Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#271

Post by nemo44x » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:23 AM UTC

kchhina wrote: post #97

deminature wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pool is an option in NYC though, which is usually 1/3 of the price of a taxi/X and effectively reduces traffic.

Via is another great option in NYC that I use all the time.

Everyone I know says Via is much better than Pool. I don’t really use either but my wife takes Via to work as it’s only $2.50 more than the Subway and often gets the front seat.

I don’t know if I could though. I have a certain love for getting on the crowded morning subway. It gives you something to legitimately hate anyways.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#272

Post by manigandham » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:25 AM UTC

wyattpeak wrote: post #247

manigandham wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure in what exactly? It's a standard process with a standard fee. This comment thread shows just how much contention there would be otherwise, which is probably what encouraged these changes.

Failure in turning a process that could have taken two minutes into one that took a week.

Isn't that just some narrow condition?

The lost items were returned, so the return process is actually successful. It's designed to work for many people under various conditions, not just you. Whether it was as quick as possible is irrelevant to the original claim of being charged for the wrong reason.

Perhaps try and remember your items if you don't want to worry about recovering them later. There are plenty of drivers who also immediately check for and return items before they set off. Saying a system has failed because it doesn't perfectly suit your exact life situation/mistake is disingenuous and unproductive.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#273

Post by nemo44x » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:28 AM UTC

jmathai wrote: post #104

Androider wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a yellow cab driver claim just last month that his credit card machine was broken, after a ride from the airport into Manhattan. I told him too bad, plastic is all I got, and wouldn't you know it miraculously the machine worked when he tried it (with a sour face). As a cherry on top he then tried to charge me more than the fixed rate set for the airport fares. So taking a yellow cab in NYC still absolutely suck…

Been there. And if you pay for a $30 fare with $40 they won't have change to give you and will "keep the tip". I believe that's the last time I took a cab anywhere.

Just tell them to fuck off. When you hand them money tell them how much you want back.

I assume they know I’m from here so I dont see that side but I’ve had them try some shit and you just need to do battle. In the end you’ll always win.

They have change. Their credit card machine works. If they claim neither then give them below fare and walk out. They will suddenly have change and a working credit card machine.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#274

Post by toasterlovin » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:34 AM UTC

bad_good_guy wrote: post #193

Barrin92 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To this day I don't even really understand the value that Uber et al are supposedly adding that justifies the size and evaluation of their companies. At the end of the day they're a layer on top of a taxi business. Sure this is useful in some way but like Airbnb or weworks or all these other companies that just throw one layer of service over the actual business I don't understand why they are treated like high tech…

I believe it was originally a big bet on the eventual profit margins from having the market share when deploying driverless cars instead of human drivers

That always seemed insane to me. The potential moat I saw was in controlling a two sided market (like eBay for collectibles). Drivers drive for you because you control the riders. Riders ride with you because you have all the drivers. This would be a competitive advantage because you’re getting your drivers to deploy capital (cars) for you.

But driverless cars change that dynamic. Now you need to own a fleet. Well, guess what: there are already businesses like this! They are called car rental companies. Last time I checked, they were shitty, low margin businesses.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#275

Post by thisisit » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:35 AM UTC

One of the things I am noticing, at least in India, is that there are now lesser number of rides available at any given point in time. So, either the ridesharing demand has risen to match the supply or that the supply is dwindling. I think it is the former. But on routinely talking to driver they think it's the latter. Less and less people are now getting into the ridesharing game.

So, it seems drivers might be wary of driving for ridehsaring companies. What kind of knock-on effect will this have on Uber's profitability.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#276

Post by sjg007 » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:35 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #270

sjg007 wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am pretty sure that Amazon.com and Sears.com do this too.

For different locations, yes. But if my wife and I, at the same time and same location try and buy the exact same thing, we are given the same price. This is a case of Uber using a variety of algorithms to determine just how much they can get out of you. I prefer the old surge pricing model where it was a conscious choice to overpay. But however clever they may think they are I’m not fooled by their fake market prici…

Nope. I had two tabs open with different prices.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#277

Post by wyattpeak » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 4:37 AM UTC

manigandham wrote: post #272

wyattpeak wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure in turning a process that could have taken two minutes into one that took a week.

Isn't that just some narrow condition? The lost items were returned, so the return process is actually successful. It's designed to work for many people under various conditions, not just you. Whether it was as quick as possible is irrelevant to the original claim of being charged for the wrong reason. Perhaps try and remember your items if you don't want to worry about recovering them later. There are plenty of driv…

The fact that you made a mistake doesn't absolve another party of all duty to act like a reasonable person. Is capital punishment for stealing a loaf of bread okay, because perhaps you should try to remember not to steal things?

I also question the assertion that this process is designed to be as effective as possible for anyone, unless you mean Uber. As stated in the original post, both parties were trying to resolve this, while a busybody middleman stopped them.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#278

Post by keeptrying » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 5:00 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #58

That is not a happy balance sheet. They have raised over $24B, then they shifted around the cap table when Soft Bank came in[1] where they valued the company at $48B. I have never played poker where the lowest valued chips were a million dollars but it has to feel like that to senior management at the company right? And their investors, they have serious money in the pot too. It feels like they have managed to create…

True “too big to fail” has an element of regulatory capture. These guys definitely aren’t there yet.

If Waymo’s launch is even half successful there’s going to be a mass exodus from Uber I think. Their cash comp is the lowest in the industry.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#279

Post by dyeje » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 5:03 AM UTC

segmondy wrote: post #135

guelo wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't have the driver's phone number so I had to use the Uber app to contact the driver, that's when they charged me the $15.

Well, not having the driver's phone number is good. Can you imagine passengers calling drivers and harassing them for whatever reason? It will happen. Should the driver drive for free to return your jacket? What if the driver is already en route to another passenger and they told the passenger 5 minutes, and your cost will be additional 10 minutes. Do you think another passenger will understand and be forgiving that…

> Well, not having the driver's phone number is good. Can you imagine passengers calling drivers and harassing them for whatever reason? It will happen.

I'm pretty sure you can get their number if you call them via the app during the drive.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#280

Post by richardknop » Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 5:12 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #163

nwmcsween wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is reminding me of the dotcom boom, the markets are badly overvaluing a lot of tech companies in my opinion anyways.

Critically though it isn't retail investors who would bear the cost of a failure, that would be born by the folks like Softbank and the hedge funds who have invested. Of course the employees are also victims. I have been in the situation of holding untradeable (by me) stock being valued a high number (woohoo! I'm rich) only to watch helplessly as it became worthless (uh, I'm not rich). While the value of things chang…

> Critically though it isn't retail investors who would bear the cost of a failure, that would be born by the folks like Softbank and the hedge funds who have invested.

This is highly optimistic. A failure of a big startup such as Uber could easily start a chain reaction, failure of other similar big unicorns, perhaps steep losses in stock market, spreading panic etc. It could easily could get to a point when government bails out the investors and banks in some way, just so they don't lose money. This is more likely scenario in my case.