Uber loses Licence in London.

[nobbyathome]

i work for a courier company that had 30  passenger cars in central london  and we run this beside our bikes and vans as an extra service  we sold all our cars and minicab phonelines  to another central london company as uber had made it very hard to recruit drivers

 with all the outlay for the cars to keep them legal and pay the drivers a living wage it got  got to tight and we ended up losing money on them 

uber for the normal person is a very cheap and generally reliable company  but and this is a big but they are not regulated as we were

we knew all our drivers personally  we checked the insurance and legality of them and had contact all day by radio and  phone  as we knew them so well it would be impossible for someone to pretend to be them 

with the uber drivers they register and just turn on the app and go  

there are a lot of people that log on other peoples apps i know of  i person that has 3 of his family using the same app so there shared taxi runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week  that for me is a disaster waiting to happen  sooner or later someone will be killed in a accident only for the family to find out he was in a uninsured illegal cab   until uber can sort problems like this out they should stay banned 

[Vince Green]

4 hours ago, nobbyathome said:

i work for a courier company that had 30  passenger cars in central london  and we run this beside our bikes and vans as an extra service  we sold all our cars and minicab phonelines  to another central london company as uber had made it very hard to recruit drivers

 with all the outlay for the cars to keep them legal and pay the drivers a living wage it got  got to tight and we ended up losing money on them 

uber for the normal person is a very cheap and generally reliable company  but and this is a big but they are not regulated as we were

we knew all our drivers personally  we checked the insurance and legality of them and had contact all day by radio and  phone  as we knew them so well it would be impossible for someone to pretend to be them 

with the uber drivers they register and just turn on the app and go  

there are a lot of people that log on other peoples apps i know of  i person that has 3 of his family using the same app so there shared taxi runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week  that for me is a disaster waiting to happen  sooner or later someone will be killed in a accident only for the family to find out he was in a uninsured illegal cab   until uber can sort problems like this out they should stay banned 

You are so right! thank you for posting that because it proves what I was saying all along. My Youngest son worked in Farringdon and used to get Ubers home late at night back to Harrow. He had concerns about personal hygene and erratic driving but his watershed experience was when a driver went totally  the wrong way round the Hangar Lane Gyratory system, nearly killing them several times over and later confessed  that he had only been in the country a few days and had never encountered anything like Hanger Lane before in his life . 

[Dave-G]

3 hours ago, Vince Green said:

You are so right! thank you for posting that because it proves what I was saying all along. My Youngest son worked in Farringdon and used to get Ubers home late at night back to Harrow. He had concerns about personal hygene and erratic driving but his watershed experience was when a driver went totally  the wrong way round the Hangar Lane Gyratory system, nearly killing them several times over and later confessed  that he had only been in the country a few days and had never encountered anything like Hanger Lane before in his life . 

They all look very similar on a small passport size photo on their ID card, so easy to get away with it.

[fatchap]

Ok in my experience as someone who shares the streets of London with Uber, they are on the whole terrible drivers, When they order their new Prius its compulsory for the indicators to be disconnected, No gap is too small, and stopping at a crossing or red light is optional unless they know its camered.

Stopping in the middle of the road for no reason at all waiting for 30-40 seconds then driving off only to do exactly the same a further 200 yards up the road is a regular occurance.

Blatant disregard for the correct negotiation of one way streets ie doesn't matter my fare is at the other end and there doesn't appear to be anyone coming so what the hell.

Picking up or dropping off the fare, usually double parked no hazards as they have been disconnected, Fare gets in or out does he drive off immediately? No he sits there and programs his sat nav. Then pulls off with no indication or regard for other road users.

Sorry but along with Addison Lee drivers and cyclists, Uber are a menace and there needs to be more stringent tests in place before they can take to the road ferrying paying passengers about.

[ShootingEgg]

I just find it interesting how a labour major has now made 45,000 people jobless.. But hey they're for the many not the few... Right.... 

[Scrumbag]

Living in London I've had a pretty good experience of Uber all tolled. Quite a few uber drivers are also licensed mini cab drivers who use uber as a top up.

The main conspiracy theory is that the LDTA has given a bung to Sadiq Khan's relection fund but I can't verify that.

Scrummy

 

[Newbie to this]

1 hour ago, Scrumbag said:

Living in London I've had a pretty good experience of Uber all tolled. Quite a few uber drivers are also licensed mini cab drivers who use uber as a top up.

The main conspiracy theory is that the LDTA has given a bung to Sadiq Khan's relection fund but I can't verify that.

Scrummy

 

You may have had a pretty good experience of Uber, but some women definitely haven't.

[figgy]

The experience of cabs and taxis has been the same since they very first started some have good experience some have been killed by drivers. Uber isn't alone in this.

[Newbie to this]

4 minutes ago, figgy said:

The experience of cabs and taxis has been the same since they very first started some have good experience some have been killed by drivers. Uber isn't alone in this.

Agreed Uber is far from the only perpetrators, but if you believe the hype, they are by far the worst. (in London anyway).

 

 

[Rewulf]

3 minutes ago, figgy said:

The experience of cabs and taxis has been the same since they very first started some have good experience some have been killed by drivers. Uber isn't alone in this.

