The biggest issue is that to protect their revenue cut, they track and censor messages between members of their platform until the ride is booked so they don't pay cash.

Also, they force bookings to a specific time, and so you have to describe your journey on the comments, and so that way some passengers' attitude treat it like a cheap uber, and not a ride share.

Re: Waze Carpool

#365

Post by triplesec »

cornholio wrote: post #119
bluedino wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> the marginal cost of adding another passenger to an already happening trip As minor as it is, going to pick someone else up and take them with me is pretty big inconvenience, especially in time.

1 hour of commuting could cost something like 30$ in gas (Europe), vechile depreciation and tolls. Sharing that cost 50-50 or 33-33-33 for a 5-10 minutes delay would yield a 120-180$ / hour rate for the delay period. Very few people could afford to turn that down, it's the average income of an whole hour of work compressed into 5 minutes.

You're not going to get anything like those figures. See blablacar.com for current rates

Re: Waze Carpool

#367

Post by michaelmrose »

confiscate wrote: post #217
cornholio wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> once you provide a service, you absolutely are on the hook— both ethically and in the mind of the average consumer— for providing some level of service when it goes wrong. The moral and legal liability has precise limits. No software application or payment service could be ever expected to prevent any and all criminal activity in relation to it's use. Google is on the hook, but to a more much limited extent than yo…

>Google is absolutely not responsible for the rapes and muggings perpetrated by users of Adwords or Waze. If you or a family member used Waze Carpool, and got raped or murdered, are you going to sit there quietly and say "oh well, not Google's fault"? As a engineer providing a software solution, it's great to sit in an office desk and say "there are precise legal limits", it's exact, precise, formal, and correct. Lik…

They ought to blame the murderer/rapist since people using an app to connect individual consumers aren't employees or customers of said business. They will probably try to blame whomever has the deepest pockets but that doesn't mean that we ought to or that the law will.

Re: Waze Carpool

#368

Post by michaelmrose »

nugi wrote: post #225
ethbro wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They just figured out that cost_to_resolve_complaints Once you make that leap, and commit (via support permissions / manuals / budget) to making that happen, it's a better experience overall. Not least because then it frees you as a business to what you should be focusing on. E.g. "We paid out $x million because of damaged packages. What can we do in the warehouse side to fix this?"

My issue is usually amazon sending the wrong item, or counterfits, dispite their occasionall asinine packaging of my items. That is, assuming the seller bothers to correctly list the item. But they seem to be doing little about any of it. For instance, I recieved 2 vacuum tubes last night. (I ordered 4), and they came jammed in a huge box with no padding on 2 sides. Already scheduled for return. My return rate must b…

Maybe you buy from bad merchants selling stuff via amazon? Its possible your choices are leading you on average to have a bad experience.

Its likely that your experience isn't even remotely typical

Re: Waze Carpool

#369

Post by michaelmrose »

scrollaway wrote: post #53
dawhizkid wrote: post #12

The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…

The reason I wouldn't is Google's obsession with building US-only businesses (Example: Project Fi). Uber is worldwide and is a huge timesaver whenever I travel within Europe. (Edit: Had to reword my example since people just love taking stuff out of context.)

What percentage of googles US customers spend any significant portion of their time traveling in Europe? Hint I'm pretty sure its less than 1%.

Re: Waze Carpool

#370

Post by skgoa »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #205
freehunter wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep you're right, it's just as much the fault of the corporations that are there. Startups are a big part of it, moving to SV just to form a startup locks a ton of qualified people out and unnecessarily jacks up your burn rate. You'd be far better off moving to Madison and hiring from University of Wisconsin where you still have Whole Foods and Trader Joes and a bike-friendly city and great public transport but your…

>which means you're going to be taking home a lot more disposable income than you would in SV. Rolling the dice in SV will result in much bigger winnings more often than it will in other areas. That's worth something, and obviously people are willing to pay for it (give up some things).

More often? No. The pay-off for a incredibly tiny minority of dice rolls will be much higher.
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