Snowgoose-1
Well-Known Member
Seeing that we are now in full swing of cruising mode, I'm wondering if Uber taxi is a worthwhile option.
Any experiences ?
TA
Any experiences ?
TA
Uber and Cruising
- Thread starter Snowgoose-1
- Start date
Sea Change
Well-Known Member
In the places that it's available, it's excellent.
ylop
Well-Known Member
I’ve used uber extensively in a number of countries. Your question makes no sense to me - can you explain your definition of “worthwhile” and how Uber and Cruising are linked?
Might also be useful to clarify which countries you are referring to (or even more specifically where) as Uber coverage varies and how it is regulated in U.K. is very different from say US.
st599
Well-Known Member
It's great when it works, terrible when they get another offer and drop your job.
Snowgoose-1
Well-Known Member
Apologies for not being clear.
In my case , this season I would only be cruising in the UK.
I'm thinking of exploring inland whilst boat cruising to different places.
I suppose cost and availability is the thing rather than local taxis which can be expenses.
Thanks.
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
I know nothing of Uber but am surprised that is allowed, or at the very least gives rise to an indelible black mark...
PlanB
Well-Known Member
I don't use Uber, but understand that their pricing model is supply and demand based,, so can sometimes be more expensive than local metered taxis.
ylop
Well-Known Member
The system penalises them if they do it.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
We got by with free bus passes.
Sea Change
Well-Known Member
I've never had that happen with an Uber, but it happened to me in a normal taxi, in reverse.
I had to get a taxi home from the nearest town, a 15 mile trip. Driver was all too happy to take the fare. As we drove along, he was answering phone calls on his Bluetooth headset from an increasingly upset woman who had booked him to take her to work, which was a short trip across town. Obviously greed had got the better of him and he has taken my fare despite already being booked. There was no way he was going to be able to drop me off and get back in time for her, but he continued to string her along, saying he was five minutes away, traffic was bad etc. she sounded as though being late for work was going to get her in trouble.
Anyway I've never used that taxi again, and as I was the barman in the village pub I made sure that none of our customers did either.
ylop
Well-Known Member
Ok so in the U.K. Ubers are licensed as private hire taxis. They often are a bit cheaper than the local private hire firm but we aren’t talking orders of magnitude difference. At peak times they can also be more expensive (but you do get a warning).
Uber coverage in the U.K. is highly variable. First it’s only available where they have set up with a local authority as a PH booking office. That means populated areas. The south coast might be busy enough to have uber widely available, but remote areas probably not. Next, just because they cover that local authority doesn’t mean you can expect to get a driver near a marina. Prebooking is possible but not certain - they don’t allocate a specific driver until near the time - so if busy you might have an issue.
Where they do operate it works well. Usually clean cars, polite helpful drivers. You can see where the car is (so no booking office lies about he’s on his way). A map to show pick up location so you don’t need to know the local area well. No cash. Probably better assurance about driver & car ID for people who worry about being abducted. Pricing can be a bit random but seems to be more transparent than some PH drivers seeing what they can get away with. The big private hire chains have woken up, and many now provide an app to achieve much of that - but if cruising a wide area you probable need to find the right one for the area.
One issue is they might operate FROM a marina to say a nearby attraction but if the attraction is across the border in another county there may be no way to get an Uber back to the marina.
In busy built up areas it works, and works very well. It’s forced improvements in customer service from the competition. In remote areas - it probably isn’t what you are hoping for.
[70521]
Well-Known Member
A pity you missed the two folding bicycles I had for sale about a year ago.
