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Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

bloomberg.com

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Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#71

Post by ghostly_s »

Androider wrote: post #57
nemo44x wrote: post #8

Their prices are often worse than yellow cabs in NYC. They act like locals won't be able to tell but it's pretty obvious when it's a $10 more ask at a time that isn't even busy and there are yellow cabs everywhere.

I had a yellow cab driver claim just last month that his credit card machine was broken, after a ride from the airport into Manhattan. I told him too bad, plastic is all I got, and wouldn't you know it miraculously the machine worked when he tried it (with a sour face). As a cherry on top he then tried to charge me more than the fixed rate set for the airport fares. So taking a yellow cab in NYC still absolutely suck…

Cabbies have been pulling this scam all over the US for years. Got it constantly in Minneapolis ten years ago when I lived there.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#72

Post by isostatic »

Ftuuky wrote: post #17

Speaking as a infrequent user (1-3 times per month) in Lisbon, Portugal, I can't choose Uber anymore. There are so many other apps providing the same service with cheaper prices (some of them such as Taxify do not have surge pricing) and better drivers. The drivers' quality declined a lot: sometimes they don't speak portuguese or english and if they notice you're drunk they try to scam you (leave you in some random s…

Are you sure you're not thinking of legacy minicabs? Uber shows you where you're going, shows you where you are. Your journey is tracked, as is the address you entered.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#73

Post by buzzdenver »

mikeash wrote: post #62
buzzdenver wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just tried it out and there is a "Confirm" button but I still don't know how much it'll cost to go to the airport.

It shows the price after the Confirm button, on the screen where you select what type of car you want.

Oh, Confirm doesn't mean "send me a car"?

Inflammable means flammable??? What a country!

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#74

Post by lemoncucumber »

baddox wrote: post #60
lemoncucumber wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, in SF I've gone back to hailing cabs when uber/lyft are surging significantly.

In my experience in SF that only works if you happen to be at the front door of a hotel.

There are a handful of corridors where you can pretty reliably do it: Market St. and Valencia St. for sure, along with a handful of others. But yeah, doesn't work in many/most parts of the city.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#75

Post by alehul »

mikeash wrote: post #62
buzzdenver wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just tried it out and there is a "Confirm" button but I still don't know how much it'll cost to go to the airport.

It shows the price after the Confirm button, on the screen where you select what type of car you want.

In the parent comment's defense, I remember trying to price-check with Lyft and being scared about pressing 'Confirm.'

They should really think about switching it to 'Confirm route' or 'location'.. something that ensures me I'm not ordering it yet. Maybe an arrow where I can swipe and see the next step? Or some visual cue that there are more steps ahead?

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#76

Post by deminature »

nemo44x wrote: post #8

Their prices are often worse than yellow cabs in NYC. They act like locals won't be able to tell but it's pretty obvious when it's a $10 more ask at a time that isn't even busy and there are yellow cabs everywhere.

Pool is an option in NYC though, which is usually 1/3 of the price of a taxi/X and effectively reduces traffic.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#77

Post by amelius »

paulddraper wrote: post #52
Androider wrote: post #30

Uber doesn't have much of a moat or lock-in effect. I just switched one day from being a frequent Uber rider to 100% using Lyft, simply because I don't like Uber's behavior as a company. The prices are so close it doesn't make any practical difference to me. Anecdotally, among my friends I also see Lyft becoming the default, and sometimes price-checking with Uber. If Waymo or whoever came out tomorrow with a cheaper/…

The extent of their lock-in is that of any C2C company: the marketplace. Can one side be confident there are enough on the other side? And then it becomes about brand recognition and marketing. (And in this particular case, the Uber brand has some issues....) No different than, say, consumer rental companies like Airbnb.

Google is trying to be the marketplace, by offering ride services in Google Maps.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#78

Post by goobynight »

nopriorarrests wrote: post #23
jsonne wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't get to the size they do and simply die. They'll be acquired and vertically integrated in a way that lets them be competitive on price. You can break even on the ride if you make it up in harvesting data, showing in car advertisements, having sample products placed in cars, and a million other "fremium" style revenue harvesting techniques.

They need 1 billion per quarter in "fremium" revenue to get breakeven, though. Thats _plenty_ of in car ads.

That's if they want to continue with every cost they currently incur, which includes some expensive R&D.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#80

Post by hathawsh »

buzzdenver wrote: post #70
buzzdenver wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason I'm reluctant to use Lyft is that they do not say beforehand how much my ride is going to be. Edit: I stand corrected. Their UI mislead me because for airport rides the price is only shown after you hit a Confirm button, but that does not order the car as I thought, only takes you to the next screen.

I stand corrected. Their UI mislead me because the price is only shown after you hit a Confirm button, but that does not order the car as I thought, only takes you to the next screen.

Ouch. Applying the Confirm label to a continue/next button is asking for trouble.
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