Uber lost its license to operate in London. Not really a surprise, since when you dig a bit deeper you find out that the Black Cab Union heavily backed the current mayor Sadiq Khan. In France, some cab drivers will openly attack Uber drivers that take their potential fares. I know in Boston there have been debates (that quickly died) about whether Uber drivers should be required to purchase medallions. The public went ballistic and it quieted down. However, its also no secret that Uber can be a sketchy company and the former CEO is a scumbag. Personally, I prefer ride-sharing services over regular yellow cabs any day. Especially when I know my wife is riding alone at night or to the airport in early morning, I can track her ride. I dont see a huge difference between Uber and Lyft, mainly because I dont really give that much of a shit. The only time I'll take a cab is if there is a stand in close proximity or if the surge pricing is through the roof. I dont take the subway, thats for the poors. Focus: We talked about it before, but the current state of ride-sharing services. Alt Focus: Given how sketchy Uber has been, I should probably look at alternatives. But sadly, convenience triumphs over all and I dont care that much. Similar to how no one will really give a shit about the horrible working conditions at Foxconn when they'll stand in line for the iPhone X. What companies do you still do business with despite their shady practices?
Lyft is almost always cheaper, doesn't have surge pricing, nothing terrible about the company has come out, and drivers like it better (I think they get a higher percentage of the fare). I don't use them that often, but ride sharing apps have totally changed the game for me. Yellow taxis just aren't roaming around Brooklyn waiting for fares, and even though they aren't allowed to do it I used to have so many problems with picking up cabs in Manhattan who would then refuse to go to Brooklyn. There are towncars that you can wave down or call and order, but they don't have credit card machines in them and they always feel the least safe in terms of worrying that the driver is going to do something weird with a solo female passenger. The only times I've taken yellow cabs in the past couple years have been within Manhattan for work or from the airport, and almost every time I've had some kind of problem. They either needed to ask me for directions (which I'm unable to give, seeing as how I need a cab because I don't drive in the city) or the drivers were inappropriate or they thought they could get away with things like asking me for gas money. I just don't feel that bad if they're feeling the pressure from competition. And I've more or less managed to avoid the companies I have issues with where their problems are domestic. As soon as you start looking at things like how their factories on Bangladesh are run and what not, you're not going to be able to buy or use anything. I doubt the record is perfect, but for the most part I can put my money where my mouth is.
This is the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I remember you saying you went to school up here, so you're probably aware that the cabs are required by law to have functioning CC machines (I cant remember if there are similar rules in NYC). There were so many occasions where the cab drivers would just unplug them and say they were broken or turn off their meters completely and just state the fare was $20 or something and get very angry when you argued with them. More than a few times I would tell them that I have $10 dollars cash on me and if they wanted to fight about it, a cop would always sit in the grocery store parking lot nearby and we can go ask him about it. They always backed down.
As someone who lives in a city with lousy public transportation, I love Uber. It is still pretty expensive, but it beats the hell out of getting a DUI or waiting 30-45 minutes for a taxi that will cost about the same. I have also been saved by Uber after having car problems several times in the last couple of years. Most of the drivers that I have had have been friendly, too. I don't plan to stop using it anytime soon. I have only used Lyft once, and it took the driver twice as long to pick me up compared to when I use Uber, so I have stuck with the latter ever since. I probably should try Lyft again, though.
I use ride-sharing services rarely enough (twice in the last 2 years) that I don't have any real opinion on the matter. I know Uber is scummy but not if any of the other ride-share services are any better. Alt-Focus: The scummiest company I do business with is Comcast, but I feel like I don't really have much of a choice with this so I'd like to take a mulligan with this one. I do make it a point to avoid Wal-Mart and Amazon because of what I know about their labor practices, but like Audrey said I couldn't tell you much about how much clothes or shoes were made or if my phone was made by people working in sweatshop conditions. I generally stick with my principles when I'm made aware of some terrible shit, but don't go out of my way to look up everything about every product I buy.
