I really like UBER, generally better standard of driving and love the usability of cashless pay / driver tracking… however it was always MUCH cheaper than cabs in NSW until recently. Today I caught an UBER to a meeting then got a cab back… cab we a couple of bucks more but hardly anything in it over a 10km journey.
Is it me or is UBER sneaking their prices up ?
Nah, no price surge and if anything less traffic. $30 in the Uber, $33 in the cab.
UberX rates haven't changed in Sydney since 8/10/2015 apparently (http://uberestimate.com/prices/Sydney/all/).
But your experience is what I would expect for an equivalent route with minimal stopping but slow-moving, residential traffic (<50 km/hr).
If over a 20 minute journey you only stopped for 2 minutes then your taxi fare wouldn't even increase $2 compared to a non-stop journey. But with UberX you're guaranteed to pay 40 cents * 20 = $8 extra for a 20 minute journey and if you went 2 minutes faster you'll only save 80 cents.
You'll probably still save with UberX on average due to the lower distance rate but in Sydney the only economical option until UberPool or similar is public transport.
If that site is making an estimation how can you trust it?
I know for a fact that Uber does not release pricing data to anyone other than to economists in a few special circumstances.
It appears the site does a direct scrape of Uber and has simply scraped it long enough to get the data. How it does it without being blocked by Uber for violating t&cs I have no idea.
Just go in to Uber and do a search (it's in surge now in fact in Sydney) and you can see the current price for yourself by pressing i.
I know for a fact that Uber does not release pricing data to anyone other than to economists in a few special circumstances.
The pricing can be found on the Uber website:
http://sydney.ubermovement.com/uberx/
I think one of the recent Uber app updates hides surge pricing, it just tells you the price. You can sorta see the surge rate in google maps app.
Nah, it says "Fares are slightly higher due to demand" and you can get current prices by pressing the "i" info button.
On uberestimate.com it still tells you the percentage increase and whether there's a surge.
Update: it's surging right now
I have heard this quite a few times recently from friends. i havent experienced it personally though. Most have said that they wont use uber again and have gone back to taxis, although they have said that it was "busy on uber" . If surge pricing becomes the norm then it would seem that uber is gougeing. it may be though, that at the moment, Ubers popularity is becoming mainstream and so demand is going through the roof. Maybe there just arent the number of drivers currently to deal with this surge.
One thing is for sure, if UBER starts hiding surge pricing and gouging customers, they will lose out in the long term because what social media giveth, social media can also taketh away.
i think uber is starting to act as monopoly.. virtually no competition with smartphone app.
what i dislike uber is correct me if I'm wrong they are one of the US companies who pays negligible tax to their earnings, they are taking 25% cut from drivers i feel too high & now surge pricing!!!
I dont think they will lost reputation as they have large cash flows and they give coupon codes to customers to woo them back and pay media to get positive publicity.
Also i don't like the exact fare until i reached the destination.
The SMH had this article last year when the Aussie competitor GoCatch launched:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/gocar-to-tak…
The fare breakdown is interesting: GoCatch is upfront with its peak pricing instead of applying demand-based surge pricing.
No, but I have never used it though.
Thanks for this.
Over xmas I tried "GoCatch" which is the local rival. It was a Friday night, no cabs and UBER was in full surge pricing. They were good but seem to have many less cars in the fleet than UBER.
I had $40 credit for GoCatch when I was at Avalon airport but sadly I couldn't even use the credit for the cheaper non-taxi mode (GoCar) so I used my Uber credit instead.
Like taxis, UberX is proportionately cheaper in Melbourne than in Sydney so it was great value for the distance (by Sydney standards).
I have no issue with the price here in Brisbane, though it does seem to surge a lot more, despite every 2nd Uber driver complaining that there are too many Uber drivers on the road (the new window stickers make it apparent they are everywhere!). The fact there is an overwhelming number of south Asian / Indian drivers correlates directly with the legalisation of Uber here in QLD, and I would guess most are ex taxi drivers, which I find is why the level of service has decreased noticeably.
