Can anyone share their experiences with Uber?

One and only experience with Uber when visiting a friend in San Jose, she parked her car and we walked for miles around San Francisco, her hubby working for Apple is a big Uber fan, she ordered an Uber car and WOW. Spotlessly clean, I mentioned I'd love to go down that real windy switch back road like I'd seen on the Streets of San Francisco with Carl Malden - bottom line he took us down there ?Lombard Street, was most professional looking and in mannerisms we had complimentary bottles of water and mints or gum. WOW, how refreshing than the rude and obnoxious, stinky dirty cabs we've been in on occasions.

I can relate to some of the concerns mentioned but have to say I would use them again based on experience in San Fran.

Used it a dozen time. Way better than a cab. Check them out on the web. Will use them again. Cheaper than a cab and no tipping. No charge for extra passengers.

Cougarnewbie wrote:
No background checks. No safety inspections.

Not true!

I have a friend who drives for Lyft. He and his car both had to go through extensive checks -- and he chose Lyft because Uber is even more stringent (and thus a bit of a hassle).

They won't even consider me, because my car is 15 years old.

The union stuff, and lack of protections for DRIVERS -- I agree that is a big problem.

Here in Ottawa, Uber driver's are being fined by by-law officers when caught. They are bandit cabs.

After trying to follow this thread, I had to stop, & Google Uber, to see what it is, as I've never heard of it. Guess that's what you get when you live in the country & only been in a taxi about 3 time in my life. ;)

dieharder wrote:
Here in Ottawa, Uber driver's are being fined by by-law officers when caught. They are bandit cabs.

Honestly, this seems a bit extreme to me. "Bandit" cabs? That makes it sound as if they are holding up folks at gunpoint. Others mentioned the potential dangers of an unknown driver.

I detect a lot of emotion on this issue so I would like to ask everyone to please share their factual experiences with Uber and not their feelings or emotions about Uber or Lyft.

Particularly, I'm curious what their coverage is outside of metropolitan areas.

Uber requires BG checks for drivers and your vehicle must meet certain requirements.

http://blog.uber.com/driverscreening

I've used this service in a few different cities and it's been great. I would never recommend that my wife get into a car alone with any stranger...taxi, Uber, or otherwise. I can say for sure that every Uber ride I've taken has been MUCH more pleasant than any of the cabs I've taken over the last few years (maybe ever).

That said, coverage is dependent on location. I don't think relying on Uber will work unless you stick to more populated areas.

holstein13 wrote:

dieharder wrote:
Here in Ottawa, Uber driver's are being fined by by-law officers when caught. They are bandit cabs.

Honestly, this seems a bit extreme to me. "Bandit" cabs? That makes it sound as if they are holding up folks at gunpoint. Others mentioned the potential dangers of an unknown driver.

I detect a lot of emotion on this issue so I would like to ask everyone to please share their factual experiences with Uber and not their feelings or emotions about Uber or Lyft.

Particularly, I'm curious what their coverage is outside of metropolitan areas.

It's exactly what they're called - bandit cabs. Taxis operated without a license to do so, regardless of where they're operating. While Uber may conduct their checks and have their requirements, there is absolutely nothing to show that these checks and requirements meet the city requirements where they're operating. In addition, there is very little, if any, recourse if the customer has a bad experience.

Are they just as safe as regular city cabs? Possibly... could be... maybe... but who knows? That's the point. With city cabs, you can read somewhere on the city site what, point by point, what criteria needs to be met to get a license. Does Uber provide this in detail so customers can take this into consideration whether to choose to employ the service or not?

Just as an example: I just signed up as an Uber X driver. The only thing it did was ask me to scan in my driver's license, insurance, registration and proof that I'm eligible to work here. That's it. Got a nice welcome video. No fees, no vetting at all. they have no clue who I am. Do you? I have to believe my city's requirements are more than that.

Again, this is just here in Ottawa, or should I say on our side of the border. I see that Uber does more checks in the US, but not here. While someone may be confident that they'll have a positive experience while using the service in the US, not knowing that they don't do the same checks on this side of the border could put a customer in a position where the person they trust to drive them would not be someone they would trust to do so on the other side.

dieharder wrote:
Just as an example: I just signed up as an Uber X driver. The only thing it did was ask me to scan in my driver's license, insurance, registration and proof that I'm eligible to work here. That's it. Got a nice welcome video. No fees, no vetting at all.

Thanks, that's very interesting information. How long did it take to get approved? Did you simply enter the info and it instantly approved you? Did you try opening the app as a driver to see if they will authorize you to pick someone up? I'm curious about the differences in the US approval process vs. Canada. The US driver told me he had to wait a week before being approved because of extensive background checks.

In most cities, unregistered cabs are called Gypsy cabs. I have never heard of the term bandit cabs.

You can not pay cash to Über. They start a customer profile for you and track and rate you so future drivers see your file when you request a ride.

They also change rates based on supply and demand.

You might pay $20 to ride downtown at 5:00 pm and $40 at midnight.

But the CCand privacy part is a show stopper for me.