Comments on: Cabbies sue to drive car service Uber out of San Francisco

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:54:10 +0000

Uhh what point is your comment about having names/phone numbers on the side of the car trying to convey? Über not only gives me a name and a photo they provide a very tight star and comment feedback mechanism. The ONE time I submitted anything less than 4* I got an email following up on how they could improve. Let me know when cab companies car that much!

Sincerely,
A rider en route to SFO in an Über right now (thanks “Moses” for such a great quiet ride!).

P.S. Love the guy who characterized cabbies as being such whiny little a-holes the moment you take out your credit card. They should be fined each time they falsely claim their “machine is broken”.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:27:06 +0000

Tell the cabbies to join the teachers unions in their utter failure to serve their customers.

By: gamiv

gamiv — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:36:30 +0000

This is very simple. Uber is not a taxi. You pay a premium to get:
a) better care
b) guaranteed pick-up win relatively little time

I’ve lived in SF for 10 years, and have consistently been amazed by how horrible taxis/getting a taxi is here. They are in such short supply that it is virtually impossible to get a taxi during rush-hour, 6-9pm on Fri/Sat, or if it is raining. Additionally, any person who does not live on union street, chestnut street, union square, north beach, north SOMA or the valencia corridor of the mission can forget about ever seeing a taxi in their neighborhoods. I live in PacHeights next to a hospital and i rarely see taxis. Even if you call ahead, there is no guarantee that a taxi will arrive at your door within 15 minutes. In short, taxis in SF are horrendous.

To avoid the pain described above, i pay for uber.I’ll say it again — different product, not a taxi.

By: Tracie Crisante

Tracie Crisante — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:45:19 +0000

” He recently railed against “industry corruption” and said Uber “would continue to fight the good fight,” hmmmm…..seems like Travis is falling back on the same “urban legends” that illegal taxi companies have been milking for years. I recently watched the “rogue” taxis in our city try the same tactic: cries of monopolies, corruption, payoffs to government. What is this? A Hollywood mafia movie??? The simple fact is: you have no business license, you have no taxi permit, you have no commercial vehicle insurance, you don’t do business. (Please keep in mind most transportation companies are run by their local city governments NOT state) It is a simple solution… really.
I’ll use an analogy I’ve used before: can I rent a building, get some gas pumps, a cash register, a fuel delivery, an “open” sign and call myself a gas station just because some guys with money to burn told me I could? I don’t have to care about the safety of the people who come to my “business” right? I can charge whatever I want and when I’m too busy I can make people pay more per gallon just because I have sparkly gas pumps!!! Doesn’t quite work that way now, does it?
On another note: taxi drivers and companies should be paying attention to all the negativity about the industry and actively changing. We’re all in business to make money but not at the expense of crappy customer service.

By: ricdesan

ricdesan — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:13:10 +0000

Like Sean Fanning was known say “Again, it’s adapt or die.” Time for the transportation industry to cater, (gassp,) to its customers!

Cant wait to see them win in court over the crybaby cabbies

By: guest

guest — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:51:18 +0000

That was my take: Uber is at best going to take away the very upper end of the taxi customer base. This lawsuit would be the equivalent of Delta suing Netjets because Delta now has less people willing to pay for a first class seat.

By: Virtuous

Virtuous — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:32:37 +0000

Regulations haven’t prevented cab drivers from rendering poor service. Regulations are designed to reduce competition as much as “protect” consumers.

By: Virtuous

Virtuous — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:26:55 +0000

Cabbies are trying to protect their government-sanctioned monopolies.

By: Athan Rebelos

Athan Rebelos — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:53:15 +0000

So why didn’t Uber just start a new cab company, buy an existing company or partner with cab companies? The numbers tell the real story. Everything is about the dollar. As for the comparisons about the driving skills of Uber drivers and taxi drivers I suspect perceptions would change if Uber cars had a name and phone number on the side. Taxis are an un-subsidized piece of the urban transit infrastructure. There’s more than what meets the eye. Just imagine how much money Chevron could make without burdensome regulations…

By: Luke Bouma

Luke Bouma — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:32:00 +0000

Sounds like taxi companies are scared of change and competition. They should study up on what happened to music companies when they failed to update with the times’.