[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by shipnil

It shows so many cars just to give comfort to a user that there are cars around.

Ah, Ok. So that solves the confusion.

Few weeks back me and couple of others were trying to book Uber for a trip to railway station. Since it getting late, we were trying to book from all three phones with us just to try our luck in whose request is accepted.

Since it was starting of a long weekend, none of the cars were available and after trying for around 45 mins we called up a friend who came and dropped us at the station.

All through this time we were able to see cabs displayed in the app, however on selecting the booking option it strangely disappears. We were trying to locate the cabs displayed in the app on the road since we were waiting on service road, however we were not able to find even a single one.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by shipnil

There was a discussion on this in one of US websites where one of the Uber executive clarified that the cars you see are not the real locations. Rather it is a screen saver kind of thing. It shows so many cars just to give comfort to a user that there are cars around. As rightly said by dark.knight, the real location appears once you book a cab.

I KNEW it!, Uber is a master of smokes and screens.. they are all about lying and deception when one doesn't pay attention. This "screen-saver" may be a placebo effect but its a lie nonetheless. The finest example was today.. I called the cab and saw the cab move closer and closer to the pick-up point (1 km away), suddenly after 5 minutes the cab goes back to its original position where it was when the request was made! Oh boy lol.

I have such a love-hate relationship with this company.. the only reason I still use it is because its the only way to avoid driving in a nasty traffic city such as Bangalore. Travis Kalanick modelled Uber in his fashion.. lies fly off from between his teeth when he opens his mouth, (again I admire him and Garrett Camp.. without them I would be paralyzed today).

Originally Posted by libranof1987

The incentives are anyway a fraction of what they were earlier. Just wait until investors tighten the screws and profits start to matter: fares will go up, and incentives will be negligible. That's when they will face the ugly side of the driver class.

A huge war between Uber and its drivers has already taken place where I'm at.. it involved everything including a 2 week strike, throwing stones at the Uber office and mass exodus to OLA. Uber still won the war by retracting the benefits and staying put. Cabs were in acute shortage for over a month after that but now I guess a new flock of drivers have come in to fill the gaps and make their living. I'm all too aware that this is a highly unstable business.. the next war isn't too far off.

[TusharK]

Uber has rolled out two new features on its cab-aggregation app in India - 'in-app chat' and multi-destination.

The new 'in-app chat' feature will allow riders and drivers to send text messages without having to share their phone numbers. It will facilitate a conversation through the Uber app itself without the need for a third-party messaging application. Uber users will thus be able to text their driver instead of relying on calls. This feature will also be useful when pooling as the driver will be able to easily identify the rider who sent the chat. Also, both the rider and driver will receive a delivery notification for their messages. According to Uber, the feature has multiple language support.

Uber has also added a 'Multi-destination' feature to their app. This allows riders to select multiple places along the route. The app will prompt the users to add multiple destinations while booking a ride. Stops can also be added or removed during a trip.

Source: The Indian Express

Link to Team-BHP News

[TusharK]

Uber Premier introduced in Mumbai and Pune

Uber has introduced a new ride option called Premier. The service will initially be offered in Mumbai and Pune as a pilot project. Select users are being offered the Premier option as an upgrade to the current UberX. Premier rides are said to cost the same as UberX.

According to Uber, Premier users will be offered economy-range sedans. While Uber has claimed that these cars will be comfortable, it has not disclosed the models that will be offered. Only those drivers with an experience of more than 1,000 trips, who have been acknowledged by riders through the driver compliments feature and ratings and who have 40% shorter pickup times than the predicted arrival time will be assigned to Premier.

Recently, Uber integrated a chat messenger into its app, which enables drivers and riders to connect with each other without having to rely on third-party apps or voice calls. It has also added a multi-destination feature, which allows users to select multiple pickup or drop-off points along their route.

Source: Medianama

Link to Team-BHP News

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Recently, Uber integrated a chat messenger into its app, which enables drivers and riders to connect with each other without having to rely on third-party apps or voice calls.

Great! Now when the driver is done fiddling with the map on his phone, he will start fiddling with the chat while driving, or rather, crawling on the road blocking rest of the traffic.

[procrastinator]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Uber Premier introduced in Mumbai and Pune.
. . . . .

Being part of Uber Pass earlier, I can vouch for the services and cabs that I got were much better and consistent.
1. Top Rated Drivers
2. Clean Cars
3. Cheaper commute
4. No Cancellation Charges

It was offered to selected members and to complete 10 trips in stipulated period.

I am optimistic with Uber Premier and hope services improve as mostly the cars that I travel are mediocre and smelly. If they are going to offer the Uber Pass and Premier to everyone, that would be welcomed too.

In a nutshell, I would love to see Uber improving the customer experience yet being affordable.

[theredliner]

I was a heavy user of Uber in 2015 and first half of 2016. I used to avoid Ola due to the higher fare and not as good drivers (~98% of my rides were in Uber). As time passed by and with Uber reducing incentives, driver quality started to go down. Many drivers started driving for both.

