[perseus]

Originally Posted by rjun04

Recently booked a Mega Cabs cab from home to the airport. They've been advertising that you can take a cab from anywhere in Bangalore to the airport for 699.

First time I tried it said there were no cabs in my area. Called Customer care and they told me there was a quota system which must have been exhausted.

Tried again for another trip and this time I made the reservation successfully. When I finally reached the airport, I was billed 1133. When I told the driver that this was supposed to be 699, he promptly says those were different cabs, Indicas!! Didn't make sense arguing with him and spoiling my mood so just went on in after paying 1133.

Have written to Mega cabs, let's see how they play it.

Not true. I have been availing their 699 (and 650 before) offer for sometime now. Its only valid if you book online and not through call center. Once driver tried to charge me regular amount saying it does not show up as online booking in his records. I called customer care right then and they sorted it out with driver.

[rjun04]

Originally Posted by perseus

Not true. I have been availing their 699 (and 650 before) offer for sometime now. Its only valid if you book online and not through call center. Once driver tried to charge me regular amount saying it does not show up as online booking in his records. I called customer care right then and they sorted it out with driver.

Well, they called me back after I wrote to them and then sent me a cheque for the difference. Mighty nice of them I'd say!

[Vid6639]

Uber has simultaneously launched their services in 4 cities from today, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/ub...kolkata-578066

With this India is now their largest market outside the USA.

Along with launch in 4 cities there is great news for Bangalore users of Uber. Starting today all trips of Uber Black and Uber X will get a flat 25% discount. This is because they are seeing bangalore is one of their most competitive. Thanks to Ola cabs which has a similar app as Uber now as well as advance booking along with Ola mini, Meru genie, taxi4sure and other operators. Competition is always welcome

My dad already used Uber X twice today and was pleased. He got an Ertiga and a Dzire within 10mins from Sarjapur road to MG road and back. The discount of 25% was applied on final bill amount and both trips of almost 13kms were around ~200 bucks.

[ajmat]

Interesting fact that I got from a post in the US on surge pricing

Uber and Surge pricing

All Uber drivers use a technique called "surging".
During normal rates they turn off the app and surge pricing kicks in. then they turn the app back on. If the prices drop they turn the app off for a few minutes and surge pricing kicks in again ensure round the clock surge pricing. Interesting

[Aiel]

I am yet to use Uber, but have the app installed on my phone.

I would like to know if I can provide my debit card to them, instead of my credit card. I am not too fond of using my credit card (only for emergencies).

[Rajeevraj]

Tried to book uber today. Indicated that surge pricing was active. So did not go ahead.

[khoj]

RBI has found Uber's payment settlement mechanism to be in violation of FEMA laws and issued directive to the company to take corrective action.

The story is that Ubers cc gateway is hosted by a company based abroad and every payment transaction made by a cc in the country was first converted in to foreign currency to enable the gateway to accept the payment and then rerouted back to Uber in India involving another currency conversion back in to INR.

What it meant to the customer? it seems nothing. This 'cause the news article had no mention of as to who was bearing the currency conversion charges and the bank charges that are levied on foreign exchange transactions made by domestically issued cards. For the moment let us assume these were being borne by Uber as the rival 'taxi companies' who complained to the RBI made no mention of this and neither did the news channels.

Members who have availed of their services and paid by cc may want to check their bills for the corresponding period(s) and confirm whether any currency conversion & banking charges have or have not been levied on such payments and post accordingly on this thread.

Anyhow, RBI has a regulation in place that says that services/goods bought in India and paid for by plastic issued by an Indian entity have to be necessarily settled in domestic currency i.e. INR and issued notice to Uber accordingly.

No mention was made whether this misdemeanour attracted any penalty etc.

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by khoj

Members who have availed of their services and paid by cc may want to check their bills for the corresponding period(s) and confirm whether any currency conversion & banking charges have or have not been levied on such payments and post accordingly on this thread.

Never been billed in foreign currency by them till date. All bills since their inception have been in INR only, at least, for me. Must be some some back end technical issue.

I wish Uber all success as it is helping curb the auto dadagiri menace for me.

That said, OLA is a total failure in Hyderabad, 99% probability that no vehicle is available.

Taxi For Sure is a good back up option in case Uber is not available. Plus, they meet the demand of most Indians who prefer to pay cash and not use a card.

[Thilak29]

Uber’s payment system flouts norms: RBI

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle6342774.ece

[bejoy]

Took a UberX from Bangalore airport yesterday (12:30PM). Got the taxi (a new Etios) in 10 mins (5 mins indicated). The driver was good and while at Hebbal, he asked whether to take ring road or through city, I replied to take the city route, as it was noon. And it would take almost same time in both routes, but ring road being lengthy I would end up paying more. There was a bit of slowing down and going through a crowded route (instead of Brigade road-Hosur road, he took Mayo hall-Viveknagar-Koramangala route). In the end it took 48 kms and 1:22 hours. It was my first ride, so got a promo credit of 300. Along with the discount running in Blr, my ride cost me Rs. 423 - from Airport to HSR Layout. We were a full family with 5 adults and two kids and a boot load of luggage.

