[lalittalwar]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I'd written a polite one liner to Uber explaining the situation to them. The toll charges was refunded promptly to the Paytm wallet.

This was quick and hassle free

You are lucky and Uber was generous. the toll is added automatically on entering Delhi, even when the driver does not pay toll.

Happened with me once while going to Ambience mall in gurgaon. Basically to reach Ambi, you have to take u-turn under the Rajokri flyover, and that means crossing the border into Delhi. My driver did not pay any toll, and i raised the issue with Ola, but they refused to refund quoting the border had been crossed, so i had to pay.

Not stopping to pay the toll happens when the driver has taken a monthly pass, and need not stop to pay the toll. However, the monthly pass is for Rs 1950, and one driver told me that he usually enters Delhi borders on average 5 times a day. so thats a cool Rs 260 extra earning per day for the cabbies.

[mvadg]

Went through a few pages of posts here trying to pick up tips on which would be the best service, economical, and so on...

I think I will avoid these taxis as much as I can

I learnt a few things from the posts here and the School of Hard Knocks:

1. Technology did not change things for the better for the consumer
2. It is the same (Bengaluru?) obnoxious auto drivers who have graduated to driving cars now
3. All this nonsense about licensing by the govt. and nit picking about "web-based" whatever is only for the govt. to make money and not to help the consumer
4. Safety is no better with GPS, cameras, radios and what not!
5. While the taxi drivers have a union and the babus have their perks, the consumers are still being led like lambs to the slaughterhouse (I can see that many of the complaints here assume naively that a new era has begun, where we will wave our hands and be comfortably transported to our destination for a "fair" fee).

Summary - We are the masters of jugaad and there is no "technology" we cannot master and make it do our bidding (Fake GPS, fake busy, fake tolls,...)

[Vid6639]

I had a terrible experience with Uber today morning. Dad and mom were flying to Mumbai. They had a 10:15 flight and at 7am requested for an UberX. One guy confirmed.

For 5 mins he didn't move and the arrival time kept saying 5mins. Tried calling him and he didn't pick the call. Finally he calls asking drop location. We tell him airport and he seems disappointed and says he will be there in some time. He starts moving but after 5 mins suddenly stops the takes a u-turn. Try calling him and he doesn't take calls.

I tried my Uber account and checked no cabs within the vicinity. I had no choice but to drive dad and mom down to airport. Barely made it to the airport on time due to this delay. The driver cancelled after half an hour as then he would not be fined.

I found this completely unacceptable. Have written a strong stinker of an email to Uber asking for the driver to be sacked. This driver calmly accepts the booking then stops taking calls just cause he doesn't want to go to airport.

I'm not sure what is happening with Uber but off late my dad is having these very unprofessional shoddy experiences with Uber.

Have they stopped screening drivers and just recruiting any body who walks past their office with a license and a yellow board car?

[Eddy]

The only solutions is that we do not reveal the destination to the drivers before sitting in the car.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I found this completely unacceptable. Have written a strong stinker of an email to Uber asking for the driver to be sacked. This driver calmly accepts the booking then stops taking calls just cause he doesn't want to go to airport.

Same thing happened to my wife earlier this month, driver confirms but the car never comes closer. She finally cancels and takes the car. Then Uber has to gall to fine her for cancelling. She wrote a stinker and got the money refunded.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Eddy

The only solutions is that we do not reveal the destination to the drivers before sitting in the car.

At first my dad refused to tell him destination but he kept on asking. Finally he said airport as his patience was running out and this guy had already wasted 20 minutes even though the app kept saying 5 minutes away.

If the time is less than 5 minutes, my guess is driver cannot cancel without getting fines himself. So this guy took u turn and went further away before cancelling.

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Have they stopped screening drivers and just recruiting any body who walks past their office with a license and a yellow board car?

On the topic of screening, I had an interesting discussion with an Uber driver a couple of weeks back. At a major signal in Mumbai, when my taxi was stopped at the front of the lane, cop comes up and asks the driver for his badge. (This is the PSV badge which is mandatory for all drivers of cabs, autos, buses, etc.) He did not have one, so the cop held back his driving license and asked him to come back and pay the fine and collect it after dropping me off.

