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Uber London loses licence to operate

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#221

Post by dx034 »

gsnedders wrote: post #209
andygates wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, does that mean they used Greyball in London, or just the known sleazy uses? British regulators, just like CARB, have famously little sense of humour for stuff like that.

AIUI, the regulator had evidence that Uber had used Greyball in some markets (i.e., the known uses), and Uber were unable to convince the regulator that they had not used Greyball in London.

Not even sure how you would convince them. Full code and database audit isn't easy nor cheap and I doubt Uber wants to pay for that. Apart from that, there's no way to detect if Uber runs services to detect regulators.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#222

Post by harryh »

adventured wrote: post #187
nikanj wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So, you're arguing the majority of companies over, say, a $50 billion market valuation in the US are hiding all their profit in the Caribbean and none or very little of it is reaching the US tax system. Conveniently, a few minutes going through public financial statements disproves that outlandish, comical premise. 3M, McDonald's, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, AT&T, Delta, UPS, Disney, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Ho…

Not all their profits. Just the profits that occur outside of the US. The US corporate tax system is relatively unusual in that it attempts to tax not just profits earned within it's borders but worldwide profits for any company incorporated within the US.

So what US companies tend to do is incorporate subsidiaries in tax friendly locales like the Caribbean (Ireland is also popular) to avoid paying US corporate taxes on this money.

It's quite common.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#223

Post by mittermayr »

alex_duf wrote: post #180
sambe wrote: post #16

When I have reported black cab drivers misleading passengers, lying about pricing and regulations or bus drivers driving dangerously and being rude to everyone, TfL are totally uninterested. They give the impression that they know the scams operate and don't care. It's an interesting comparison with my Uber experience, which has been almost flawless and issues are usually fixed by Uber themselves promptly.

Or the card machine that is "broken"

"You are required to have one that works...no?" — "Nah mate, this one literally just broke, they'll fix it when I'll return the cab later."

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#224

Post by pbhjpbhj »

SamColes wrote: post #98
tallanvor wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're required to accept cards and can't make you pay with cash. Just tell them you don't have cash, and they'll make sure their card reader starts working.

Try that at 3am and see if the cab driver cares.

Do TfL "mystery shop", they should and with confiscation of license and vehicle for malfeasants.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#225

Post by crdoconnor »

KyeRussell wrote: post #170
bko wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't want to give any business to a company that are seeking to become a worldwide cab monopoly You don't have to use their service

For now, sure, but you may have missed the word "monopoly". Fact is, Uber is running an unsustainable business in a lot of markets to gain market share. It's anticompetitive business practice. Free market fanboys will argue that the issue will fix itself after Uber raises prices - thus allowing more healthy competition, but this takes time. Not everyone can drive or rely on public transportation. In modern society, t…

>Free market fanboys will argue that the issue will fix itself after Uber raises prices

The "issue" will likely fix itself by uber going under and losing all of its investors their money in a spectacular and richly deserved hubristic implosion.

What uber is attempting has been managed before (e.g. the 'bus wars') but it's unlikely they will achieve a sustainable monopoly.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#226

Post by dx034 »

dagaci wrote: post #203

Regardless of the merits of losing the London licence - which will almost certainly be temporary. I hope there will be some other group to take advantage and bring competition. London Black cabs complain too much... about _everything_ .. yet I have not heard about them modernising.

If they just lose it for a week this could be fatal. I can imagine most drivers will now start signing up for competitors. As soon as the license is gone, people will switch to a competitor. If they offer similar service and price, there's no reason to come back to Uber. The only way then is to start giving away free rides again.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#227

Post by danpalmer »

sambe wrote: post #16

When I have reported black cab drivers misleading passengers, lying about pricing and regulations or bus drivers driving dangerously and being rude to everyone, TfL are totally uninterested. They give the impression that they know the scams operate and don't care. It's an interesting comparison with my Uber experience, which has been almost flawless and issues are usually fixed by Uber themselves promptly.

I used an Uber for a 45 minute journey recently. The seatbelt didn't work. In the UK it's illegal to not wear a seatbelt, and it's against Uber's terms of service for me not to wear a seatbelt, and against their terms of service for the driver not to provide one.

Uber didn't care, told me they would "talk to the driver". I'd have expected at least an acknowledgement that they endangered my safety, but no, no acknowledgement of any fault at all.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#228

Post by emodendroket »

88 wrote: post #192
emodendroket wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My impression was that Uber, through price and convenience, created significant demand for Private Hire travel in London where it didn’t previously exist. That may or may not actually be positive.

Granted, although for consumers it’s rarely a bad thing to have more transport options. Consider those who, in the absence of Uber, would rather drink drive home after a night out than pay the extortionate fares for a black cab. I don’t mind a bit of extra traffic if a few more of those types are kept off the roads.

Is that really a problem in London, of all places? I've never been but it doesn't seem like driving to bars would even be a temptation.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#229

Post by sammoth »

cjsuk wrote: post #139
jmkni wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is where prepaid mastercards which sync up to an app on your phone come in really handy. You get a push notification instantly as soon as a contactless transaction goes through so you know right away if you've been ripped off.

That's not a bad idea actually and the prepaid card actually stays as real money, not "non refundable blue TFL smart card arbitrary number"

In what way are Oyster cards/credit not refundable?

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#230

Post by dx034 »

jessriedel wrote: post #154
gtsteve wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I filed my complaint with Uber support while I was standing in line at airport security, and I had a refund before I got through the metal detector. It's also worth emphasizing that the rider only even knows about these shenanigans when there's a GPS map of the ride; if a normal taxi takes a circuitous route when it's dark or you're in an unfamiliar area, you just never find out.

Exactly that. Try to get a refund if a black cab rips you off. No chance for that.

But to be fair, this works for all app based cabs. If uber is replaced by some competitor, there's no reason for people to miss uber.

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