Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#221

Post by briandear » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

pluma wrote: post #158

aedron wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same way. I can hardly decide whether I dislike Uber or the taxi industry more.

Well, Uber is more exploitative for the drivers and less safe for the riders, so the choice seems clear. On the other hand Uber has a flashy logo and an app and is sometimes cheaper.

> Well, Uber is more exploitative for the drivers and less safe for the riders, so the choice seems clear.

Have you ever driven for a taxi company as an independent contractor? Taxi companies exploit. People talking about drivers being “exploited” by Uber have never driven for a “normal” taxi company. There is a reason that many taxi drivers now drive for Uber. The taxi business is filthy. Journalists don’t usually write about it because it isn’t sexy like bashing Uber every chance they get.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#222

Post by spsrich2 » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:52 PM UTC

thathndude wrote: post #203

oefrha wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, care to share where you live? I’ve hardly ever heard stories of taxi drivers cheating locals (needless to say tourists are cheated all the time).

This was common in Chicago when I lived there from 2011-2013. "I'd like to pay with credit card" "Machine is broken." "It's all I have." "Fine."

Only the other night a Chicago cabbie tried to get my wife to pay with a portable credit card reader not the one installed in the machine. She made a big fuss and he 'discovered' that the built in machine was working after all.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#223

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:52 PM UTC

omarhaneef wrote: post #191

Something about this doesn't make sense to me. I take it for granted that the staff at Uber would do anything not to lose the license. I am sure that, for 17 months, they've been investing heavily in security systems, ID verification etc. They must have followed up on every complaint. If I were them, I would have just manually followed everything that the Cabs do till I had a technology in place. It also seems that t…

[deleted]

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#224

Post by nailer » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

dogma1138 wrote: post #220

ghaff wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

London it's really not bad in my somewhat limited experience. (Usually take transit.) Yes it's more expensive than VC-subsidized rides but is better than taxis in most places.

Black cabs only work in the center, even in Zone 2 there are plenty places where you won't find one and where they won't be willing to go. Car hire can work but it's often more expensive, needs to be booked ahead of time and they also refuse trips that aren't profitable for them. Uber openen up travel for many people in London, especially at night. It's quite easy to find a lot of places in London that aren't service…

> Black cabs only work in the center

They're bad in the center too. I live in London bridge / SE1 and black cabs still illegally refuse to take me home from say, Shoreditch because they can't be bothered crossing the river.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#225

Post by dogma1138 » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:54 PM UTC

larnmar wrote: post #211

ghaff wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

London it's really not bad in my somewhat limited experience. (Usually take transit.) Yes it's more expensive than VC-subsidized rides but is better than taxis in most places.

The black cabs in London were excellent but ridiculously expensive, which is why I’ve only caught one, like, once. Most people have to rely on minicabs, which were sketchy and unreliable. Uber was a huge boon to London.

Black cabs in the city are excellent, try hailing a black cab from anywhere not within 5-10 min walking from a major transportation hub like Pad, KingsX, Victoria, Euston and outside of the City's financial bubble.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#226

Post by maxehmookau » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:54 PM UTC

I'm always amazed at how fatalist about this sort of thing Londoners are. Like losing Uber will be a massive problem for a huge portion of the population. London has, by FAR, the best, cheapest and most efficient public transport in the entire UK. Uber is, yeah, cheaper than a black cab but also why is it cheaper? Worse working conditions, VC-subsidised, lower standards for vetting (as we've seen here!) It's not sustainable, and while there's obviously a market need for a cheaper app-based minicab service in London, Uber has proven repeatedly that it can't be trusted to do that.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#227

Post by maxehmookau » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:55 PM UTC

thinkindie wrote: post #217

have you ever wondered what makes services like Uber affordable? 1) underpaid drivers 2) VC money dropped into an otherwise unsustainable business I'm pretty sure Uber will raise prices the moment it kills the competition

They already have! Repeatedly. And lowered the cut paid to drivers.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#228

Post by johnnycab » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:56 PM UTC

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #77

daneyh wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typically i'd agree with your sentiment. Unfortunately I remember what getting around was like pre-Uber and that unregulated minicab companies are no better for workers exploitation or working rights and passenger safety...where is TfL(Transport for Londons) action on those firms? or the many uber clones that have popped up recently (Bolt, Kapten et al.) Uber is really an easy target for them. The alternative is the…

Funny, I remember London black cabs as mainly being a reliable service with reliable drivers. I'd rather have a driver with their route knowledge in their head than one blindly relying on GPS. At least they can make intelligent choices when problems crop up. Not that it was completely without problems, but compared to say NYC cabs they were worlds apart. Sure, there was a problem for a while with rogue unregistered c…

>I remember London black cabs as mainly being a reliable service with reliable drivers >The cliche of not going south of the river held up to some scrutiny too. >At least it was a two way conversation with a cabbie.

It seems that you rode a black cab very occasionally, if you never experienced a cabbie getting lost. Much has been made of the knowledge, which was dense where the routes being traversed were frequent but it was already deteriorating by the time Uber arrived. I have had the misfortune of having to rely on black cabs, on some of my past gigs, on a daily basis and spent a small fortune/part of my life on these rides, especially when they were the only choice in a rush. I can assure you that the cliché of not going south of the river was 100% true, amongst many others, although it doesn't matter so much anymore. As for romanticising the 'two-way conversation' ─ it was not a dialogue but usually an unsolicited diatribe of regurgitated opinions, gathered from the daily rags and caustic radio chat shows ─ which you were bullied into agreeing with, just to journey in some relative peace and quiet. I will take an Uber et al. every single time, for the very reasons you mentioned.

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#229

Post by jmkd » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:58 PM UTC

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #187

dominotw wrote: post #160

>At least 14,000 trips involved drivers who weren’t who the riders thought they were, any idea what the source of this info is? And not sure what the timeframe here is. Is it 14000 since Uber started operating in london?

The number comes from Cognizant who were hired to conduct an independent review [1]. They found that 43 drivers out of 45,000 drivers skirted Uber's identity checks committing identity fraud. [1] https://www.ft.com/content/78827b06-0f6a-11ea-a225-db2f231cf...

This figure of 43 drivers seems to have been edited out of the article, any other source?

[edit] open access version of article: http://archive.is/mNxBo

Re: Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

#230

Post by Brakenshire » Mon, Nov 25, 2019, 2:59 PM UTC

harel wrote: post #198

I'm not a fan of companies like Uber or AirBnB who attempt a violent takeover of a market. However, as a consumer who needs to get from A to B, or stay at some random city, I find those services invaluable. The black cabs in London are expensive, never around when you need them, and until recently might have refused card payments (now they just seem unhappy about it). At the very least I was hoping Uber would make th…

The alternative is a different app, not Black Cabs. Uber doesn’t provide a unique service beyond a network effect, drivers and customers can almost immediately switch to other apps.