In Q4 2016 and Q1 2017, I got promo codes frequently in Ola and I started using it more. I mostly used Ola Prime and to my surprise, I found the drivers in Ola Prime considerably better than Uber X ones. Due to this, I slowly started to prefer Ola even when there was no promo code unless the fare difference was huge between the two.

I got myself a car in Q2 2017 and I almost stopped using cabs (I'm using my two wheeler, office transport and public transport more too - combo of BMTC + Metro). Uber started providing promo codes, probably to bring me back.

A few got expired since I didn't have any use for them. I had an opportunity to try one after a few weeks and when I applied one, I got the message "Promotion codes are not available for this account and all trips will be charged at the full price." I contacted the support and they had the gall to tell that only the promotions are disabled and the account remains in good standing, Funny thing is, I was one of their 'top rated riders' in 2016, apparently.

I got tired of all this and asked them to delete my account and they did it after coming back with the same stupid robotic explanations a few times. I'm now using Ola for that rare need of 5-6 times a year.

[Rehaan]

In the latest Uber app, once you're on a trip, how on earth do you change the destination??

Earlier it was possible, now I can't find the option anywhere (Android).

[audioholic]

After a recent update from Uber for iOS users, the option to enable location services only while using the app is back. Earlier, the only options for location services was limited to Always or Never and the third option was disabled. Guess that didnt go well with many, including me since I had set the option to Never and would manually enter the pickup point. Now its back and the app is hassle free

[Dry Ice]

Seeing this new prompt from a few days in NCR.

The offer -


Things they need -

[vagabond128]

I use Uber quite regularly, particularly for local travel during outstation trips. I also prefer using Uber for travel during office hours. I get to continue my work during the travel time. I find it quite productive.

I had a few bad experiences with Ola long back. I uninstalled the app. I have not used it for quite some time now. They might have improved after that, but I didn't bother checking.

I am generally satisfied with Uber. However, I must add that the quality of their cars and drivers has come down significantly. It is no more a premium service for sure.

I have stopped using UberGo. A couple of times, they sent cars that felt structurally unstable.

Their customer support is a mixed bag. As long the complaint matches one of the options that they give, response is prompt. However, if it is a problem that they have not envisaged or have not provided any reporting option for, one can be in for some tough time.

For instance, I recently got charged again for a trip that I took on March 22. I noticed that they had deducted the same amount on March 22nd also. There is no relevant option in their app to report such an issue. I somehow registered the complaint on the app. I got relevant response from them asking for screen shots of my wallet statements. I uploaded the same. These clearly show two deductions for the same amount against the same Uber order number. However, I haven't got any response from them after that. Follow ups also have been of no use.

They don't have (or at least I don't know of) any customer care number. It is quite an irritation.

[TejasKinger]

Financial Times has launched The Uber Game.
The game puts you in the driver's seat and puts you through a series of questions to see how you will fare as an Uber driver in San Francisco. They claim to have designed the game with real inputs from Uber drivers.
It is quite difficult, I had one successful attempt in ten attempts.
The game tries to help you understand how difficult/uncertain money-making is, an Uber driver and this concept as a whole can be extrapolated to the Gig economy.
You can play the game here.

[Vitalstatistiks]

Hello ! Back with an interesting observation on Uber. Uber Navigation specifically.

Till recently, Uber did not have its own navigation tech and instead relied on google maps to provide navigation. In March 2017, Uber changed that and built in its own navigation in the app. [See https://www.uber.com/en-IN/newsroom/...e-for-drivers/]

Now, all good in theory but I have been noticing a strange phenomenon. A lot of times, the directions that Uber app provides is quite different from what Google Maps is suggesting at the same time. In all the cases where I noticed it, the directions in the Uber app were provided as a (much) longer route.

For those familiar with Delhi (I am not), I was returning from Wazirpur to Connought Place last week, and Google Maps told me to take a route which was 12 kms and 40 minutes. Strangely, Uber app was telling the driver to take a u-turn and take another route which was 17 kms and 45 minutes. Same thing happens pretty much every time I cross-check Uber's directions now.

I am certain this is not a bug. Given that Uber calculates fare upfront based on distance and time, this appears to be a calculated move to increase the price in yet another way.

[IndieGooner]

What are the odds of being allocated with the same Uber on multiple trips? I have often wondered about this as until today morning I had never travelled with the same driver twice.

So, I had this medical checkup today morning and I decided against driving as the hospital was close to home and getting the car out was too much of a hassle. I opted Uber pool and was the first person to join. Soon couple of guys joined and I was dropped at my destination. The checkup itself took 4-5 hours and I booked a pool for the ride back home. Interestingly, I was allotted with the same cab that dropped me at the hospital in the morning.

When I reminded the driver about our morning ride, he mentioned that he was in fact still running the same pool ride that I had set off. He did not receive any new pool request until I was dropped, so I guess I closed the loop with my return journey.

[GTO]

Uber sent me an air-conditioned black & yellow taxi today. Is this a new trend? I know Ola always had black & yellows, but they showed them as a separate category. Taxi was otherwise fantastic - not your usual rattly, smelly black & yellow.