Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

[nerd1200]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

My sister-in-law had a bad experience with Uber (Bangalore) yesterday when she booked a cab from Peenya to Jakkur. The driver who accepted the ride never turned up nor did he receive calls, but the app started showing 'on trip' after a few minutes. Around 40 minutes later, she gets an invoice for the journey which she never took!
Uber support promptly apologized and refunded Rs. 250 uber credits to her account soon after she wrote an email to them. From the map shown in the invoice, the driver seem to have roamed around the pick up point without actually picking her and ended the journey somewhere near Dasarahalli.

I have always had good experiences with uber, so I believe this driver was one of those few black sheeps who have managed to get into the system.

Attachment 1432556

I fell prey to a similar incident. I booked a UberX from my workplace at Whitefield and got a confirmation call from the driver. He said he is on his way and would reach in 10 mins. I did not happen to check the progress after that as was busy wrapping up things for the day. On my way out, when I fired up the app again, it said -"You're on your way!". I was shocked! I called up the driver and he was shocked as well.

Apparently, while he was waiting for me, some chap boarded the cab, pretending to be me. The driver did not care to confirm and drove off.

Anyway, he dropped that guy as soon as he discovered this and returned to pick me up. I was charged around 80 bucks for the trip, which was promptly refunded by Uber. I still rated the driver 4 Stars as he came back to pick me up.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by shipnil

I took a ride yesterday with credit card as payment mode selected. Uber could not charge the card. Now it shows outstanding balance. I have tried to pay from their website multiple times using a different card and paytm cash as well. It always gives error. I don't even see a contact us option / customer care email. Not sure how to pay it now and without that I won't be able to use their services again.

Happens to me all the time.

Use the app, try booking a new cab and they will ask you to settle the previous outstanding. You can choose not to go ahead with the booking once you've cleared the balance.

[Gansan]

^^ I have just concluded a trip with Uber. Payment option was credit card. The app shows an amount due of Rs 180.00, but I am unable to effect payment. After I enter my CVV no. the message says my payment is being processed, but does not move to the next (verified by Visa password / OTP) option screen. There is no number to contact anybody. After repeated attempts I got fed up and closed the app.

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ I have just concluded a trip with Uber. Payment option was credit card. The app shows an amount due of Rs 180.00, but I am unable to effect payment. After I enter my CVV no. the message says my payment is being processed, but does not move to the next (verified by Visa password / OTP) option screen. There is no number to contact anybody. After repeated attempts I got fed up and closed the app.

You will be asked to square up this amount during the booking flow in your next booking. So keep a minute extra and other details like pin and OTP/PW ready. So relax and enjoy the extra interest free days courtesy Uber.

[djpeesh]

I'm giving up booking Olas for other people. For the second time this week, I booked a Ola (for my boss who's down from HK) and the driver collected cash as well as charged my Ola Wallet. The previous time, the same thing happened with my dad and I didn't get a refund until I had a very angry email exchange.

I suppose I'll have to do the same again. While 300 rupees isn't going to kill me, it's about the principle.

[deepv]

Looks like Uber is slowly catching up with Ola (though still some way to go):

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/49637518.cms

[Jaguar]

Of late, I am finding it difficult to get Uber without paying for surge pricing.
In the last couple of days, I ended up paying ~Rs.190 for a 5 KM trip. This evening Uber Go had a 4x surge while Uber X was at 1.9x. Last weekend too, I found surge pricing to be on even though the app showed plenty of cabs in my area. Doesn't look like genuine surge to me.

[rayjaycleoful]

Took an uber last night and for some reason it says my payment is outstanding. The uber app is connected only to my paytm account and not a credit/debit card. When I try clearing the o/s payment it gives me the option of cash or paytm however my paytm balance shows a "--". Tried deleting the linked paytm but it gives me a " can't delete only card on file " errror. I had sufficient balance before and after the trip.

Can't seem to order a cab till I clear the payment.

[ajmat]

Saw this neat display in UB City

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Happens to me all the time.

Use the app, try booking a new cab and they will ask you to settle the previous outstanding. You can choose not to go ahead with the booking once you've cleared the balance.

