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Private Hire/Uber
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Actually in London most of the stories about Uber drivers are correct.
When it first started back in 2012 Uber was spot on, quality drivers with quality cars and area where decent.
However in late 2013 they started to expand into Uber mX and then UberExec.
The X rates are now about half of what they were originally.
UberExec undercut Lux by about 40% thus ripping the heart out of the Lux drivers income.
They then dropped the Exec rates further and then they dropped the Lux rates.
They have also increased their commission.
Private Hire is hard work at the best of times.
But avoid Uber at all costs, the drop in client quality in London had to be experienced to be believed.
They now have no checks whatsoever on the quality of UberX drivers.
And many can't find anywhere without SatNav.
The standard of driving is also so poor on occasion as to cast doubt on the legality of how some of the new entrants to London PH got hold of a Driving Licence.
They are often seen turning down one way streets the wrong way, illegal U Turns swerving for lane to lane, cutting people up due to being unable to follow SatNav directions properly.
Also there have been several cases publicised involving drivers buying Uber customers account details then going on extended drives about London in order to defraud the account holder.
A large number of Uber drivers in London also rely on in work benefits, though that is not just an Uber thing, it is common in Privae Hire, one council in West London has specific forms and rules for PH drivers to make it easier to claim I work benefits.
Is that your opinion or fact?0 -
Can anyone vouch for Uber in Glasgow? I wouldn't imagine it is anywhere near as bad as London.
Again this would be job #2 so not my main source of income!0 -
The standard of driving is also so poor on occasion as to cast doubt on the legality of how some of the new entrants to London PH got hold of a Driving Licence.
They are often seen turning down one way streets the wrong way, illegal U Turns swerving for lane to lane, cutting people up due to being unable to follow SatNav directions properly.
You could level all of those criticisms against a Black Cab driver in London bar the following a sat nav.
The standard or the minicab / uber drivers is not good but it does not come near the bad driving combined with selfish driving of a very significant percentage of Black Cab drivers.0 -
You need to be a PH driver to work for them.
If you have gone through the expence of getting your PH Lic then why work for a Company that has a long history of screwing the "partners" financially?
You have no back up with the Uber system.
Nobody to contact if you get assaulted.
Nobody to contact when a passenger vomits in your car.
They always take the passengers side.
They deactivate drivers at the drop of a hat.
When it comes time to update your documents and you upload them they have a very bad habit of deactivating you for a few days to a week.
No explanation.
No telephone number to call.
Just E Mail communication which usually consists of an automatically generated E Mail.
Very few, if any, of the staff have any idea how the PH and Taxi industries actually work.
They don't care if they have too many drivers they are only interested in the top line.
They don't care if they have 1000 drivers making them £500000 a week or 3000 drivers making them £600000 a week. Actually they have been shown to prefer the latter as they get paid on jobs done by the whole fleet, having a fleet that is properly sized only leads to loss of revenue in their corporate opinion.
They don't care if the drivers earn £50 a shift.
They just want turnover.
And if they get a proper foothold and manage to kill off the competition then the only way rates will go is down.
That is before you even consider the UberPool crap they are bringing in that is legally dubious.0 -
You could level all of those criticisms against a Black Cab driver in London bar the following a sat nav.
The standard or the minicab / uber drivers is not good but it does not come near the bad driving combined with selfish driving of a very significant percentage of Black Cab drivers.
When did you last drive round London in the evening? Or indeed during either of the rush hours?
As over the last 18 months the standard of driving amoungst PH has dropped significantly.
There are serious collisions every week in Central London involving UberX drivers mainly, often in a Prius.
I am not talking about the odd Dodgy U Turn or stopping to pick up a Hail causing delays.
I am talking about drivers that have no idea how to drive properly. We aren'ttalking about aggressive driving or speeding. But rather a worrying lack of driver ability.
Before you even get to drivers being asked for Heathrow Airport and going to Heath Row near Stansted instead.
Strange since part of the very simple PH Lic process involves knowing major routes round London and the locations of airports and main stations.
I have personally gone nose to nose 4/5 times with PH Prius myself and I have done hardly any miles in London compared to what I have done in previous years
There was even a case near Trafalgar Sq of an UberX driver being involved in a serious collision and just abandoning his car and running with his phones.
There are also lots of reports of the vehicle driver not actually matching the person whose Uber account was allocated the job.0 -
When did you last drive round London in the evening? Or indeed during either of the rush hours?
As over the last 18 months the standard of driving amoungst PH has dropped significantly.
I have the miss fortune to have to drive in Central London among Black Cabs virtually every day.
They do all of the things you level at Uber drivers and many more.0 -
When did you last drive round London in the evening? Or indeed during either of the rush hours?
As over the last 18 months the standard of driving amoungst PH has dropped significantly.
There are serious collisions every week in Central London involving UberX drivers mainly, often in a Prius.
There are also serious collisions in London with black cabs
I am not talking about the odd Dodgy U Turn or stopping to pick up a Hail causing delays.
But your earlier post was about illegal u turns and driving the wrong way down one way roads
I am talking about drivers that have no idea how to drive properly. We aren'ttalking about aggressive driving or speeding. But rather a worrying lack of driver ability.
Black cabs have the driving ability, unfortunately a large number are incredibly selfish in the way they drive
Before you even get to drivers being asked for Heathrow Airport and going to Heath Row near Stansted instead.
Strange since part of the very simple PH Lic process involves knowing major routes round London and the locations of airports and main stations.
I have personally gone nose to nose 4/5 times with PH Prius myself and I have done hardly any miles in London compared to what I have done in previous years
There was even a case near Trafalgar Sq of an UberX driver being involved in a serious collision and just abandoning his car and running with his phones.
There are also lots of reports of the vehicle driver not actually matching the person whose Uber account was allocated the job.
This happens with Black Cabs as well, my friend had this very problem with a black cab just last week. If he was not a local and knew the route he would not have known
The stopping wherever they want to pick a fair up is ridiculous, they quite happily block two lanes or sets of traffic lights as they do not care about anyone else but themselves.
I was amused to watch a cab about to block a road to drop a fare off on a side road by Waterloo today. They clocked another black cab behind them so as it was a black cab they moved off and parked correctly only for the cab behind to just block the road anyway.0 -
I have the miss fortune to have to drive in Central London among Black Cabs virtually every day.
They do all of the things you level at Uber drivers and many more.
What drivers like you often fail to realise is that the road is a working area for a taxi/ph driver and not just a means of getting from A to B like yourself.
What do you expect a taxi to do when picking up a fare facing east but the passenger wants to go west?
A taxi will have dispensation to do certain things that you may not approve of, such as stopping on double yellow lines to pick up/drop off a fare. Tough, they are allowed to.
If a u-turn is not prohibited in the area he picks up then it is a perfectly legal manoeuvre but an annoyance for you.
Get a grip.0
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