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Uber London loses licence to operate

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#301

Post by mittermayr »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #252
mittermayr wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this is probably not the best point to base an argument on: "In the entire history of the hackney carriage (black cab) license - going back to 1662 - I know of only one case of a driver having been prosecuted for rape, about 5 years ago." Anecdotal, and also, "prosecuted" describes a very certain slice of the data. The following link extends into other companies and crimes, but it hopefully adds to your anecdot…

Those numbers include uber drivers, minicab drivers AND black cab drivers all lumped into one - they are people who described their occupation as "taxi driver" or some derivative. It is fair to say that regulation in London has generally tended towards safer experiences for all. I was in a car the other day where the driver bemoaned the paperwork. He came to London in the 1980s without knowing English and bought a ca…

"I was in a car the other day where the driver bemoaned the paperwork." ... again, I was in a black cab a while back, and the guy parked between the two lanes in the middle of the road, then ran off to pee in a nearby hotel. On his way out, he just said, "if somebody stops, just say it was an emergency" — same guy also didn't want to accept credit card as the ride was under 20 pounds, and "he stopped the meter a few minutes early to make up for his brief pee-stop."

Anecdotal (mine is also 100% true, I am not kidding).

I am with you, on the fact that Uber needs to get their shit together, 100%, absolutely right.

But the number 32 is a tricky one — it's rape allegations (while clearly 32 too many, and I am really, really not saying this is not bad) — 32 allegations, not drivers. John Worboys (black cab, prosecuted), targeted 14 women alone, with police estimating 102 cases total, David Perry (prosecuted, 2 cases), etc.

"The regulator is doing their job." — YES! "Uber should be forced to respond by either amending, or ceasing operations" - YES!

"Those numbers include uber drivers, minicab drivers AND black cab drivers all lumped into one" - YES!

"The number one reason the Police and TfL are giving are that you are far more likely to be raped by an Uber driver than you are a driver for another firm or black cab driver" - NO.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#302

Post by baby »

cjsuk wrote: post #108
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.

Same experience here. Nothing done about a virtual mugging where the cabbie had no idea where he was going, shouted at me and told me I was a cunt because I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for it and pulled him up on it. I rounded his fee down to the nearest £10 and told him to sue me. I’ve seen black cab drivers shouting “Uber scum” and spitting in the windows of Uber drivers before. This isn’t want I and my wife wante…

On the other hand, my cab driver left with my girlfriend's phone and never returned it back. Uber completely ignored us.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#303

Post by vertex-four »

jamiegreen wrote: post #289
orf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, it's a service charge that in most places is charged for groups over a certain size (4 or 5). There is no culture of compulsory tipping for anything, because it's ridiculous.

My experience does not match what you are saying. I was always taught that (unless a service charge is already included) you should tip 10-20% in good restaurants. Not to tip I believe is generally seen as rude/a sign that service was bad.

Of course, most of us don't regularly eat in "good restaurants" - pretty much anything on the high street/your local shopping centre isn't, and anywhere you can get a meal for under £15 a head before drinks doesn't count as a "good restaurant", in my books.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#304

Post by tallanvor »

lmm wrote: post #183
salcoco wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You wanna pay £8 with card? Really?" That's when I stopped using black cabs.

"Yes", or if they make a fuss, report them - you've got their license number on the plate right in front of you, and actual accountability rather than an unaccountable star-review system.

Especially because the fees have been lowered specifically for taxis, so fees from the approved payment providers top out at like 3%.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#305

Post by baby »

jjp wrote: post #113

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…

Can you quote with ">" instead? We can't read your comment fully.

EDIT: Here is the quote:

> 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

#306

Post by alexasmyths »

Nursie wrote: post #280
alexasmyths wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"For now, sure, but you may have missed the word "monopoly"." The Taxi business in every city is a 'monopoly'. Shares in this 'rent seeking entity' are bought by owning 'medallions'. It's hypocritical that a cabal of local medallion owning rent-seekers want to attack Uber for their 'monopolistic' practices. The cab drivers who don't own medallions aren't getting much out of it. Uber is not a monopoly, nor has it been…

>> The Taxi business in every city is a 'monopoly'. Shares in this 'rent seeking entity' are bought by owning 'medallions'. This is just not true, and the medallion system doesn't seem to exist outside of the US. The rest of your post is just as much nonsense. There's a whole list of reasons Uber are having this happen, and none of it's political. Oh, and according to Uber, they aren't jobs - or else they'd have to c…

" they aren't jobs"

Just 'let them eat cake' then?

This is really quite insulting to the 20 000 - 40 000 people who are about to lose their source of income - most of them at the lower end of the economic scale - and the millions of users of Uber for whom Black cabs are just too expensive, because medallions or not - the system is de-facto a controlled economy.

I highly doubt that a fairly operationally competent entity such as Uber would simply fail to supply some information or adhere to some basic regs when the writing was clearly on the wall that they needed to do so or lose their license.

This from the BBC: "But a wave of bad publicity about its corporate culture, its lax attitude to checks on its drivers and its treatment of this freelance army seems to have spurred TfL into action." - i.e. a populist action.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#307

Post by 88 »

emodendroket wrote: post #228
88 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don’t think it’s necessarily something people plan, but it certainly happens, especially in the more car-centric outskirts.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#308

Post by vayun »

vizzah wrote: post #181
crtasm wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their previously voiced views on cyclists should be taken into account though. http://road.cc/content/news/56999-addison-lee-chairman-airs-... The Keen Group have always been reliable for us (but could hold similar views for all I know)

You can downvote, but I hate cyclists in cities , because many of them break road rules. They think of themselves as neither pedestrians, nor vehicles. When they drive on pavements, they presume being pedestrian and expect to be treated equally (even though they operate a large mass of steel, often with high speeds, enough to cause serious injuries). When they are on the road, they like to be pedestrians and cross tr…

What is the problem with cyclists cross the road on a pedestrian crosswalk (with a reasonable speed of course)? In some European countries cyclists are actually forbidden to take direct left turn on the road and have to use pedestrian crosswalk for that.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#309

Post by foldr »

notyourday wrote: post #279
dx034 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't get mugged. Please don't downplay muggings. Getting mugged is much worse than paying too much because of a software error. Tfl always reimburses and they pay out to any bank account, you just have to call them for the details. I can understand that it's annoying but that wasn't mugging. Did you report the faulty purple reader? Those are used by several thousand people per day, I've never seen card readers…

Wait. What? In 2017? There are instructions and I have to report broken equipment? I have to figure out instructions on payment system?! There's no button to handle it all on my phone? Cabs should either operate as well as Uber or die. Instead of figuring out how to become as good or better than Uber they are trying to push Uber out. That just means someone else would show up.

He's talking about the tube, not cab services.

Re: Uber London loses licence to operate

#310

Post by kahnpro »

orf wrote: post #211
jamiegreen wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from restaurants

Not really, it's a service charge that in most places is charged for groups over a certain size (4 or 5). There is no culture of compulsory tipping for anything, because it's ridiculous.

In London I see this charge all over the place even for only two people... usually it's 10-12%.
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