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The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

theguardian.com

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Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#91

Post by autoexec »

duped wrote: post #89
autoexec wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The taxi picked us up, proceeded to drive us Downtown and upwards of 85-90mph on the highway (was about 11pm at night at this point). 85-90 might seem like a lot to some folks, but it's not at all uncommon for traffic on the highways around Chicago. Personally, I'd much rather a driver get me to where I'm going quickly if it's safe. 80-90 on an open highway isn't a problem, it's the drivers who are constantly switc…

I drive those highways every day, that's absolutely uncommon unless you're in the exurbs. I drove to Aurora yesterday and speed of traffic was barely over 70. If you're cruising at 90 in cook county you're asking for a court date. 15mph over the limit mandates it, and I think the highest speed limit is 60 on 290 out in Arlington Heights. It's 45 on the Kennedy once you get into the city right now.

I wonder if the laws are different in Kane/DuPage. I-90/I-94/I-294 are where I tend to see it the most. I tend to stay around 80, but I'm routinely passed by folks far more concerned about getting to their destination quickly. Once I get into the city itself it's too crowded for that and I'm happy just to be going something near speed limit

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#92

Post by wussboy »

akhmatova wrote: post #83
fatjokes wrote: post #4

I have zero sympathy for the yellow cab industry. None. I have a lot of negative feelings about Uber, and I would never work there myself as a SWE, but these feelings pale in comparison to my experiences with yellow cabs (NYC bias here). I've had my partner be threatened (the usual pay cash/credit card machine broken or "better be a good tip"), cabs drive right pass after asking where you're going, scammed. I've had…

If [assholes were] the price we have to paid to upend the yellow cab industry, then I for one am willing to pay it. The article wasn't about TK or about assholes -- it was about political corruption.

We’re allowed to talk about things not in the article, especially if they are relevant.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#93

Post by bradgessler »

mulmen wrote: post #21
abirch wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm old enough to remember calling a taxi company the day before a flight to arrange a pickup at my place for 5:30. Then calling them again 5:00 the day of the flight and them telling me that the one guy didn't come in so now they couldn't pick me up until 7 -- My flight departure time! Then me frantically calling other taxi companies. I had to skip my shower. They seemed to hate their customers

Uber did exactly this to a friend of mine just a couple months ago. Except they didn't even offer the 7am pickup. They just cancelled the ride 15 minutes before the pickup.

It happened to me. The Uber app assured me that a driver was on the way, then it was late, then it canceled, and not a single driver was available within the area.

This was at 6a to catch an 8a flight in a Bay Area town that’s 35 min from SFO.

Uber and Lyft are now exactly like cab companies, the only difference being that their “credit card machine works”

Private car services work remarkably well if you’re done with Uber, Lyft, or taxis not showing up.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#94

Post by atdrummond »

duped wrote: post #89
autoexec wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The taxi picked us up, proceeded to drive us Downtown and upwards of 85-90mph on the highway (was about 11pm at night at this point). 85-90 might seem like a lot to some folks, but it's not at all uncommon for traffic on the highways around Chicago. Personally, I'd much rather a driver get me to where I'm going quickly if it's safe. 80-90 on an open highway isn't a problem, it's the drivers who are constantly switc…

I drive those highways every day, that's absolutely uncommon unless you're in the exurbs. I drove to Aurora yesterday and speed of traffic was barely over 70. If you're cruising at 90 in cook county you're asking for a court date. 15mph over the limit mandates it, and I think the highest speed limit is 60 on 290 out in Arlington Heights. It's 45 on the Kennedy once you get into the city right now.

Interesting - I used to drive I-88 daily from Wheaton to Aurora. Although I was going counterflow, I rarely saw the speed of other vehicles average less than 80-85.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#95

Post by throw123123123 »

yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

When Uber showed up in Argentina, the taxi industry threw stones at their offices and flipped cars of uber drivers...

The reality is that most of the sentiment against uber is against the new kid in the block, not at all a moral or policy position.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#96

Post by LionTamer »

logicalmonster wrote: post #60

There are some problems in life that cannot be solved by begging for permission, but by going ahead and then asking for forgiveness. There is no legal way that the taxi cartel could have ever been challenged without some company like Uber just ramming it through regardless of the technical legality of certain actions. Insofar as they didn't steal from customers, them taking down the taxi cartel is arguably a public s…

Well said. I sympathize with their drivers for wanting to get paid more and get better treatment - I think they deserve to be treated better. But I just can’t understand the backlash and controversy in public perception surrounding Uber breaking laws - as though laws dictated morality.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#97

Post by wenc »

autoexec wrote: post #81
MDWolinski wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a recent trip to Chicago, from the airport, the taxi was about half the price of Uber to downtown, which my wife and I waited about 20 minutes for. Uber would have been a faster pickup at that point, however. The taxi picked us up, proceeded to drive us Downtown and upwards of 85-90mph on the highway (was about 11pm at night at this point). The car was probably at least 15 years old and the shocks nearly as old. A…

> The taxi picked us up, proceeded to drive us Downtown and upwards of 85-90mph on the highway (was about 11pm at night at this point). 85-90 might seem like a lot to some folks, but it's not at all uncommon for traffic on the highways around Chicago. Personally, I'd much rather a driver get me to where I'm going quickly if it's safe. 80-90 on an open highway isn't a problem, it's the drivers who are constantly switc…

From O'Hare to downtown, there are two routes: either the I-90 or I-294 then I-290.

In my experience, 80-90 mph would be uncommonly high for either route even on an open highway. It's not the norm until you get out to the far flung suburbs like Naperville (I-88).

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#98

Post by [deleted] »

atdrummond wrote: post #94
duped wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drive those highways every day, that's absolutely uncommon unless you're in the exurbs. I drove to Aurora yesterday and speed of traffic was barely over 70. If you're cruising at 90 in cook county you're asking for a court date. 15mph over the limit mandates it, and I think the highest speed limit is 60 on 290 out in Arlington Heights. It's 45 on the Kennedy once you get into the city right now.

Interesting - I used to drive I-88 daily from Wheaton to Aurora. Although I was going counterflow, I rarely saw the speed of other vehicles average less than 80-85.

[deleted]

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#99

Post by GoodJokes »

yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

No post body was provided.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#100

Post by greatgib »

A lot of people are defending Uber against taxi, based on the fact that the service is better.

But the important thing to remember is that we were in this situation because the lobbying of Taxi companies was doing the same thing as Uber previously and this is why we are in this situation in the first place.

And compared to its beginning, you can see that the service and prices provided by degraded a lot in last years now that they are in a kind of dominant position!

So, in my opinion, everyone should reprove such a behavior. Ensuring that our leaders can't be corrupted like that by lobbyist is the only way out of problematic situations like that.

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