I nearly cried…

Lathyrus3

Yes, you’re right about the Licence from the local authority.and the DBS.

Of course he person driving the car may not be the person on the drivers licence and the DBS. No way Uber or the passenger to know who is actually picking them up.

That goes for any hire car or taxi. If people are prepared to act illegally that's what happens.

Yes, you’re right about the Licence from the local authority.and the DBS.

Of course he person driving the car may not be the person on the drivers licence and the DBS. No way Uber or the passenger to know who is actually picking them up.

Lathyrus3

I think people don’t understand what Uber is. It’s not a taxi service. It doesn’t employ anyone.

It’s basically technology that links independent people offering transport with individuals wanting transport.

The individuals providing the transport don’t have to have any qualifications other than a driving licence or safety checks other than an MOT and Insurance. Just like you and me. They could be you and me.

So the request for transport comes in. I pick it up. But then a better drive comes in, or a friend asks me out to lunch or I just can’t be bothered. All I have to do is cancel the ride. It will then go back for somebody else to pick up.

Uber has no obligation to provide a ride. They are just the technological link.

Not quite true, they need a private hire licence from local authority but not a black cab licence. They also need a DBS check and insurance.

Regular taxis are more expensive, but if you don't use them often, it is worth, as other Posters have said upthread, using your local firm.

As a non driver I rely on taxis a lot. I have built a relationship with a local firm and they are mostly ok except around sunset during Ramadan!

Black cab drivers have all sorts of standards to meet both for the cab itself but also for their safety record, health and eyesight checks. Uber drivers could be any dodgy sort with long criminal records. Uber? No thanks.

I think people don’t understand what Uber is. It’s not a taxi service. It doesn’t employ anyone.

It’s basically technology that links independent people offering transport with individuals wanting transport.

The individuals providing the transport don’t have to have any qualifications other than a driving licence or safety checks other than an MOT and Insurance. Just like you and me. They could be you and me.

So the request for transport comes in. I pick it up. But then a better drive comes in, or a friend asks me out to lunch or I just can’t be bothered. All I have to do is cancel the ride. It will then go back for somebody else to pick up.

Uber has no obligation to provide a ride. They are just the technological link.

I use taxi's very rarely but I do have an account with a local company and when I have used them, so far, they have not let me down.

We only ever use black cabs if we're not driving ourselves. We heard horror stories about local Uber drivers so would never use them.

My brother got knocked off his mobility scooter recently and needed a taxi to get to a hospital appointment. He accepted an earlier trip to avoid school run time.
No show, called and a taxi turned up at the time he wanted, but would not take him without a wheelchair. (He just needed a steadying hand to walk down an uneven path). So taxi disappeared. I phoned again and they said 20 minutes, which would make him late, so I let them know. They sent a text saying 40 minutes, so I called again and another message 15 minutes later said 15 minutes. No show ever. He lost his appointment and they are angry and making him wait months for a new one.

Why is there no service these days?

I didn't realise uber were so unreliable. Why even start a service if you know you will be letting people down? This is awful.
I hope you have recovered from your ordeal op, and everyone here who has been thoughtlessly let down by them.

Round here, it’s very hard to get a taxi at school pick-up/drop off times because the companies all have council contracts for special needs/remote living children. I gave a young disabled woman a lift home from the supermarket recently as she’d been waiting an hour and a quarter for a taxi in the afternoon. There’s no Uber here and the taxi companies object to any attempt to expand the number of taxi firms allowed to operate. 🤷‍♀️

Unfortunately Uber are not to be trusted in my experience.
They did the same to me it was awful, a lovely local firm helped me out.
It was extremely difficult to get a refund they make deliberately difficult I think to put you off.
They also let my grandson and girlfriend down when they were going on holiday and had booked an uber for 4am.
They only just managed to get to the airport with another firm in time.
We also had a bad experience with Uber when we were in Southampton going on a cruise we went to a lovely Italian restaurant the night before Getting back to the hotel was difficult because all the local taxis stopped going to this village because of uber so it was impossible to get another Uber to hotel in the end we had to phone the hotel.
I would never use Uber out of choice when it matters

I always use trusted taxi firms.

You can speak directly to an operator too if it doesn’t turn up.

I wouldn’t use Uber.

kittylester

I was going to say that it might be a good idea to build a relationship with a local firm if you have one.

We don't need to use taxis at the moment but my neighbour has an account with one in the village and rarely has a problem.

Agree with kitty lester.
Find a local taxt company
Maybe a bit dearer

Ditch Uber

It happens abroad, too. There we were in Prague waiting to be driven to a restaurant for our 40th Wedding Anniversary meal. Huh, they cancelled! We got to where we wanted to be in the end, but I would never go with Uber again.

Oh that is awful...

I would report them to the T.V. News Station & The Press ..

If they provide a public service, they must accept the responsibilities of taking care of the clients that called the company.

I’ve had an account with them for several years and not really had this problem of trip cancelled twice within an hour.. my phone charge was drained which added to my stress…

Greyduster yes I too felt abandoned but knew my closest friend was unavailable so didn’t have a choice but to wait.. felt very vulnerable ….

I've never used Uber. It doesn't exist in Germany except in a few larger towns and then only under strict conditions. It was banned for a while but changed its system and is now allowed. What's wrong with a taxi?

I have never had a problem with Uber but have only used them in the London area.

We haven’t had any problems though usually we book beforehand. They give you a choice of 2 or 3 and you choose which one suits you. All the drivers seem to be recent immigrants and most like to have a chat. One of them, a Pakistani, said that the hospitals in our local area of Australia were much worse than his ones in Pakistan because of the emergency waiting times. He said you go straight through over there, no hanging around . Nice man and he was very kind because it was midnight and my husband was in emergency.

1.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

Not fair at all to leave people stranded.

The whole UBER business model is complete rubbish.

so they often ditch a ride if a better one comes along. That’s obviously what happened when they cancelled on my grandson twice and left him stranded in the pouring rain at a lonely, poorly lit railway station so that I had to go out and rescue him.