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Comment by Ftuuky | Hacker News Reader

Speaking as a infrequent user (1-3 times per month) in Lisbon, Portugal, I can't choose Uber anymore. There are so many other apps providing the same service with cheaper prices (some of them such as Taxify do not have surge pricing) and better drivers. The drivers' quality declined a lot: sometimes they don't speak portuguese or english and if they notice you're drunk they try to scam you (leave you in some random spot far away from destination and gaslight you with "nah mate you put the wrong address, but try again and I'll get you hoe"). I'm not that drunk and I'm not stupid.

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Are you sure you're not thinking of legacy minicabs? Uber shows you where you're going, shows you where you are. Your journey is tracked, as is the address you entered.

I left his car, checked the app (my address was correctly entered). Then I hailed a regular taxi and when I got home I filed a complaintto Uber and got refunded.

Doesn't sound like a get rich scam.

Not meaning to be accusatory, but it's possible you're seeing lower quality drivers because your rating is low?

I don't know my rating but I never did anything inside an Uber to deserve a low rating.

You can check your rating from your app.

This ringed true to me in Tokyo and Barcelona - local taxi apps were significantly cheaper and had better availability than Uber.

When they were competing with Grab in most southeast Asian markets, Grab would usually out-compete on both parameters, too.

Taxify, despite the name, doesn't actually call regular taxis, they have their own drivers like Uber.

They're also not local, they're from Estonia, and operate in dozens of countries.

I think for Spain the app of choice was Cabify.

UberX doesn't operate in Tokyo, if you use Uber there you get a regular taxi with a surcharge on top. (Which may still be worth paying if you're not up to communicating in Japanese with GPS-less regular cabbies, mind you...)

How did the scammy uber drivers not get kicked off the platform for poor ratings? If you take me to an address that isn't the one I entered you can't tell me I entered something wrong.

It was 5 AM or so, many many people at that hour is trying to catch taxis and so on. I think he was preying on really drunk people that can't think properly.

They likely do, but then sign up for a new account or have their friend sign up for them.

> sometimes they don't speak portuguese or english

Isn't that a good thing? At least you don't have to talk to them... The point of Uber (and similar apps) is that they abstract the human interaction through the app (although in London very annoyingly many drivers still ask me where I'm going, despite me having entered the destination into the app).

I still have plenty of reasons to communicate with the drivers. From giving more specific information about where I'd like to be dropped off, asking if they can make a detour, talking to them when they call me because I'm at a busy pick-up spot like a festival that just let out, saying hi, etc.

Lately in Guadalajara, police have been unfairly cracking down on Uber drivers even thought it's legal (they're in bed with the taxistas), pulling them over for things like not having a baby seat (???). And I've had to communicate with most drivers through the app so we can arrange a more low-key pickup away from the police hotspots.

Besides, I'm human. I don't mind talking to others. Maybe it's because I'm 30 and part of the old guard now, but talking to another human isn't the worst thing in the world.

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