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
#2It'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.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#3I remain unconvinced. In Atlanta alone I find myself waiting up to 30 minutes for a UberX because nobody tells them about potential traffic conditions, and nobody knows the city routes. Maybe its different when I price up to just Uber service, but this is pretty inexcusable.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#4It's a challenge to be a popular company that everyone would like in their market. Yet, in every single city there are differing rules that govern taxis. I'd LOVE to have Uber in Portland but the local Government is the road block. In cities that Uber is available, they're growing.
I love this company and use them any chance I can. I know that they're doing everything they can to be the best company and the best service for those that want to use them.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#5> All of Uber's old school power users have gotten used to Uber and simply expect our service as a baseline at this point. What I mean is that as you have gotten used to Uber, your expectations of basic fundamental service have risen.
Yeah ... no. I got fed up with taxi service in SF about 2 years ago and started using Uber. At first I was astounded: very clean cars, very nice drivers who were accommodating and pleasant (all I want is a quiet ride without the radio blaring or the driver shouting into his phone the whole way). Best of all, the drivers were knowledgable about the city and didn't need me to tell them turn-by-turn how to do something basic like get across town. It was what I always wanted, and totally worth the extra cost vs. a regular taxi.
It's hard to put my finger on exactly when it started, but in the last few months the "black car" service has degraded to the point where it feels like the old taxi days. Usually the car is dirty, smells bad, the driver has the radio blasting loud (and doesn't exactly react all that well if I ask to turn it down or off), and the driver's attitude is frequently incredibly grouchy (I've had to listen to them complain about their jobs quite a bit lately), and worst of all, they don't know their way around the city at all.
Just to make sure I wasn't experiencing what Mr. Kalanick is suggesting in terms my expectations being calibrated differently, I have made it a point to take regular taxis a few times lately. Instead of a categorically different experience (which is how I would have described the difference between Uber and a taxi in the past), the only differences now between the taxi and the Uber "black car" service seem to be the price and the color of the outside of the car. Oh, and in some cases the regular taxi drivers actually know the city better than the Uber drivers.
I don't really blame Uber for all this, as I'm sure it's really hard to maintain that level of quality while growing at double-digit rates. But I do think they need to take a good hard look at the "black car" service and make sure the drivers know what kind of experience they are supposed to provide. It really should not feel like a taxi with a different coat of paint on the outside.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#6I remain unconvinced. In Atlanta alone I find myself waiting up to 30 minutes for a UberX because nobody tells them about potential traffic conditions, and nobody knows the city routes. Maybe its different when I price up to just Uber service, but this is pretty inexcusable.
Perhaps related, I took an Uber the other day with a driver who didn't know routes, nor English very well. I'm guessing Uber pays better than taxi companies.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#7I remain unconvinced. In Atlanta alone I find myself waiting up to 30 minutes for a UberX because nobody tells them about potential traffic conditions, and nobody knows the city routes. Maybe its different when I price up to just Uber service, but this is pretty inexcusable.
I've yet to try uber X here (in Atl) as there always seems to be an uber black far closer. I don't think I've ever waited more than 15 minutes. I'm seeing a few lyft vehicles around recently also. I do wonder if in ATL, the relatively smaller difference in price for uber x leads more people to just splurge on a black car.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#8I remain unconvinced. In Atlanta alone I find myself waiting up to 30 minutes for a UberX because nobody tells them about potential traffic conditions, and nobody knows the city routes. Maybe its different when I price up to just Uber service, but this is pretty inexcusable.
I've used Uber over a dozen times in Atlanta. I've used each of the three tiers of service as well, and in varying traffic conditions. I used Uber, and UberX whenever it was available, morning and night going to Dragon*Con in downtown Atlanta (read: bad traffic) and every time they were punctual and the trip was quick. I typically wait no more than 10 minutes for a driver of any tier.
We're both just a data point, but I'm surprised you've had such a bad experience where I now refuse taxi service in favor of Uber. The quality difference is night and day.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#9> All of Uber's old school power users have gotten used to Uber and simply expect our service as a baseline at this point. What I mean is that as you have gotten used to Uber, your expectations of basic fundamental service have risen. Yeah ... no. I got fed up with taxi service in SF about 2 years ago and started using Uber. At first I was astounded: very clean cars, very nice drivers who were accommodating and pleas…
This is a great analysis, I've observed some of the same trends. When there was less demand for the black cars, they could still operate like limos. Now it seems like they've just turned into glorified taxis.
A theory of mine is that disruptive startups always evolve to look more like the incumbents as they scale, and I think this might be another case in support of that.
Re: Uber CEO responds to concern that Uber's SF service is decreasing in quality
#10For me, the convenience of Uber was always in the predictability of when the car would arrive. Flywheel (http://www.flywheel.com/) has finally effectively solved that problem for regular cabs, after half a dozen apps tried. Anecdotal conversations with taxi drivers indicate that they are pretty happy with the Flywheel service as well - it is definitely the best received app by drivers.
Using an app that seems to treat driver's more fairly is worth something to me, YMMV.