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Uber London loses licence to operate

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#111

Post by zimablue »

Angostura wrote: post #88
zimablue wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public transport isn't great - often cramped and with delays. It's expensive - if anything involves bus then tube then for two people Uber Pool is often cheaper. Uber is often faster, and it's widely used and supports a massive amount of employment. Most people don't order taxis much daily true, but they do widely order Ubers because there's a massive price difference. And on nights out, taxis are often used because…

uberX from East London to Heathrow is £45-60. The equivalent adult single fair is £5.10 or £3.10 offpeak. > this post is so wrong it makes me wonder if you're living in a different London. My thoughts exactly

Yeah if you cherry pick a long journey that's possible to do in one go on the tube you can obviously find situations where public transport is cheaper. Most of the time it is. But there also exist journeys for which Uber is faster and cheaper, especially with two or more people, and especially at night.

Or journeys where Uber is marginally more expensive but people are willing to pay £1 for convenience.

I'm not sure what we're arguing about, the fact that it's 40k drivers and the everybody's phones just received several messages about it proves that there's demand.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#112

Post by alexfoo »

Nursie wrote: post #68
denzil_correa wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the meter connected to a server? If not, i don’t see how that would even count as accounted income.

It doesn't need to be connected to a server if the meter is periodically attached to a computer that downloads the data. That said I have no idea if that's something they do. I am now going to try to find out. --edit-- it's not easy to find data on this. So far I have found out that most taxi meters have to be taken in to an office or depot to get the fare-structures updated...

Here's the spec requirements for a taximeter: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/taximeter-specification-1.pdf

There's no requirement to log information (let alone store it for future upload), only that the taximeter is audited (for distance accuracy) every 12 months or so, and that it has updated fare structures (which modern ones do over GSM/GPRS).

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#113

Post by jjp »

The TFL press release summarises the points on why the licence is not being renewed - https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2017/septem...

  TfL considers that Uber's approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications. These include:

  Its approach to reporting serious criminal offences.
  Its approach to how medical certificates are obtained.
  Its approach to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are obtained.
  Its approach to explaining the use of Greyball in London - software that could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#114

Post by flurdy »

geocar wrote: post #86
k-mcgrady wrote: post #3

I don't understand why Uber can't get their shit together. In the US they have competition from Lyft and I can almost understand why they have to push the boundaries. In London they have very little competition and therefore don't need to engage is controversial business practices. Personally I don't see what my alternative will be if their service ceases, they have that little competition. Although I am kind of anno…

> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I disagree, and let me tell you why: https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again. > I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having…

> If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London

That may be but getting any at 11pm+ is impossible. I have tried a few times after missing my last train home... Always end up calling a friend to sleep on their couch or more likely office meeting room sofa...

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#115

Post by thepratt »

There is a mention of the taxi association being a major opponent. The black cabs have had numerous strikes regarding uber for their own wrong doing, it just seems like another tirade from them. There was legislation passed that required all black cabs to hold card readers, the overwhelming majority refused to allow you to use them, install them, or acknowledge the legislation ~2 years after the fact. They only have themselves to blame.

At a point in the past black cabs used to be good, this is no longer true. Not having uber (or an alternative - black cabs are not) will be more a problem than most realize.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#116

Post by nikanj »

Nursie wrote: post #40

If they can't or won't reform then excellent, let's be rid of them. I don't want to give any business to a company that are seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly, and squirrel away any profits to the US. We have a perfectly healthy cab ecosystem in my city, app-driven and with fare competition and city regulation. Which I suppose is why Uber, though present, hasn't really taken off here. That said, talk of profi…

Most Uber-sized companies squirrel the profits to tax havens in the Caribbean. Getting the profits to the reach of the US tax system would be unexpected.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#117

Post by mseebach »

gtsteve wrote: post #101
geocar wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I disagree, and let me tell you why: https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again. > I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having…

This has happened to me before. I wrote to Uber's support and they recalculated the correct route and refunded me the difference. Did you try that? This sort of thing happens with black cabs outside airports from time to time but with Uber you at least have some sort of way of getting your money back.

Me too. Literally a one line complaint and a refund in a few hours.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#118

Post by arjie »

klausjensen wrote: post #97
geocar wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber. I disagree, and let me tell you why: https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again. > I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having…

I am not 100% sure what I am looking at in that pic... Does it show that he took a massive detour (presumably to extract more money from you)?

The guy took the wrong exit twice. It's less likely to be malicious than accidental. Uber will refund you your money but you lose the time. Either way, hardly an argument to get a hotel.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#119

Post by cm2187 »

2T1Qka0rEiPr wrote: post #48

Thinking it through - Uber (indirectly) leads to 40,000 drivers being employed (if I read correctly). I suspect this is just TfL flexing their muscles and Uber will use these 21 days to find a compromise...

The 40,000 drivers won't go anywhere. They will just be using other comparable services.

I was using Wheely before Uber came to London. I switched to Uber after multiple unpleasant experiences, like the drivers showing up 40min early and chasing me. But Uber didn't invent this concept, it just happened to have become the platform that dominated the other ones through its critical mass / network effects. But it can be replaced pretty quickly.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#120

Post by TeMPOraL »

grecy wrote: post #79
Nursie wrote: post #40

If they can't or won't reform then excellent, let's be rid of them. I don't want to give any business to a company that are seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly, and squirrel away any profits to the US. We have a perfectly healthy cab ecosystem in my city, app-driven and with fare competition and city regulation. Which I suppose is why Uber, though present, hasn't really taken off here. That said, talk of profi…

> a company that are seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly Who said anything about them seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly? They are a cab company, expanding globally. Any other company can do that too, if they want.

> Who said anything about them seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly?

I think everyone who looked at them, for the past 3 years or so. It's been plainly visible that they're a) reaching globally, and b) not afraid of using any means necessary, including illegal ones, to destroy their competition - both from the taxi world and other Uber-like companies.

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