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I am not an #Uber fan, but during the month or two that I had no car in #PR, they were so much better than the taxi companies that it made me wonder why taxis were even still in business.
For example: only one taxi company could take me to or from the airport; if I called the wrong one, they'd make me call the other one.
The taxis always wanted cash. I was working 60+ hours per week in a foreign country, so I did not often have $30 in cash on me. If I insisted that I could only pay with my employer's credit card, they would read my card information over the radio and take about twenty minutes to get the okay for payment.
Every taxi driver would hand me a card, saying that he/she also drove independently or for another company after hours. "Call me on this number instead of going through the taxi company."
Uber usually had me at the office within 15 minutes of pickup. Taxis were always at least 20 minutes. Uber's wait for pickup was usually between 2 and 15 minutes. Taxis were always around 20 minutes.
Uber wasn't problem-free. In a few cases, I had to request fare re-evaluation because they charged an amount that $EMPLOYER would not have reimbursed. A couple of drivers took shortcut routes through shady sections of town where I wondered whether I was about to be robbed or killed. One time, a different driver showed up, the original driver showed up after we left, then called. Somehow, driver two had been able to steal driver one's fare.
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By the way, there's apparently a strike at #Uber and #Lyft today. Don't take the above as permission to cross the (in this case, invisible) picket line.
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@lnxw48a1 Uber's big problem is they treat their drivers like complete shit and I'm surprised anyone works for them anymore. They are also not profitable and lose money every month, they're held up by investors and government subsidies, not cash flow. They can only "compete" when they don't have to make those fares profitable. I hope the recent labour action gets Uber drivers better pay, but I'm pessimistic.
One would have hoped taxi companies would see the competition and improve the quality of their own service, but in general that hasn't been the case.