Uber loses Licence in London.

[Snoozer]

I was shocked to read there are 45,000 Uber drivers operating in London alone..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50544283

[figgy]

I've just been got home last night from.london and drives were saying it expired at 12 Sunday night.

They can carry on for time being, as they appeal.

I like Uber much cheaper than black cabs and you can see where your car is, order different sizes etc. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by figgy

[Vince Green]

I am not at all surprised, living in London the stories about Uber, its drivers and the cars are beyond belief. Its only a phone app, nobody -least of all Uber knows who is actually driving or what car they are using, whether its insured and safe..

So it is the perfect way for all sorts of dodgy characters, benefit cheats, convicted criminals who would never get a proper cab licence to work below the radar.  

[Walker570]

AND it is reported the Duke of York has just signed up as a driver.....

[panoma1]

So called “private hire” businesses have always had problems with drivers from unsafe vehicles, no PH licence, plying for hire, sexual misconduct  to Criminal records and everything in between!.......The local authority are responsible for Regulation, licensing and enforcement, but staffing levels are inadequate to properly police the activity..........as Vince Green said, it attracts some very dubious characters!

[Danger-Mouse]

Didn't we have the same performance a year ago?

[Vince Green]

1 hour ago, panoma1 said:

So called “private hire” businesses have always had problems with drivers from unsafe vehicles, no PH licence, plying for hire, sexual misconduct  to Criminal records and everything in between!.......The local authority are responsible for Regulation, licensing and enforcement, but staffing levels are inadequate to properly police the activity..........as Vince Green said, it attracts some very dubious characters!

Yes but Uber is a whole lot lower in standards than even the private hire sector, and that's saying something. I can't see how they were allowed to get away with it as long as they have done. To be a driver you just subscribe to the phone app. They do some checking initially but after that who ever has the phone can sign on and get work for ever and a day.

The company is not even based in Britain, I think they are based in Holland but if you sign up with them they will open a bank account for you in Luxemburg and pay your money into that account specifically so that the taxman and the benefits people wont find out what you are doing.

To me its just crazy, why would anybody want that?.  

[Raja Clavata]

21 minutes ago, Mr_Nobody said:

Didn't we have the same performance a year ago?

Next round of funding required (back handers)?

[Danger-Mouse]

9 hours ago, Raja Clavata said:

Next round of funding required (back handers)?

How very cynical of you sir! 

[henry d]

Odd that people have such bad accounts for Uber, we used them twice in Edinburgh (our friends account) and it was spot on, we needed cabs that carried 5 people, we knew where the driver was and when he would arrive and they were courteous and drove well. I`m just about to download the app for our next jaunt to Auld Reekie.

[Raja Clavata]

2 hours ago, Mr_Nobody said:

How very cynical of you sir! 

Let's see 😉 

My experience of them is very mixed - in Nairobi I found them to be great because the price was fixed by the app, not the colour of my skin. In Paris this year I found them to be pretty expensive although cabs in France are more expensive than here in the UK anyway. In London I think we took one home once with my daughter when the taxi rank at the rail station was empty, I used the Uber Eats app for food once and that was a disaster.

Sadly my Kenyan ex's sister was raped by an Uber driver in Nairobi earlier this year and they were unable to bring charges for whatever reason, it has left her devastated and slowly rebuilding her life.

[WestonSalop]

1 minute ago, Raja Clavata said:

Let's see 😉 

My experience of them is very mixed - in Nairobi I found them to be great because the price was fixed by the app, not the colour of my skin. In Paris this year I found them to be pretty expensive although cabs in France are more expensive than here in the UK anyway. In London I think we took one home once with my daughter when the taxi rank at the rail station was empty, I used the Uber Eats app for food once and that was a disaster.

Sadly my Kenyan ex's sister was raped by an Uber driver in Nairobi earlier this year and they were unable to bring charges for whatever reason, it has left her devastated and slowly rebuilding her life.

That's awful Raja and I'm very sorry to hear that.

My experiences of Uber are restricted to London and none were good. One chap could barely speak English and was totally dependent on his SatNav, which turned out to be rubbish. After driving round for goodness knows how long, we eventually found the place through my use of Google Maps.  As with many of these new fangled ideas, it seems that because its technology driven, then it must be good. Wrong. Either the service conforms with expected standards or gets binned in my view. Yes, black cabs aren't cheap but I'd always trust them over Uber or any other such service. (Used a private hire in London once - nowhere near as good as black cab).

[Fatcatsplat]

If i get a black cab home from the office after a night out, it's around £120.00 on the meter. You might get lucky and get one to fix you a price and get away with £100.00.

Uber is £40.00 

It's a very convincing argument

 

[Rewulf]

2 minutes ago, Fatcatsplat said:

If i get a black cab home from the office after a night out, it's around £120.00 on the meter. You might get lucky and get one to fix you a price and get away with £100.00.

Uber is £40.00 

It's a very convincing argument

 

People are talking about Uber being less safe than a black cab? 

