Charles Brandon
Member
I don't think the public interest is being served.
Do Londoners want Uber gone? No.
Do their drivers want Uber gone? No
Cui bono?
Uber might lose license in London if TFL decide not to renew (Up: not renewed)
- Thread starter jufonuk
- Start date
I don't think the public interest is being served.
Do Londoners want Uber gone? No.
Do their drivers want Uber gone? No
Cui bono?
autumnleaf
Member
Night bus, night tube, black cab? Same way lots of people do it.
They're not even employed. They're independent contractors. Meaning they don't get any, or extremely basic, insurance and it keeps Uber from being liable if an Uber driver rapes someone, for example.
Did I mention they don't do background checks on "their" drivers? Like... none at all?
Charles Brandon
Member
I didn't say it was, I was responding to someone else.
This is all self inflicted by Uber though, essentially replying LOL NO to the government when they've asked you to bring your service up to standard is a joke.
PJV3
Member
I'm a Londoner and I am fairly happy with the decision, create something better and safer.
JonathanEx
Member
Consumer safety is a pretty big public interest. Say, if people are sexually assaulted by Uber drivers, their attitude towards people complaining is shit to say the least.
Would Londoners be happy with Uber existing, but actually with checks and balances, improved safety and regulation? Yes. Uber can fix this and should.
So why don't you read the statement then.
It looks like TFL have issue with how they report serious crimes, obtain medical certificates, do criminal record checks and also how they have an App called Greyball designed specifically to avoid government scrutiny.
It seems like you don't have any problem with those things except the hit to your convenience.
IdreamofHIME
Member
Uber wants an umbrella license for all its drivers, but then says these drivers are self employed satellites and don't have the same rights as other employees.
Shit tier Company.
Shit tier Company.
Gett?
Do you want to be a taxi driver?
Do you know any taxi drivers?
Why is it that taxi drivers are generally not well educated, and often don't even speak English as their first language? (Hint: It's because it's not a very desirable job. Taxi companies generally do not treat their employees well.)
And this is not to denigrate taxi drivers. It's a fine way to earn a living. But most of them would probably prefer to be doing something else if they could.
SweetDonuts
Member
I can't think of anyone I know who's getting a night bus or black cab at 5am. Despite no background checks etc, Uber is still a lot safer to get somewhere at these times than taking public transport/walking.
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
You mean you were ok with your life being put at risk in the hands of unlicensed drivers
So you save 5-10 quid, yet if God forbid you crash and the driver doesn't have the right insurance, your both shit out of luck
Uber isn't some amazing changing up the game company that's forward thinking.
It's a predatory firm abusing loopholes to justify its practices and making all the so called "employees" which they don't even consider them as, holding the bag when shit gets real.
Sorry but just cause cabs maybe considered monopolies and charge more, there's a good reason they do
If you get hurt in a cab, guess what?, you can sue the company, driver etc, there's liability
Try that with an Uber driver lol
Uber will be like not one of our, you deal with it.
If they had a problem with it, they wouldn't use the service and it would shut down on its own.
It's a service that matches two consenting adults. Someone who wants a ride, and someone who is willing to provide one.
Psychotext
Member
If that Greyball shit is real, this is more than deserved.
Jezbollah
Member
How about the people that do need to take a taxi, and for who Uber is more available and convienent?
Uber is clearly no saint here, and need to buck up their ideas and practices - but let's not pretend that there is not an element of anti competitive behaviour by some unions not in play here.
KarneeKarnay
Member
Woah!
Not in the habit of stopping people digging their own grave here, but you might want to rethink this statement.
That's the point of unions though. All Uber need to do is raise their standards. I don't think we as a public should expect a race to the bottom just because it's slightly more convenient.
I like Uber because of its convenience, but this is probably for the best due to their shitty business practices and hopefully it'll shake things up to make Uber a better company.
As for people saying all these people are going to lose their jobs; hardly. All the Uber drivers near to me work for the local minicab firms and end up moonlighting for extra cash so it's not as if their original firms are going to go under. My mum once ordered a minicab for a short trip to have lunch in the local high street and then when I needed to go home I got an Uber and it was the same guy driving.
As for people saying all these people are going to lose their jobs; hardly. All the Uber drivers near to me work for the local minicab firms and end up moonlighting for extra cash so it's not as if their original firms are going to go under. My mum once ordered a minicab for a short trip to have lunch in the local high street and then when I needed to go home I got an Uber and it was the same guy driving.
Yes well it's bad for them, I was only expressing my view. Uber has continually avoided actually tackling the issues that TFL has expressed with it and this is their fault more than anything.
But maybe I'm biased since my partner nearly got assualted in an Uber and the company was not cooperative afterwards.
Exterminieren
Banned
Lets be real- Uber is not going to stop operating in London.
Hopefully this pushes the company into being less fucking terrible.
Hopefully this pushes the company into being less fucking terrible.
I see everyone in here talking about Uber drivers having a terrible time but from my (very acedotal) experiance they seem to prefer it way more than working for traditional cab companies.
No favouritism, improved efficacy, work whatever hours they feel, no cab-hopping or worries if someone throws up. I always ask my Uber drivers how they feel about Uber and I've only heard positive things.
Absolutely fuck black cabs with there bullshit prices and stupid route taking. You can say what you want about Uber but in terms of safety you had all the details for the driver there in case anything went wrong.