Whilst I haven't any major issues, the majority of said drivers don't offer a commensurate level of service to most who drove pre-legalisation. I used to see most driver ratings over 4.85, now it seems 4.7 and below is the new norm. Drivers don't chat or offer you sweets/water like previously (not that I usually took them up on the offer), and the cars seem slightly lower tier. Apparently a Cherry hatchback is acceptable to Uber to carry 4 people. It's a shame, it used to be outstanding service and quite often really nice cars, but it's certainly becoming just another mode of public transport, instead of a private car service that it claims to be.
After Uber has been made legal demand has increased and lot more people know about Uber. Advertisements on radios were not common, now you hear them more often. and offers like these have become common too https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/292233. Google maps has Uber advertisements( best marketing strategy IMHO).
So you mean to say only Australians can give you good service, ex taxi drivers, Indian and Asians cant give good service? Sound like casual racism.
It's a ride sharing app. Its like ride in your mate's car, some mates have good cars other don't, depending on their lifestyle. If you want good looking and comfy car book an Uber Select rather than UberX. You do have pay a bit more thou.Offering mints(sweets) and water is not compulsory it is just a courtesy, I guess some people exploited the free things.
For a car to be accepted by Uber it just needs have 4 doors and not more than 9 years old. I guess we will soon see Dual cab Utes picking up people.
I don't mean to say anything, don't try and construct a fantasy wherein you point a finger & shriek "racism", I stand by exactly what was said.
I started taking Uber because it was cheaper, but also because the service was excellent. Taxis service was quite often woeful (have had to make conplaints due to sexual harrasment experienced by my partner) professionalism from drivers frequently nonexistent (regardless of background). Perhaps it was because they had to work long shifts to make ends meet, maybe they were sick of drunk young people being in the cab, I am not sure, none of those reasons justify trying to rip you off (happened numerous times because they assume you are blind drunk) or muttering into a phone for the duration, or generally being sullen and unwelcoming, it is a service industry, albeit sans service.
Hence, when Uber arrived, replete with enthusiastic drivers who responded appropriately to their customers - as much or little interaction as you like - it seemed like a godsend, and it was for a year or two, until the rise of Uber appears to have drawn many of the drivers from the taxi industry with their shitty attitudes & lack of inclination towarss service to where the money was being made - you can't argue with that, but the whole point of the post is to say, Uber was really good, outstanding most times, but since the arrival of ex taxi drivers (my theory) the service has declined.
Just like most taxi drivers, with whom I never had a personal issue, some were cheerful & friendly, I don't have an issue with Uber driversa, again, irrespective of their background, but the service has declined. The vast difference is that with Uber, making a complaint yields an almost immediate response, and the rating system is terrific, from both driver & customer perspective.
Uber is here to make money, I don't think they will care for passenger's quality of ride as long as it's to their minimum standards( which is almost none).
Well more reasons to hate them now, if they decide to pass the GST to passengers
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-17/uber-loses-federal-cou…
there are other alternatives to Uber which is "GO catch", about time people start using it and show Uber that they can't rip people off.
Yep, it's a brave new world in terms of the sharing economy, Lyft, GoCatch etc, there will be more.
Unfortunately, with such low entry barriers to joining these organisations (or things like Foodora / Eatnow), there is less incentive for the (predominantly younger) participants to show any sort of loyalty to the company, and given that tipping is pretty much ruled out as everything is prepaid or automatically deducted, they could care less about service.
Is it a good thing? We'll see, competition is healthy in terms of driving innovation & downward pressure on price, but it will take a few years for the landscape to correct itself and the standards of service to price ratio to be established.
I guess we will soon see Dual cab Utes picking up people.
I've been picked up by one myself. Was kind of handy as we were heading to the airport with a couple of suitcases and a pram.
Yep. Add 10% GST.
Except that they were already paying the GST so this doesn't change anything.
No they never paid GST,
From the total earnings, they take 25% as their cut and 75% for driver. its Driver's responsibility to pay GST on their earning, which means driver is only making 65%( add other expenses to the cost).
Now that they have lost the court battle, which I guess they will appeal soon, nothing will change. Once the solid rule comes in that's when they will pass the 10% on to the passengers. As long as the case is in the court 10% will not be passed on to passengers.
Did you pay surge price? Was there more traffic when you used Uber as opposed to when you used the cab?