Like black cab drivers are somehow beyond reproach, and don't rape, molest and Rob passengers? 

Are you being serious, Ubers app gives you full tracking and a panic alarm, last time I checked, black cabs gave you a locked door, and driver that constantly stares at you through the mirror, while he calculates how much money he can have you over for, THATS  if he doesn't just fancy having you 'over' 

[Fatcatsplat]

4 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

People are talking about Uber being less safe than a black cab? 

Like black cab drivers are somehow beyond reproach, and don't rape, molest and Rob passengers? 

Are you being serious, Ubers app gives you full tracking and a panic alarm, last time I checked, black cabs gave you a locked door, and driver that constantly stares at you through the mirror, while he calculates how much money he can have you over for, THATS  if he doesn't just fancy having you 'over' 

Er........I wasn't saying that at all actually. I was saying Uber are cheaper, but hey ho!

[Vince Green]

14 minutes ago, Fatcatsplat said:

If i get a black cab home from the office after a night out, it's around £120.00 on the meter. You might get lucky and get one to fix you a price and get away with £100.00.

Uber is £40.00 

It's a very convincing argument

 

Yes but you have to wonder why its that cheap. Remember the driver doesn't get that £40, Uber take a slice off that before they pay out the driver. Could you run a car, tax it, pay the proper hire and reward insurance, maintain it safely and cover the petrol to do that journey for about £30?  The sums don't add up, its all about the gig economy and exploitation. People who drive for Uber don't do it because its a great career

Edited November 26, 2019 by Vince Green

[Fatcatsplat]

1 minute ago, Vince Green said:

Yes but you have to wonder why its that cheap. Remember the driver doesn't get that £40, Uber take a slice off that before they pay out the driver. Could you run a car, tax it, pay the proper hire and reward insurance, maintain it safely and cover the petrol to do that journey for about £30?  The sums don't add up, its all about the gig economy and exploitation. People who drive for Uber don't do it because its a great career

Very true - But i live a 30 minute drive from the city - 50 miles and an hour out of your day for £30? There's a living wage there. Don't forget the 5 minute journeys for a tenner that black cabs hate doing.

I have a lot of Black Cab drivers as friends and Uber was killing their trade, but i've never seen a poor black cab driver - There needs to be a compromise somewhere on pricing between the two that's commercially viable.

Uber also:

1. Will go south of the river
2. Have an app that works
3. Happily take cashless payment and don't moan about the card machine being on the blink
4. Don't moan about the Tories/Labour/Immigrants/How bad their job is all the way home
5. Are available on a dismal wet night in November when there ain't a black cab in sight 
6. Don't look at you like you've pee'd on their chips when they have been on a rank for half an hour and you only want to go just down the road

[henry d]

56 minutes ago, Fatcatsplat said:

If i get a black cab home from the office after a night out.......

It's a very convincing argument

 

That first part isn't very convincing you might have to work on it a bit 🤣

[Rewulf]

2 hours ago, Fatcatsplat said:

Er........I wasn't saying that at all actually. I was saying Uber are cheaper, but hey ho!

Think I might have quoted the wrong person 🤣

I agree with what you said. 

[243deer]

2 hours ago, Fatcatsplat said:

50 miles and an hour out of your day for £30? There's a living wage there

I do not think so - a half decent merc costs at least 42p per mile to run as a taxi - 50 miles = £21 that leaves £9 for an hours work - that is not a living wage for a self-employed person

[Nial]

"Odd that people have such bad accounts for Uber, we used them twice in Edinburgh (our friends account) and it was spot on"

One problem in Edinburgh is there aren't enough black cabs to cater for a busy Saturday night.

We had friends up from London a couple of years ago and went for a drink after a meal. After they ordered an Uber while we ordered a Taxi. 

We waited about 40 mins sheltering in a doorway, they reckon they were in bed asleep before our taxi arrived. ☹️

[henry d]

Just now, Nial said:

"Odd that people have such bad accounts for Uber, we used them twice in Edinburgh (our friends account) and it was spot on"

One problem in Edinburgh is there aren't enough black cabs to cater for a busy Saturday night.

We had friends up from London a couple of years ago and went for a drink after a meal. After they ordered an Uber while we ordered a Taxi. 

We waited about 40 mins sheltering in a doorway, they reckon they were in bed asleep before our taxi arrived. ☹️

Noted!

I`m deffo downloading the app, Cheers!

[Nial]

3 minutes ago, henry d said:

Noted!

I`m deffo downloading the app, Cheers!

Good job!

I'm at the age now where at the end of a night I want to go home _NOW_ and don't mind paying for it (though still haven't used UBER yet).

 

[Fatcatsplat]

13 minutes ago, 243deer said:

I do not think so - a half decent merc costs at least 42p per mile to run as a taxi - 50 miles = £21 that leaves £9 for an hours work - that is not a living wage for a self-employed person

That's uber xl or exec and they're more expensive - Nice little green prius does me fine

[Cosmicblue]

Not a great company - they reckon I owe them for a fare in Houston, Texas when I was actually sat at home in the UK.