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Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

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Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#61

Post by dxbydt »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #29

We started using Uber this year to get to the airport. Though we are happy with the price, and very happy with the ease of scheduling, every single ride has made me uncomfortable with the safety and comfort of the service. Over four rides to the airport this year, these things have happened: 1) Three of the times the drivers claimed the AC wasn't working, and we had to drive on the interstate with the windows down. 2…

> 2) The driver missed the exit for SFO, and drove through the median to get to it

I have never made that SFO exit & had to drive through the median every single time. Been to SFO about a half dozen times this past year. The signs to that SFO exit aren't really in sync with the actual exit...you sort of have to know where the SFO exit is & ignore the sign. Even when I mentally make a note to do that, sometimes the sign confuses me & I end up missing the exit.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#62

Post by smokey_the_bear »

chrischen wrote: post #58
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #29

We started using Uber this year to get to the airport. Though we are happy with the price, and very happy with the ease of scheduling, every single ride has made me uncomfortable with the safety and comfort of the service. Over four rides to the airport this year, these things have happened: 1) Three of the times the drivers claimed the AC wasn't working, and we had to drive on the interstate with the windows down. 2…

Which type of Uber did you use? Uber Taxi, Uber X, or the black cars? If you called Uber Taxi, I believe the taxi drivers are paid less than if you were to call a normal taxi. With UberXs and the black cars, I've always had great experiences and at least 50% of the time they'd offer me water, open my door, and sometimes have candy available.

We used UberX everytime.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#63

Post by wwweston »

onedev wrote: post #37
wwweston wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how it is for SF, but in LA, Google's routes are not necessarily optimal, particularly at rush hour. I like Uber, and many of the drivers I've had have been great, but there's definitely been a handful of trips where I thought drivers relied on Google's routing when they shouldn't have.

I guess I'm speaking as someone who grew up driving in the era of smartphones and readily available GPS so even when I personally drive, I depend HEAVILY on Google maps. Like I'd really be lost without it. I guess not relying on GPS map routing is something that I cannot fathom. It always impresses me when friends can just rattle off highway routes and directions.

> Like I'd really be lost without it.

You might be lost for a while. What would probably happen next is that you'd start to build a mental map of the relevant territory, augmenting personal experience with some kind of map, paper or digital. Then you'd start developing the habit of getting directions or studying a map before you went somewhere there was a gap in the knowledge in your head.

At least, that's how it worked for me when I moved from a city so small (and grid-based) that nobody I knew used any kind of nav aid at all... to Los Angeles. I'm a little hesitant to say it would certainly work this way for everyone, given that variety in people's backgrounds and brains. But I suspect navigating is something people are generally more wired for than not. Chances are, you could do it too.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#64

Post by ripter »

bsgreenb wrote: post #34

I prefer taking Lyft to Uber because with the former the default mode is friendly conversation. When you take an Uber the assumption is that neither of you will talk to each other, like in a Taxi or Limo. In this sense Lyft is more revolutionary than Uber because it fundamentally changes the social dynamic, not just the economics.

To me it always seems like the driver tries to gage if you want small talk. I'm not a big talker in the cab, so usually the driver says one or two things and then stops talking. But when I'm in the car with some talkers, they have full conversations.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#65

Post by snogglethorpe »

_delirium wrote: post #42
bsgreenb wrote: post #34

I prefer taking Lyft to Uber because with the former the default mode is friendly conversation. When you take an Uber the assumption is that neither of you will talk to each other, like in a Taxi or Limo. In this sense Lyft is more revolutionary than Uber because it fundamentally changes the social dynamic, not just the economics.

Huh, I've always thought of chatting as the default in taxis (though not limos). Drivers seem to usually engage in small-talk with me, at least in California and southern Europe. I'm so used to it that the first time I took a taxi in Scandinavia, where the default is no chatting, I was sort of weirded out by the awkwardly silent ride.

It sort of depends on the location, but yeah, some places in the U.S. seem to have super chatty drivers; I've heard some great stories that way.