Its the same for the Washington DC metro area, but cabbies still try to get away with the "the machine is broke" line. I can't recall every a time a cabbie tried it with me or any of my male friends, but almost every woman I know in the area has a least a few stories about cabbie shenanigans.
FOCUS: Uber has been around in Durban for a little over a year. Our public transport system in this city sucks - buses don't run after 6pm and there's no trains near the residential neighbourhoods and there is no subway here. Many people (almost exclusively Black people, who comprise 70%+ of the national population) will use minibus taxis but these aren't as strongly regulated as they should be and are, in my opinion, extremely unsafe due to awful working conditions for the drivers who have to work extremely long hours. The drivers will thus often engage in illegal and unsafe driving maneuvers to save time (just look up minibus taxi South Africa on youtube and see some of the results). Due to a long-standing city ordinance, you can't just hail a taxi cab from the pavement/sidewalk - you have to phone for a cab, so there isn't much difference between a taxi cab and an Uber in that respect. Most of the less shady cab companies here (e.g. Mozzie Cabs, Eagle Taxis) have CC machines as they consider it a safety issue for their drivers to have to carry cash. Granted, taxis here aren't particularly cheap but they aren't massively expensive, considering the huge labour and fuel costs we have here - Uber would have similar costs and I've heard their employment practices for their drivers are similar to those used by the minibus taxi bosses on their drivers. I've never used an Uber and am not likely to do so, either - I think they will have left Durban within 2-3 years as I don't think the market is big enough for them to survive due to most people here already having cars or, in the case of the millions of poor people, simply not being able to afford an Uber and having to use the minibus taxis instead. ALT. FOCUS: Samsung. I am aware that their CEO is a shady piece of shit who is (I think) in jail, but their stuff rarely, if ever, breaks on me so I will continue to use their products.
I use Uber, and honestly have never had a bad experience with it. I don't take cabs as often where I live now, but I used them all the time in Milwaukee and most of the drivers were actually pretty cool. Overall, it's really not that expensive. The most common thing I use it for is to go to the bars so no one has to be the designated driver and if you car pool with a couple people it's really not that bad. Alt Focus: Wal-mart. I don't deal with them now and I very rarely did directly, but they were one of the major companies we sold to back when I was in manufacturing. Although technically they aren't, for all practical purposes they might as well be a monopoly and they abuse the ever loving shit out of it. A contract with them comes loaded with all kinds of bullshit you would never have to deal with from another company. For example, if one label on a box we sent them had smeared ink or something like that they charged $10,000 every time it happened(even if the product in question is worth only $1). Granted it shouldn't happen, and QC checks do a good job catching them, but sometimes the printer just screws up and a box can get by. Thankfully, it never happened to my department. They also punish heavily for early or late deliveries, and literally anything they could get away with for having to deal with even the slightest of inconveniences. I'm really glad I was just the guy making the stuff and didn't have to deal with them other than prepping for their audits, and answering a few questions. Everyone I know who has had to deal with them says they are insufferable assholes, virtually without exception. The thing is, for a lot of companies, including some decently sized producers, wal-mart can account for half of their sales. Naturally, you're pretty much stuck putting up with their bullshit.
Oh Ubering in Baltimore is fun. On a red-eye flight, i decided to Uber home. It's a 40 minute trip, but the company paid for it, so fuck it. My driver disclosed he was in jail for murdering a police officer in 1998 as we pulled away from the fucking airport. It wasn't his car, he was driving his friend's car so he could earn. Christ. Next one, a 15 minute jaunt across town for a meeting. No big deal? Ha. Uber driver stops and has conversations with four groups of folks on the street corners while I am sitting there like a zit. I almost asked if I could buy her friends some burgers or chicken or something because I was fucking ravenous.
66 hours driving time, barely made mortgage, kids are going to have to eat ramen, and some punk smashed the passenger door. The game said I did well.