This. 

Due to the err, 'demographic' monopoly of black cab drivers in Nottingham, my daughter and all her friends at Notts uni, plus many other females in my social and family circle, WILL NOT  use them. 

It's not racism, it's just bitter experience of the behaviour of some of them. 

Daughter swears by Uber. 

 

[Dave-G]

5 hours ago, Rewulf said:

This. 

Due to the err, 'demographic' monopoly of black cab drivers in Nottingham, my daughter and all her friends at Notts uni, plus many other females in my social and family circle, WILL NOT  use them. 

It's not racism, it's just bitter experience of the behaviour of some of them. 

Daughter swears by Uber. 

 

Same in Leicester, I was one of the last unspeakables - shame we've been neutered into not being allowed to say it like it is.

[WestonSalop]

30 minutes ago, Dave-G said:

Same in Leicester, I was one of the last unspeakables - shame we've been neutered into not being allowed to say it like it is.

Here, here!!!!

[udderlyoffroad]

Never had the pleasure of taking an Uber in the capital.  But I have used it extensively in Bristol, and whilst travelling for business and pleasure.

Those who would dispute the business model, should go and take a look at, for example, Bristol bus station after a coach ‘tips its load’ of passengers from Heathrow.  There’s a rank of taxis just sat around doing nothing, and Uber after Uber picks up passengers.  Why?  ‘It’s on the meter mate’ won’t cut it with these price sensitive customers.

For work purposes, I get a receipt automatically emailed to me, showing the route.  Not a grunt and a scrawl on the back of a business card.

I suspect someone isn’t having their palm greased sufficiently in London. 

Warning to anyone travelling to the US, like with everything, the drivers expect tips on top of the fare.  Still pretty alien to us in the UK.

 

[Danger-Mouse]

On 27/11/2019 at 10:11, Newbie to this said:

You may have had a pretty good experience of Uber, but some women definitely haven't.

Well taxi drivers in Rotherham don't have the greatest reputation either.

I have friends in London and they use Uber. When I've visted and we've gone out the service has always been good. One driver lived on the same street as my friends. 

I guess that if there are drivers doing it, then they must be able to make a profit.

[Newbie to this]

5 minutes ago, Mr_Nobody said:

Well taxi drivers in Rotherham don't have the greatest reputation either.

I have friends in London and they use Uber. When I've visted and we've gone out the service has always been good. One driver lived on the same street as my friends. 

I guess that if there are drivers doing it, then they must be able to make a profit.

I have friends who use them and swear by them. But at one stage in London there was what seemed like an everyday occurrence of another woman raped by an Uber driver. Thankfully I haven't heard of any recently, but maybe the news just stopped reporting it.

[Rewulf]

11 hours ago, Newbie to this said:

I have friends who use them and swear by them. But at one stage in London there was what seemed like an everyday occurrence of another woman raped by an Uber driver. Thankfully I haven't heard of any recently, but maybe the news just stopped reporting it.

I found this a bit hard to believe, so had a quick Google. 

Whilst it's not strictly accurate, there are some worrying figures. 

https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2017/2283

There was a time in 17 - 18 where an Uber driver was reported for sexual assault every 11 days on average, quite shocking. 

HOWEVER, this only accounted for between 1/5 and 1/3 of all taxi sexual assaults in London. 

Like I said before, Uber has built in security features, that other cabs don't have, so to say you are more likely to be assaulted in an Uber is not accurate. 

There is another factor involved in the risk of being assaulted, that we won't go into here, but I'm sure you can work it out. 

[Newbie to this]

13 hours ago, Rewulf said:

I found this a bit hard to believe, so had a quick Google. 

Whilst it's not strictly accurate, there are some worrying figures. 

https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2017/2283

There was a time in 17 - 18 where an Uber driver was reported for sexual assault every 11 days on average, quite shocking. 

HOWEVER, this only accounted for between 1/5 and 1/3 of all taxi sexual assaults in London. 

Like I said before, Uber has built in security features, that other cabs don't have, so to say you are more likely to be assaulted in an Uber is not accurate. 

There is another factor involved in the risk of being assaulted, that we won't go into here, but I'm sure you can work it out. 

I agree, which is why I said seemed like an everyday occurrence. It was shocking the amount that Uber were on the news.

A lot of the safeguards that are now in place are a direct result of how bad it was.

I do use them myself occasionally and find them great, I don’t have an account though, I use friend's accounts and give them the money.

Uber are not alone in the problem, but at a time it seemed as if they were, maybe there was an agenda against them in London, as it was constantly in the news.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Newbie to this

[Raja Clavata]

I have a few London black cab mates, one who is like a brother, but I find it hard to defend them at times on the basis of a few points.

1. They have enjoyed a more or less monopolistic existence within London in the past, they will go to pretty extreme lengths to protect that

2. The knowledge is tough but they seem to believe that passing it gives them a job for life without any of the pressures the rest of us face in business

3. Evidence suggests they are serial and habitual income tax evaders. Their fares are based on what is assessed to provide them with a decent wage after they have paid their dues.

In summary they appear to want to have their cake and eat it...