Uber licence 'not renewed' in London - thoughts?

paddyandstumpy

Personally I think it's a good thing, the black cabs are synonymous with London in the same way the cream cabs are in Berlin, and the yellow cabs in NYC.

Also, the 'knowledge' that black cabbies have is second to none and can take years to achieve; why should this be overruled by anyone with a sat-nav?

I do think the black cabbies need to join the 21st century and have an app similar to Uber where you can remotely hail a cab, track the journey and pay via app; they are good improvements on the current service.

But I am glad that Uber are out!

Mercdriver

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Personally I think it's a good thing, the black cabs are synonymous with London in the same way the cream cabs are in Berlin, and the yellow cabs in NYC.

Also, the 'knowledge' that black cabbies have is second to none and can take years to achieve; why should this be overruled by anyone with a sat-nav?

I do think the black cabbies need to join the 21st century and have an app similar to Uber where you can remotely hail a cab, track the journey and pay via app; they are good improvements on the current service.

But I am glad that Uber are out!

Not heard of Hailo then?

paddyandstumpy

Mercdriver wrote: »

Not heard of Hailo then?

I actually hadn't!

I don't live in London and work there rarely! When I do, I'll hail a cab from the side of the road.

I'll download the app now! :beer:

PasturesNew

Uber seemed like a business model that only suited Uber's pockets - and dodgy drivers.

Cabbies in London were always highly respected for their rule-keeping, law-abiding and knowledgeable skills.

Uber gave "any fool with a car" a license to pick up people and cart them about with a slack abandonment of care, responsibility and accountability.

Black cabs are the "Culture of London". The tourists will be thrilled to use them. It's not quite so great crawling into a grubby Nissan with somebody who grunts as they poke a sat nav.

Nodding_Donkey

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Also, the 'knowledge' that black cabbies have is second to none and can take years to achieve; why should this be overruled by anyone with a sat-nav?

It's called progress. I worked with a number of lads who were doing the knowledge when I was a motor bike courier and my view of the knowledge is that it is no more than a form of protectionism and an ego w&*k for the examiners. I heard numerous stories of people calling a route only to be told they were wrong, they'd failed. If the examiner was wrong, and they pointed it out, they failed on 'attitude' This way they could control the number of cab drivers and make sure it took longer to pass, perpetuating the myth that it was 3 to 5 years to learn.

On LBC last night a black cab driver was asked whether they could reduce fares to compete. He said they could as long as Uber were out of the picture. LMAO why didn't they then before Uber came along?

In the Rider's Digest (a little monthly mag for couriers) there always used to be a joke on the small ads page:

Set of 4 indicators for sale. Never used. Ask any London Cabbie

tberry6686

PasturesNew wrote: »

Cabbies in London were always highly respected for their rule-keeping, law-abiding and knowledgeable skills.

Best joke I've heard all week. Biggest bunch of crooked, whinging gits is probably more accurate

Stoke

PasturesNew wrote: »

Uber seemed like a business model that only suited Uber's pockets - and dodgy drivers.

Cabbies in London were always highly respected for their rule-keeping, law-abiding and knowledgeable skills.

Uber gave "any fool with a car" a license to pick up people and cart them about with a slack abandonment of care, responsibility and accountability.

Black cabs are the "Culture of London". The tourists will be thrilled to use them. It's not quite so great crawling into a grubby Nissan with somebody who grunts as they poke a sat nav.

I only became aware of Uber last year. I had to do some work in Manchester and as such, I would travel to my usual place of work, take a train up to Manchester and used Ubers to travel round as it was what my company wanted me to do.

Regarding 'lining ubers pockets', the only pockets that felt lined were mine (not that it mattered, was all covered by expenses anyway). I saved a fortune by using Uber. A typical local Manchester taxi wanted £10 even a short trip, but by using Uber, short trips were tracked via their app so the fare was ultimately.... well, fair. I once took a trip that cost just £2.32, the same trip in a Manchester cab would have cost at least a fiver.