Interestingly, this hasn't been the case any time I've taken a taxi in NYC (where taxis seem even more a fundamental part of everyday life than most places) in the last decade or two. Now the drivers usually just yell into a cellphone nonstop for the entire ride...

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#66

Post by Matt_Mickiewicz »

lukasb wrote: post #39
annon wrote: post #19

Perhaps the reason that the quality numbers have been mostly flat is because drivers have been pushing to get 5 star reviews. In case you didn't know, as a customer of uber, the driver gives you a star rating just like you give the driver. A lot of people in SF have figured that out, and a lot of time I'll get an offer of "5 for 5." The drivers are letting you know that if you give them a 5 star rating they will give…

Why they push for five stars: apparently you get fired if your star rating falls below 4.6 or 4.7 (can't remember which.) Source: Uber drivers, so biased, but have you ever seen a driver with a 4.5 rating?

I can confirm, I've heard this from drivers as well.

As an anecdote, the one time I left a 1-star review, the next day I had a 20-min wait to get a car. Not sure if it was bad luck or I was getting penalized for leaving a bad review...

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#67

Post by rhizome »

Yhippa wrote: post #17
pg wrote: post #2

It's a sign of strength in a company when the CEO can talk candidly about problems like this. Every company has problems, most worse than this, but they rarely talk about them except in the blandest, most evasive way. Conspicuous candor.

It's got to be nice to be a straight shooter about your company and not "spook the market" when you're honest. You have analysts clinging on to your every word even in niche industries, ready to make some kind of recommendation.

...and if you can hide it behind a little "Look everybody, KITTENS!" all the better!

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#68

Post by rhizome »

michaelt wrote: post #57
_delirium wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber claims [1] they have a " series of rigorous screening tests, including a background check, an in-person screening, a city knowledge exam, and other ongoing quality controls ". If true, that would seem to address your point about screening driver quality. But a number of people are reporting drivers who don't really know their way around the city, which suggests (if those reports are true) that the city-knowledge…

Even if you have a perfect city knowledge exam, how do you ensure the guy driving the car is the guy who passed the exam?

London has been using The Knowledge for 150 years, it's a solved problem.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#69

Post by _delirium »

snogglethorpe wrote: post #65
_delirium wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, I've always thought of chatting as the default in taxis (though not limos). Drivers seem to usually engage in small-talk with me, at least in California and southern Europe. I'm so used to it that the first time I took a taxi in Scandinavia, where the default is no chatting, I was sort of weirded out by the awkwardly silent ride.

It sort of depends on the location, but yeah, some places in the U.S. seem to have super chatty drivers; I've heard some great stories that way. Interestingly, this hasn't been the case any time I've taken a taxi in NYC (where taxis seem even more a fundamental part of everyday life than most places) in the last decade or two. Now the drivers usually just yell into a cellphone nonstop for the entire ride...

That's been the same for me in NYC, but the whole taxi setup in NYC feels very "high-security", with only a small window peering through a bullet-resistant barrier between the front and back seats. That makes it feel more like a limo, since the driver is in a quasi-armored compartment separate from you, and it doesn't really encourage a friendly chat. In most other parts of the world a taxi is just a regular car, without internal barriers.

Actually now I'm a bit unsure: what is the regional etiquette on whether a single passenger should sit in the back or the front? When I lived in LA, I usually just sat in front, which nobody ever complained about, but in retrospect maybe that was weird? It's definitely more conducive to smalltalk if you're in the front passenger seat, sitting next to the driver.

Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality

#70

Post by rhizome »

Matt_Mickiewicz wrote: post #66
lukasb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why they push for five stars: apparently you get fired if your star rating falls below 4.6 or 4.7 (can't remember which.) Source: Uber drivers, so biased, but have you ever seen a driver with a 4.5 rating?

I can confirm, I've heard this from drivers as well. As an anecdote, the one time I left a 1-star review, the next day I had a 20-min wait to get a car. Not sure if it was bad luck or I was getting penalized for leaving a bad review...

Yeah, well, my auto shop told me they were going to send me a survey about my visit and that, "anything less than a 10 is failure," so don't discount gaming the stats on the provider end.
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