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Comment by geocar | Hacker News Reader

> none of these are as convenient or cost effective as Uber.

I disagree, and let me tell you why:

https://i.imgur.com/JITqdiP.png

I have blocked out the location of my home and the identity of my "driver", but this guy shouldn't be driving, let alone driving a passenger. I'm never riding Uber again.

> I can see the night tube getting a lot more use but I know quite a few people who don't like to take it after having more than a few drinks for safety reasons.

If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London. Getting in a stranger's car who might not know how to drive (as I've noted), or worse (see below), is a terrible idea.

* http://nypost.com/2017/08/18/uber-driver-accused-of-raping-w...

* http://q13fox.com/2017/09/21/woman-accuses-uber-driver-of-ra...

* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815554/Uber-driver-...

* https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4251165/uber-driver-caught-bra...

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1. Your example of a bad trip is extreme. It's clearly awful but out of probably close to 100 trips I've had one where the driver took a bad route (he ignored GPS and got stuck in rush hour traffic in a tunnel). I contacted Uber who gave me a full immediate refund.

>> there are cheap hotels all over London

2. I could get from Brixton to Mile End for £20 (£5 when split between passengers). Find me a hotel for that price.

Finally - my point was that Uber was the only cheap and convenient option. You have not provided an equal alternative. My point was never that Uber should keep their license. I agree with you there are huge issues and hopefully this will spur them to solve them.

Edit: Although the first issue you point out is not your fault in anyway I'm curious whether you were asleep or not during that trip? That's a massive detour in the wrong direction twice. You and the driver both have a map showing your current location and destination. It seems like an easy mistake to quickly notice and correct.

> I'm curious whether you were asleep or not during that trip?

No. I was not asleep.

> That's a massive detour in the wrong direction twice. You and the driver both have a map showing your current location and destination. It seems like an easy mistake to quickly notice and correct

And yet somehow he missed the A312/M4, he missed the A40, took his time turning around passing two exits and then took the A40 in the wrong (west) direction. Unbelievable in the evening with no traffic. Should have cost £20ish pounds.

I had to point out each of these, and I couldn't understand his english. He might have been too tired to drive, or he might have been incompetent. I don't really care, but I'm not getting in an Uber again.

I agree that's a terrible experience. But you could get a refund with 30 seconds effort in my experience (a lot easier than if this happened with a normal taxi as you have GPS to prove what happened). It also seems like an extreme outlier experience.

This has happened to me before. I wrote to Uber's support and they recalculated the correct route and refunded me the difference. Did you try that?

This sort of thing happens with black cabs outside airports from time to time but with Uber you at least have some sort of way of getting your money back.

Me too. Literally a one line complaint and a refund in a few hours.

And here too. And the Uber driver was actually carved up by a truck trying to get off the motorway and had to drive past the junction.

Try getting money out of a black cab.

I filed my complaint with Uber support while I was standing in line at airport security, and I had a refund before I got through the metal detector. It's also worth emphasizing that the rider only even knows about these shenanigans when there's a GPS map of the ride; if a normal taxi takes a circuitous route when it's dark or you're in an unfamiliar area, you just never find out.

Exactly that. Try to get a refund if a black cab rips you off. No chance for that.

But to be fair, this works for all app based cabs. If uber is replaced by some competitor, there's no reason for people to miss uber.

> I wrote to Uber's support and they recalculated the correct route and refunded me the difference. Did you try that?

Yes. I pressed the contact button and had to type in a great deal. I never saw any refund, but I don't care about the money: I want my time back, and the best I can do is simply not give Uber any more of my time.

> This sort of thing happens with black cabs outside airports from time to time

Addison Lee has been extremely reliable, and since it's fixed-fee the driver is motivated to get you home quickly.

> If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London.

Is this serious? You think that booking a hotel in London is a better choice than just getting a taxi home?

I am not 100% sure what I am looking at in that pic...

Does it show that he took a massive detour (presumably to extract more money from you)?

That's how I read it.

The guy took the wrong exit twice. It's less likely to be malicious than accidental. Uber will refund you your money but you lose the time. Either way, hardly an argument to get a hotel.

Did you contact Uber about that trip? Their business ethics seem to be generally shitty, sure, but they should be very quick to refund especially in such a clear case.

Uber don't make contacting them easy, and even if I got one: A refund doesn't cut it. My time is valuable to me. If I wanted to take an hour to get home I would've taken the tube.

> If you're too drunk to ride the drunk train/bus, there are cheap hotels all over London

That may be but getting any at 11pm+ is impossible. I have tried a few times after missing my last train home... Always end up calling a friend to sleep on their couch or more likely office meeting room sofa...

I've had very good luck getting them in City: Most I've spent is something like £70 since they're not getting any better offer that late in the day.

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