Uber licence 'not renewed' in London - thoughts?

adonis

Apparently when a group of revellers get in the cab the cabbie says evening all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKB34LPhiGQ

Car_54

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

Really, what's your source for that fact?

Probably heard it at the lodge ....;)

CKhalvashi

thescouselander wrote: »

All the Uber cars I've been in have been relatively new - 2 or 3 years old generally. I'd say the standard of vehicle relatively high and it certainly doesn't appear that the drivers would be dodging insurance.

Most of them are likely rented.

Seriously though, how do you think they can afford to offer cheap fares, new-ish cars and make money? Whose pocket do you think it's coming from?

dacouch

vikingaero wrote: »

I was staggered when a Black cabbie told me how much it took for him to get his licence. This is what I remember:

Up to 5 years learning The Knowledge = £££££
£45k for a black cab (or financed per month) The diesel black cabs are scarce and only the newer electric version will be available at £55k.
£2-4k for insurance
£150 ish for a DBS
MOT every 6 months - if a fault is found their badge is instantly removed.
Random inspection for faults.

You average Uber can rent a Prius for £100 pw, get insurance and a private hire licence and a satnav because none of them know where they are going and instantly drive.

He is exagerrating the insurance premium, Black Cabs (Including outside of London) are almost always cheaper to insure than private hire due to the stricter checking / licencing by the councils and also the type of drivers / operators.

The premium would be more likely to be £1300 to £2000.

The cost of the vehicles for each is similar, the Uber driver is paying £5k a year to rent a vehicle, the Black Cab owner will pay a similar amount per year but will get to keep the vehicle. Many black cab owners rent their cabs out to other drivers for the part of the day they are not working

Nilrem

chattychappy wrote: »

The way to enforce this is to have Police/TfL spot checks/mystery customers etc, not to ban an entire company.

Except that Uber have admitted (after initially denying it) when caught that they deliberately developed applications to make it as hard for that sort of thing to happen.

The app tried to detect people picking up rides from near certain government and law enforcement buildings, tried to match usage pattern with known enforcement personal, and tried to link payment with likely enforcement agencies.

Or to put it another way, they took part in a conspiracy to avoid the normal enforcement checks and in many other industries that would lead to criminal prosecutions..

That alone would make any regulator of the industry extremely wary of the company, knowing that they've tried hard in the past to make it nearly impossible for checks.

[Deleted User]

Looks like a lot of people here have extensive knowledge of taxi driving.
Unfortunately most of them are passengers and a few of the more knowledgeable have owned/driven a taxi.

lush_walrus

Tried them, cheap yes but thats about it. The first I used struggled to speak English and jumped a light. The speaking wouldn't have been an issue if I wasn't trying to communicate I needed to change destination.

Months later a friend organised one which was fine.

The third one was just about fine, spent the whole time talking to someone on phone, hands free but I frankly don't want to hear someone's conversation for the entire period I'm in a taxi. Would I be happy with my daughters using Uber when they are older no I wouldn't

Black cabs for me, they always understand what I am asking, if they talk on a phone I am not exposed to it. You get what you pay for frankly.

bigadaj

treboeth wrote: »

Looks like a lot of people here have extensive knowledge of taxi driving.
Unfortunately most of them are passengers and a few of the more knowledgeable have owned/driven a taxi.

It's the standard dilemma in any debate or argument, those without any direct or specific knowledge are more likely to be unbiased but less informed, those with the knowledge are likely to be more knowledgeable but less likely to be unbiased.

TheMoonandBack

Uber should play by the rules, if they can't then the authorities will stop them - this is now happening. Like most corrupt organisations they have danced and dodged but now it's caught up with them.
They have cheap prices but this is partly a loss leader to crush the opposition and partly exploiting those who drive the uber cars.

With all due respect and sympathy to any Uber drivers I hope they lose the appeal.

Stoke

Stoke wrote: »

Ultimately, you're relying on the honesty of the taxi driver and also putting yourself in their hands to get you home safely.

It's very tricky. I've arrived at locations before and been told I owe 10 pounds more than we agreed originally. That can get very tasty. Doors locked, you're arguing with a guy who's in charge of a vehicle.

I've also been in the opposite situation where I've been quoted a price, paid up front and then been turfed out half a mile (sometimes more) away from my house.

And I've had the single extreme case where I was robbed by a taxi driver of a local company. I phoned their base and they laughed. I phoned the police who suggested I was just drunk.

And you want me to have sympathy with local companies for being undercut by a company who do it better?

Case in point:
Yesterday, I took two local taxis and both had me. Two different ways. The first taxi turned up, half an hour late, had no idea where he was going (I had to direct him) and then charged me 5 pounds more than what I usually pay. I told him that was much more than normal and that 12 was more reasonable. He was having none of it. My fault for not agreeing a price.

I then flagged a taxi down later and said "how much to X". He told me 15 which I said was too much. He then said 10. Once we arrived at the destination, he demanded 12.

The sooner uber comes and kills these dodgy local taxi companies the better.