Exactly what do you think taxi drivers are? You might be used to your local cabbies having an AA Roadmap imprinted in his brain, a top hat and suit, but trust me, around my area, taxi drivers are just 'any fool with a car'. Blokes with almost no knowledge of the area (and in some cases not even the legal credentials, Stoke-on-Trent this is...) turning up their 'grubby' Toyota and hammering you around. While I took a break from driving, I had all kinds of rogues pick me up.... guys with cars that were misfiring, blokes with illegal tyres, brake pad warnings on their dash etc.
While I don't use Uber locally as they've not got the foothold, Uber would actually provide some protection to people who live in my area. You can report those kind of shenanigans. All their drivers are legal, properly insured and charge the correct fares. Phone up one of the local cab firms round my area and tell them one of their drivers isn't legal and they'll laugh you off the phone.

Exactly what is the culture of London? Standing outside Buckingham Palace while singing the national anthem ? Behave. There is no culture in London these days. What little culture there was 100 odd years ago has been all but lost.

Do I give a !!!! if Uber are banned from London? Not really. Perhaps think about it before you spout off rubbish though. The reason Uber are popular is because they're better than most of the competition.

rudekid48

Mercdriver wrote: »

Not heard of Hailo then?

There is also Gett.

CKhalvashi

Stoke wrote: »

I only became aware of Uber last year. I had to do some work in Manchester and as such, I would travel to my usual place of work, take a train up to Manchester and used Ubers to travel round as it was what my company wanted me to do.

Regarding 'lining ubers pockets', the only pockets that felt lined were mine (not that it mattered, was all covered by expenses anyway). I saved a fortune by using Uber. A typical local Manchester taxi wanted £10 even a short trip, but by using Uber, short trips were tracked via their app so the fare was ultimately.... well, fair. I once took a trip that cost just £2.32, the same trip in a Manchester cab would have cost at least a fiver.

Exactly what do you think taxi drivers are? You might be used to your local cabbies having an AA Roadmap imprinted in his brain, a top hat and suit, but trust me, around my area, taxi drivers are just 'any fool with a car'. Blokes with almost no knowledge of the area (and in some cases not even the legal credentials, Stoke-on-Trent this is...) turning up their 'grubby' Toyota and hammering you around. While I took a break from driving, I had all kinds of rogues pick me up.... guys with cars that were misfiring, blokes with illegal tyres, brake pad warnings on their dash etc.
While I don't use Uber locally as they've not got the foothold, Uber would actually provide some protection to people who live in my area. You can report those kind of shenanigans. All their drivers are legal, properly insured and charge the correct fares. Phone up one of the local cab firms round my area and tell them one of their drivers isn't legal and they'll laugh you off the phone.

Exactly what is the culture of London? Standing outside Buckingham Palace while singing the national anthem ? Behave. There is no culture in London these days. What little culture there was 100 odd years ago has been all but lost.

Do I give a !!!! if Uber are banned from London? Not really. Perhaps think about it before you spout off rubbish though. The reason Uber are popular is because they're better than most of the competition.

Sorry, but you're expecting a driver to come and get you and take you somewhere for the grand total of £2.32?

Then take Uber's commission from that you're left with £2

Then take (say) 2 miles of city driving and you're looking at about £1.50.

Then take a share of licensing costs (minimum £500 a year for car and driver), then take H&R insurance (minimum £2000 a year), then take maintenance, then take the cost of buying a car new enough to get licensed and having to replace it having been a minicab as it reaches the age limit for licensing.

You save money, Uber make money, driver gets nothing.

So, you got your cheap fare but you are supporting slavery. How nice of you.

Obviously now you can see that £5 is a fair fare all round and £2.32 definitely isn't. Will you therefore use a reputable company in the future?.....probably not.

Yes this is a money saving forum however we should never be paying so little for something that others are suffering as a result of it.

thescouselander

I've been using Uber a fair bit recently. Each time I've asked the drivers what they think of it - they've all said they think it's good. As a customer I've found the rates to be a lot more predictable which is good. It seems the only people who don't like the idea are black cab drivers

I think taxi users in London have lost out here.

Marktheshark

Basically sending out a loud and clear message, London is closed for innovative businesses that save the public money to protect those that don't.