On the way, I asked him what documentation Uber asks for before registering him as a driver. His answer was that Uber never insists on the badge, they ask for ration card or Aadhar, bank account and driving license. So most of the Uber (and I presume Ola also) drivers are still unlicensed even after the Delhi incident. There is no background screening done on the drivers.

Initially, Uber drivers were mainly those operating in the corporate market - as sub-contractors to large companies like Travelhouse, Carzonrent, Avis, Autoriders, etc. - who started deploying their cars on Uber in addition to their corporate business. As money has started flowing in, anybody and everybody is finding a business proposition in getting new cars or used cars and deploying on Uber and Ola. These may be new and first time drivers, out-of-towners looking for jobs in the city, auto owners upgrading, etc. Naturally, professionalism has suffered and will continue to suffer till the urge for growth at Uber & Ola cools off.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

At first my dad refused to tell him destination but he kept on asking. Finally he said airport as his patience was running out and this guy had already wasted 20 minutes even though the app kept saying 5 minutes away.

If the time is less than 5 minutes, my guess is driver cannot cancel without getting fines himself. So this guy took u turn and went further away before cancelling.

Is it so? Last week I had to go from Elements Mall, Nagwara to the Airport. I came out of the mall and saw in the app that there was an UberX diagonally opposite to the mall with ETA 2min and I requested for it. He turned away and started moving away from the mall, yet was in my sight. He calls me and tells that he will pick me shortly and casually asks where I am headed to. When I tell airport, he tells okay initially. I am still seeing his cab and he takes a turn into a street from the main road and calls me up - "Sir an auto guy has hit me and I need to settle matters with him. So it will take 20mins at least please cancel the ride and book another one". I got pissed at that moment and screwed him. Since he was caught red handed he was speechless and I cancelled the ride.

Immediately got another UberX with a happy and enthusiastic driver(new signup I guess ) who came from a distance and took us to the airport.

I see that some Uber drivers aren't happy going to the airport. I guess the only way out is to not cancel the ride suppose we have time and wait for the driver to cancel from his side. I guess that will teach them a lesson.

Once upon a time there was an Ola wave, with low prices, lots of drivers opting for it and now Ola has lost its glamour. I guess Uber too will follow suit. TFS is screwed anyways. Uber is going on a spree taking in more and more cabs which might follow suit again.

Overall, I feel Uber has got better cars and drivers compared to the competition. Everytime I take one, its a new car with a well mannered and soft spoken driver. Ola has been a mixed experience with cars of different ages and drivers.

[landcruiser123]

The honeymoon period has ended.

Ola's "low cost" mini turns out to be more expensive now.
Their days of low cost ride is over.

Attached is a screenshot of the bill for a recent ride to the railway station which was only INR 200 before.

Note: Both rides were for Ola mini only.



They seem to have introduced this "ride time charge" to start making more money. Like as if I'm not paying for the distance? Why should I be charged for time too?

Does Uber and Meru do this too?

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Note: Both rides were for Ola mini only.

For some reason, I could not add the comparison image.

Here's the older ride:

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

They seem to have introduced this "ride time charge" to start making more money. Like as if I'm not paying for the distance? Why should I be charged for time too?

Does Uber and Meru do this too?

Uber started this concept and now looks like everyone else has started following this.

In a way it makes sense. Today in Bangalore ( or any other big city) , time makes more sense as a metric unit. More often than not , our first question is how much time will the commute take, not how many kilometers it is.

But maybe they should charge on distance or time. Not both.

My wife stopped using ola as it consistently ended up being more expensive. Uber is still very cheap provided you dont get caught in their surge pricing beyond 1.2-1.3x ( which more often than not you will )

[speedmiester]

This is what happens when one is in for the quick money.
Discounts and low cost model will only work as long as you have money to burn.

Ola is now looking to raise Rs. 3150Cr to counter Uber's growth.
ola in advanced talks with investors to raise Rs 3150 crore

Once they raise this round of funding, we can see the discounts, coupons and lower prices coming back until they run out of money again.
This is not a sustainable business model, this will hurt the economy and lot of people's livelihood once the bubble bursts.