No favouritism, improved efficacy, work whatever hours they feel, no cab-hopping or worries if someone throws up. I always ask my Uber drivers how they feel about Uber and I've only heard positive things.
Absolutely fuck black cabs with there bullshit prices and stupid route taking. You can say what you want about Uber but in terms of safety you had all the details for the driver there in case anything went wrong.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Of course I don't want to be a taxi driver. But I think it's probably better than how Uber contractors are treated? Maybe not all drivers think so, but if you look at the larger picture.
Jezbollah
Member
Uber do need to raise their standards - but Unions are there primarily to represent one thing - their own members. If Uber do everything that is required of them, it's highly unlikely that the Unions are suddenly going to forget about them.
Certinty
Member
Yeah, I can't say I care much either. Even in the middle of the night there's always enough buses (and tubes on some day) to get around the city.
JonathanEx
Member
But it is a little more complicated than that. As Uber control the fares, the route, the policies, the driver party isn't just 'someone who will provide a ride'. Uber are absolutely the leading party in that, not independent from the two consenting adults.
Right, I've heard positive things too, and the convenience, information, flexibility, and it'd be great for those things to continue. In principle - an app like it is great, but it's the company that's the issue.
It's what happens when they go wrong that is the question - you have the details, but part of the decision is based on you take that info to Uber, and they wash their hands of it and don't deal with it properly.
Deaf Spacker
Memb
We have Uber in Chelmsford.
I genuinely do not know the answer to this, but isn't Uber meant to provide a much safer service? Can someone explain to me why Black Cabs aren't held to Uber's standard?
We have about 2 drivers last time I checked
Deaf Spacker
Memb
Way more than that, Ive used it at least a dozen times since July and every driver has been different.
Diprosalic
Banned
Look i'm not a fan of uber but they make London bearable. If they're gone, i'm not coming back unless i have to.
To be honest the only time I take a cab is when I'm hammered and just got off the train at midnight on a week night.
Deaf Spacker
Memb
Same, I only use them when Im going to get hammered or Im already hammered.
It'd be much harder for a union to lobby against a corp that ticks all the right boxes. In my view it can't really be seen as an anti competitive play when the corp in question isn't adhering to the rules laid out to them.
There's ignorance on my part as I haven't heard about any of this hand-washing, failing to follow up reports etc so I completely agree on holding Uber accountable for that. Not letting them operate though is going to fuck over a lot of people and it will shift power back in the hands of the out-dated, mafiaesque black cabs.
Hopefully this is the fire under Uber's ass to absolve their shitty business practices. I knew there were a ton of issues on the corporate side of company, but I thought the customer serving side was pretty good.
I'm in London for work a lot of the time and am quite happy with this news. They either come up to standard or close down, this is 100% public interest being served, no idea how you can say otherwise.
show me your skeleton
Member
greyball sounds exactly like what happened between uber and apple.
Do you know that taxi drivers usually have to pay for the right to work? They have to pay $100+ just to rent the car for their shift, and if they can't make it up, they're out of luck. Do you know that they often have to bribe dispatchers to get decent fares?
Why is it that about half of Uber and Lyft drivers have college degrees, but only about 15% of cab drivers do? Why is that about 20% of Uber and Lyft drivers are women, but only about 1% of cab drivers are?
Chelsea celebrating.
Also FUCK Khan. Not that the ex mayor was any different in this regard, but black taxis are literally for the rich and mini cabs are trash. Uber was far better and almost life saving during strikes and shit. Try living in a shit hole like Highbury and Islington and desperately need to go to Heathrow during a strike with any other service.
Uber? £40 max.
Black Taxi? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Mini Cab? "Sorry we are too busy" translation, we wanna keep our drivers in the centre to make more money.
Also FUCK Khan. Not that the ex mayor was any different in this regard, but black taxis are literally for the rich and mini cabs are trash. Uber was far better and almost life saving during strikes and shit. Try living in a shit hole like Highbury and Islington and desperately need to go to Heathrow during a strike with any other service.
Uber? £40 max.
Black Taxi? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Mini Cab? "Sorry we are too busy" translation, we wanna keep our drivers in the centre to make more money.
By using the modes of transport that were available before Uber came maybe?
Black cabs are held to a far higher standard & cost-of-work than Uber or mini-cab & limo firms.
At least 2 years doing The Knowledge for starters.
Twat.
KarneeKarnay
Member
There is a reason Taxis are expensive compared to Uber. It price gauges the market till Uber is the only option left. Then it takes advantage of times when people are desperate for a taxi and ups the price.
Taxis are expensive because the main cost of a taxi, is the maintenance of the car. Uber gets around this by using lending schemes or allowing people to use their own cars.
The lending schemes are just scams designed to make people pay 3x as much for the car, by the time they pay it off. The problem with letting anyone be an uber driver is there isn't any regulation on it. You're just as likely to meet a crazy person as a normal one, but in a car that's falling apart.
That rating system can has been gamed, so that doesn't mean you are going to be protected. Nor is the driver.
tonysidaway
Member
You say that as if its a bad thing.
If what TfL says about this hire company's practices is correct, I'm surprised they're not being prosecuted for using Greyball to evade regulation and law enforcement. I cannot imagine any situation in which a British court would find such conduct acceptable.
There seems to be an attitude that treating employees like shit and acting like pirates is somehow a good thing because something disruptive internet mumble something. No. welcome to the real world, Uber.