[manduvindupondu]

Super. I hope Uber uses a prepaid wallet akin to freecharge/bigbasket. I am wary of storing my credit card details on Uber server. Or they can keep credit card swiping machines in the cars. Thanks to RBI for the initiative on 2 factor authenication.

bejoy , are there any entry/waiting/hidden fees for taxis at Bangalore airport. I am asking this as Hyderabad airport charges 100 rs for cabs which come from outside. Also, even after paying 100 extra, we need to walk till the parking which is quite a distance ahead. The Meru/Sky cabs which are stationed at Hyd airport charge 27 rs per kilometer! Good use of Monopoly .

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by manduvindupondu

bejoy , are there any entry/waiting/hidden fees for taxis at Bangalore airport. I am asking this as Hyderabad airport charges 100 rs for cabs which come from outside. Also, even after paying 100 extra, we need to walk till the parking which is quite a distance ahead. The Meru/Sky cabs which are stationed at Hyd airport charge 27 rs per kilometer! Good use of Monopoly .

No, there are no special charges (luckily) for outside cabs operating from Airport. However, they charged 115 as "BLR Airport Toll Toll" which I assume is the to and fro toll charges for the new elevated highway to the Airport.

Here is the description about this charge:

What Is This Charge For A Toll?
If your driver pays a toll during your trip—or if your drop-off location is outside the city limits and a toll is required to return to the city—then the price of the toll will be added to your fare.

In these situations, Uber returns 100% of the toll fee to drivers to ensure that they’re fully reimbursed for the additional cost.

You might also notice an Airport Fee Toll on your receipt. In select cities, there may be a nominal fee to compensate drivers for any airport fees they are charged as part of your trip. If you think you might have been charged this fee incorrectly, please let us know. You can contact your local community manager at: t.uber.com/support

[Hayek]

Used Uber in Bombay for the first time last week - on a journey from the airport home. Got an Innova, driven by an extremely polite driver. This was certainly a better option than waiting indefinitely for a Meru or Tab Cab at the airport. It was the day before Ganesh Chaturthi however, and traffic was crazy - it took almost 1 hour 45 minutes to cover the 15 odd km to my house, against the usual 45 minutes to 1 hour by Meru. The cost worked out to Rs. 550 against the Rs. 330 (+60 airport charges) that Meru usually costs me. But I presume that was largely due to the extra hour we spent waiting in traffic. Certainly a great option at Bombay airport in peak hour. I plan to try it in London next week - let's see how that goes

[promit]

I have taken about 4-5 Uber trips in the last 3 months or so. I swear by them, whenever I need a cab.

However, do not depend on them if you have to be somewhere on time! It is very unreliable. I have known this all along, but remained rather oblivous and I almost found out the hard way.

Last week, I had to reach an interview at 10 am and requested for a cab at 9:20. (Was pretty confident of using Uber because the previous week I had to go to the same place 6 kms away at the same time, and had taken an Uber). So, I requested an Uber X, there were a tleast 3 cabs in a 3-5 km radius, but the one dispatched to me was furthest out. It had an arrival time of 19 minutes. The driver called me to say he was stuck in traffic on the highway but he'l reach within the indicated time. Within 5 minutes, 19 minutes became 26 minutes. By 9:40-9:45, eta was still 26 minutes. The car had barely moved. I cancelled my trip. Thankfully, my appointment got postponed by an hour. I ultimately drove down that day.
The estimated time and dispatch doesn't seem to be very accurate or reliable. I was all set to write them a stinker, imagining they had charged me the cancellation fee. But, they didn't charge it. I cancelled at least 20-25 minutes after ordering the car.

Another time on a really hot day the car which came to pick me up,the driver's iPhone had overheated and switched off. The car's ac was switched on to revive the iPhone, after it rebooted only then could the trip be started.

I have noticed almost all of the cars I have got till date are DL registered. On asking one of the driver's he said the market in Gurgaon is very good. This same guy told me, Uber is adding cars almost daily. At any point of time, there are a whole lot of cars in the vicinity of DLF Cyber City.

Also, the payment system remains unchanged, inspite of all the hue and cry created by the regulatory authorities.

[GTO]

Must say, Uber has definitely expanded its fleet size in Mumbai. I've used the App about 4 times in 2 weeks and each time, irrespective of time & location, my cab arrived in 10 minutes or less.

This afternoon, I had an Innova down my place in 5 minutes!