On the way, I asked him what documentation Uber asks for before registering him as a driver. His answer was that Uber never insists on the badge, they ask for ration card or Aadhar, bank account and driving license. So most of the Uber (and I presume Ola also) drivers are still unlicensed even after the Delhi incident. There is no background screening done on the drivers.

The only way UBER or OLA can compete is by hiring more and more drivers to be on the road, this will always lead to taking shortcuts which can compromise safety and security of the passengers.

At the end of the day, all they are trying to do is collect as much personal information as possible to sell.

Please have a look at the permissions requested by these Apps.

Both the Apps ask for permission to access, modify or delete the contents on the USB storage of the phone it is installed into.

Why would a taxi hailing app need to view the user data? How does it help them apart from the data being used to snoop on the user.

[bmwfan]

I have had similar experiences with Ola and Uber in Hyderabad. In the last 2 weeks, Ola (or maybe the driver) cancelled my booking 4 times at the last minute (3 of which were advanced bookings), which left me stranded at a relatively remote place. Twice I had to call my wife to pick me up. To be fair to Uber, after being allocated a cab the driver has never cancelled the ride but getting a Uber at peak times in Hyderabad is an uphill task. The rates fluctuate anywhere between 3.0x-5.0x the normal rates, which means a 10 km ride to my home takes Rs. 400-600 (that too in a mini cab). I know rates of Rs.6/8/10 per km are not sustainable in the long term, but Rs. 40-60 per km are exorbitant (again, I am talking about peak hours).

Having said that, Ola/Uber have definitely made our life easier. I have stayed in Delhi for 7 years (2007-14) and getting a cab out there was not easy. Yes, Meru/Mega/Easy cabs were there but the convenience of booking the cab (and seeing the availability live) really made a difference in getting a ride instantly. Plus, the convenience of a chauffeur-driven car at relatively reasonable rates.

I hope the crazy fare war ends between Uber and Ola, so that these cabs become reliable/professional and we can actually think of ditching our owned cars.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

The honeymoon period has ended.

Ola's "low cost" mini turns out to be more expensive now.
Their days of low cost ride is over.

Attached is a screenshot of the bill for a recent ride to the railway station which was only INR 200 before.

Note: Both rides were for Ola mini only.

IMO, paying 1 Rs/min for ride time is better than 2 Rs/min for wait time. simply because we never know how this wait time is calculated since it seems to be based on the speed of the car than actual stoppage time. Although the amount paid may be higher.

This is still cheaper than what FastTrack call taxi offers in Chennai. 100 for 4Kms and 16 per kilometer post that.

[shankar.balan]

I ve been using Uber X of late for several local trips and meetings etc.

4 of us went to a meeting and back in an UBER X this week.

The onward trip in peak hour with surge pricing, came to Rs 185 for a distance of 9-10km

The return trip with normal pricing in the usual lousy Bangalore traffic came to Rs 160

Effectively it has cost each individual Rs 86-90 both ways.

Is there a cheaper and equally comfortable and efficient alternative in today's world? If so, please point me to it.

[phamilyman]

Compared to the earlier ride, you spent 28 mins more, with the car idling fuel, paying 31 rs more. I don't really see a reason to complain here.

Your own car would have burned more fuel in the same time.

Ride time doesn't make sense - they should've made it "waiting time" which was earlier the case as well AFAIK.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

The honeymoon period has ended.

Ola's "low cost" mini turns out to be more expensive now.
Their days of low cost ride is over.

Attached is a screenshot of the bill for a recent ride to the railway station which was only INR 200 before.

Note: Both rides were for Ola mini only.

They seem to have introduced this "ride time charge" to start making more money. Like as if I'm not paying for the distance? Why should I be charged for time too?

My problem is that earlier I got an accurate GPS map from Ola, now just an invoice.

These buggers charged me 43km for a journey which wasnt more than 33km yet despite being caught the cheats refused to even acknowledge my complaint. TFS on the other hand owned up to a similar mistake and refunded the amount to my bank account after 15 days. Hope Ola customer care improves. Currently my bet is on Uber - atleast they listen to stinkers.