151–160 of 331 posts
They only way to win is if they monopolize a segment enough that they can jack up prices to make up for the sustained losses. Other ways this looks like Groupon. The more they sell, the more they lose. It is like some kind of pyramid scheme.
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I honestly think they will eventually license and lease their platform and technology to others and just rake in money (every cab company would pay for this type of access to customers, Uber Eats is an indication other delivery services could likely license it too for a reasonable price). That is where their true value is at. Being acquired is still a long ways off when they still have this insanely high imaginary va…
You can order taxis on uber too.
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I think the problem really is profit. Pepsi and Coca-Cola both sell sugar water, a commodity, at a profit. Lyft and Uber have made rides a commodity but at this point it looks like commoditization of rides is not able to be sold at a profit. I think they both are touting that scale and technology will lead them to profitable rides but its not obvious that this is going to ever come true in a way that justifies their…
In my opinion the outstanding question today is: are they both too early? It's currently a race to the bottom of driver oriented rides. As soon as driverless becomes viable the current rider fee suddenly shifts to being a more positive profit margin and also shifts opex back in favor of both. But can either last long enough to get there?
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Converse to this, I get a lot of bad behavior when I try to book Uber, especially late at night or in odd areas. Drivers who cancel, intentionally drive in the wrong direction to force you to cancel, who don’t wait or drive to the wrong place to pick you up, who don’t know where to go, who are rude, who refuse to turn off music... I started using Uber because it was worth paying more to not deal with taxis. Now Uber…
> Lyft is kind of that but isn’t quite there. Since my impression is a large population of drivers drive for both I don't think you would find different behavior in Uber or Lyft. A dickhead is doing to be a dickhead whether driving for Uber or Lyft right?
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…
> sometimes they don't speak portuguese or english Isn't that a good thing? At least you don't have to talk to them... The point of Uber (and similar apps) is that they abstract the human interaction through the app (although in London very annoyingly many drivers still ask me where I'm going, despite me having entered the destination into the app).
Lately in Guadalajara, police have been unfairly cracking down on Uber drivers even thought it's legal (they're in bed with the taxistas), pulling them over for things like not having a baby seat (???). And I've had to communicate with most drivers through the app so we can arrange a more low-key pickup away from the police hotspots.
Besides, I'm human. I don't mind talking to others. Maybe it's because I'm 30 and part of the old guard now, but talking to another human isn't the worst thing in the world.
Uber's been buying revenue at the cost of margin in at least two ways by shifting rides to Pool (where they can declare the entire ride's cost as revenue, not just their cut), and ramping up Uber Eats (where they take a percentage of the total cost of the food and may actually lose money on the ride). Neither strategy can continue indefinitely.
Uber's new "cheap" pool option forces you to walk up to 5 blocks (!!) and is the same price that it used to be. Lyft's pool option doesn't make you walk and the prices have remained unchanged. Uber lost all of my (bi-daily) business when they moved to the pool express business model.
This feels like a positive change as long as weather isn’t a huge concern.
what the fuck is going on when a company can lose over $1 billion a quarter with no profit in sight and still receive further investment? Would they be hugely profitable if not for reinvestment in expansion and R&D?
I have a pet theory. These investors aren't investing their money, but someone else's money. If Uber folds now, these investors are to blame. But if Uber folds when the great crash (a-la 2001 and 2008), then, well, it's the entire economy - not the individual investor's fault. So they do whatever is needed to keep Uber with high book value until the big crash. What's $20B of other people's money to maintain your ster…
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/…
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I'd sooner just catch a cab than have to open up multiple different apps and compare prices all the time. I always know exactly what I'm paying with a cab, and it's no hassle.
Cabs are: * Much lower quality cars (torn seats, smelly, old, safety issues...no one looks good showing up to a date in a Cab). * Much lower quality drivers (some smoke openly, talk on the phone loudly, don't listen to you, take longer routes than necessary, etc) * No accountability for service * No trip data for safety reasons * No handy log of all your recent trips * More expensive + tip required * Sometimes will p…
Cabs:
* Cars regulated by state.
* Usually cheaper than Uber rides (in my experience always).
* Know the city like the back of their hand.
* Can file a complaint directly with the state or cab company.
* Accountable through a taxi license.
* Won't defraud you with bogus cleaning fees.
Uber:
* Been in two minor car accidents due to driver switching between Waze and GMaps to find the route or just constantly fiddling with their phone.
* Had an Uber driver show up in a car that looked nearly totaled. Passenger side door was nonfunctional due to damage.
* Poorly maintained cars operated around the clock by operators than get virtually no sleep due to an unlivable wage.
* Had a driver travel at high speeds in poor conditions while talking about how they only get a couple of hours a sleep a night and manipulating their phone.
* Many drivers clearly living in their car, undergarments and clothes on front passenger seat.
* Uncomfortably hit on my girlfriend 100% of the time if she is alone.
* Driver complaints often ignored / go into the corporate void.
This is why we don't trust ancedata.