This is what I find most irritating. When you urgently need a cab, the app forces you to clear the previous payment. It would be so much better if the app forces you to make the payment immdediately after the ride is over.

Originally Posted by rayjaycleoful

Can't seem to order a cab till I clear the payment.

Try updating the Paytm and Uber apps.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Of late, I am finding it difficult to get Uber without paying for surge pricing.
In the last couple of days, I ended up paying ~Rs.190 for a 5 KM trip. This evening Uber Go had a 4x surge while Uber X was at 1.9x. Last weekend too, I found surge pricing to be on even though the app showed plenty of cabs in my area. Doesn't look like genuine surge to me.

If you're sore for having paid Rs. 190 for a 5km trip, imagine how I must have felt for having paid Rs. 775 for a 6.9 km drive. I would like to add that this was from UB city to Audugodi, it was raining heavily and the roads were clogged. The next day, upon requesting for a fare review on Uber website, I was given a discount of Rs. 555. I took it.

Rs. 32 per km is better than Rs. 112 per km.

[etrast75]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

If you're sore for having paid Rs. 190 for a 5km trip, imagine how I must have felt for having paid Rs. 775 for a 6.9 km drive. I would like to add that this was from UB city to Audugodi, it was raining heavily and the roads were clogged. The next day, upon requesting for a fare review on Uber website, I was given a discount of Rs. 555. I took it.

Rs. 32 per km is better than Rs. 112 per km.

Thats got to be a record of some sorts.. almost 2 hours for 7 kms.. Walking (even in rain) would have taken less time I believe

[Rajeevraj]

Uber to let Delhi's private car owners offer rides to passengers

Uber, the company that connects commuters and cabs through an app, will let private car owners in New Delhi offers rides to passengers, following chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's decision to allow vehicles with even and odd registration numbers to ply on alternate days from January 1.

Owners of the almost 3 million private vehicles registered in the city can sign up as Uber-GO drivers and offer to pick up customers on their routes. The company plans to launch the service on December 16.

starting with Delhi. The initiative of opening up its platform to commuters who don't own a commercial vehicle is a first for Uber in India. Uber will charge its commuter drivers a commission of 20 per cent on each ride.

Source: ET

Little confused with this news. Is this just Uber's carpooling initiative? Or does it mean a private owner can sign up as a driver and offer rides and get paid? Is that allowed as per our rules?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Little confused with this news. Is this just Uber's carpooling initiative? Or does it mean a private owner can sign up as a driver and offer rides and get paid? Is that allowed as per our rules?

Most car insurance clauses clearly specify that operating a private car as a taxi invalidates the insurance.

http://www.newindia.co.in/Content.aspx?pageid=59

The important exclusions under the policies are:
[...]
Use of vehicle otherwise than in accordance with `limitations as to use ' (e.g. private car being used as a taxi)

Besides that the traffic police are going to have a field day when they catch such drivers.

They do claim that this is going to be a carpool service - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/50172528.cms

Ola has a similar ola share plan, but only with regular yellow plate cabs where they get people going in the same direction allotted to the same cab.

If Uber does this letting its drivers use a private car to pick up passengers, they and the driver will definitely run into trouble.

This is an overly creative interpretation of statements by various ministries and governments to encourage carpooling. The inevitable result is that cabbies are going to get hold of white board vehicles and operate them as taxis, rather than some techie driving from delhi to gurgaon is going to turn his vehicle into a carpool.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Uber to let Delhi's private car owners offer rides to passengers



Source: ET

Little confused with this news. Is this just Uber's carpooling initiative? Or does it mean a private owner can sign up as a driver and offer rides and get paid? Is that allowed as per our rules?

This means the introduction of regular uber as it is elsewhere - private cars being offered for others to use as taxis. I doubt it will be allowed. It will kill their existing taxi drivers' business, who were anticipating a 16 hour surge on a daily basis.

@Jaguar - there's some pricing experimentation ongoing - they did that in Delhi last week too. 18 min arrival time projected with 5 cabs available, and surge surging from 3.2x to 4.0x within 15 seconds. Go figure. We just booked Ola at 2.2x in the end.