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Old 6th May 2017, 16:14   #901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inder View Post
The latest update does not allow to book a ride from point B if I am at point A.
It does.
Tap "where to".
Next screen opens.
On this next screen, point A is pre-derermined and your location. Just tap on your location aka point A. Move the pin to any place of your choice on the map or type in the place of your choice to choose your starting point.
Hope this helps and clears your doubt.
Please revert if it works on your phone.

On another note, I have been given 1 ride upto 12 km at fixed 25/- irrespective of prevailing price and valid for use till 7th May with no need for any code as the promotion applies automatically.
And 3 rides with 50% upto 50/- discount using 3UBOFF valid till 7th May, another 5 rides with 5UBOFF and still another 8 rides with 8UBOFF, that is 16 rides.
Time to leave my car in the garage till tomorrow.

Last edited by hyd_traveller : 6th May 2017 at 16:15.
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Old 6th May 2017, 17:17   #902
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

I ve been using Uber on various trips abroad especially in Australia and Dubai of late. Tried the Uber Black and Uber LUX services too, quite regularly, again especially in Australia lately.
I ve had vehicles pick me up that are as varied as the Merc S Class, BMW 7 Series and last visit to Australia, even in a Tesla Model S! Fantastic!
In Dubai, whether I book UBER Black or any other, most of the time I end up getting picked up in a Lexus ES 350. A very good car indeed for sure!
In India, I use UBER X and invariably get a Toyota Etios or Swift Dzire.
On trips to the Airport with luggage if I book UBER XL, I ve recently been getting Honda BRV's - the driver told me he owned 6 BRV's which are plying around Bangalore as UBER Cabs.
Amazing!

Basically, I like UBER. Mostly because we have a Corporate Account that works across the world and all bills land on the central admin desk at office which makes the traveller's life easier.

(I don't personally like OLA and hence won't use it, but UBER, hey, they're excellent!)

And if I may share a statistic here - ever since our Company encouraged the use of Corporate UBER and Corporate OLA, our official travel local transportation bills have come right down, by a saving of around 35%! Now if that isn't absolutely amazing, I don't know what is!
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Old 6th May 2017, 21:18   #903
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by inder View Post
The latest update does not allow to book a ride from point B if I am at point A.
You can, I booked Uber for my wife from point A to point B, while I was physically in point C.
The format and navigation has changed and it takes a while to get used to new format.

Previous version used to sense that booking pick up point is different from the location from which booking is being done and ask whether it is for the person or some one else, this step does not occur in new update. Previous version was also storing common persons for whom booking was done frequently and it used to prompt the persons name, e.g., my wife's name, and when we confirm , the driver details used to be smsed to my wife's cell.This does not seem to occur now.May be needs a patch or something.

On another note, the maps are still incomplete, and names of individual buildings even with maximum zoom is not coming up.

Last edited by sumeet007 : 6th May 2017 at 21:31.
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Old 26th May 2017, 14:54   #904
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Super interesting update. Let me ask you a few questions first-

1. In your experience, has the Uber pricing gone up (a bit or otherwise) from what you vaguely remembered, in the last year or so?

2. Are you experiencing more 'surcharge' (not the amount, but the number of times you encounter surcharge pricing) than you did previously?

3. Have you noticed that there are times when your friend has some promo he has received, which gives him a discount, but you haven't received any such promo offer from Uber?

4. Have you had a discussion with Uber driver at times, and realize that the driver is not receiving the amount (lesser infact) that you are paying for the ride?

If your answer is in the affirmative, you, my friend, have been 'Uberéd'. In other words, you are considered to be a premium customer of Uber and use it fairly regularly. If your answer is in negative, don't worry mate, you will get there.

The reason for all of this is the so-called revolutionary new algorithm that Uber has been using for a while. As per this new 'data science', Uber is charging is customers not on the basis of distance and time, but on the basis of *wait for it* customer's willingness to pay a certain amount !!

Yes, you read it right. It's really happening. It has been in use in a number of cities in the US, and I assumed it will take time before it filters to India. I guess it has, since I heard from an individual that his Uber app was showing a higher amount to travel the same distance than his friend next to him. In real time. Well, that's what the 'data science' does. It figures a person X does not mind paying 300 Rs for a trip, so we will charge Rs. 300 for the trip. It does not matter that there is no peak pricing, rush hour traffic or anything.

Please see this bloomberg article, where Uber acknowledged for the first time that they are doing this. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...willing-to-pay

Now it adds up- when Uber decided to change the pricing system from 1.3x, 2.1x etc. to showing the outright amount, they couched it as 'transparency for customers'. What they were doing what exact opposite. Because there is no 'X' anymore !

To be honest, I don't grudge Uber for this. They are leading another technological innovation, one which may go on to dictate the pricing of all products and services in future. Just imagine ! It'll be nice if they are open about this though.

Last edited by Vitalstatistiks : 26th May 2017 at 14:56.
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Old 26th May 2017, 15:42   #905
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks View Post
...
To be honest, I don't grudge Uber for this. They are leading another technological innovation, one which may go on to dictate the pricing of all products and services in future. Just imagine ! It'll be nice if they are open about this though.
If they are open, this will not work.
Today I'm ok paying 400 rupees to go to airport. After hearing this I may feel 'cheated' and may cancel the ride few times to 'send the message' to Uber and reduce my 'amount willing to pay to airport'.
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Old 29th May 2017, 01:13   #906
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

I think this practice of charging customers "how much they are willing to pay" seems to have come into effect? If I look at the invoices of my last 2 Uber rides here in Chennai, I do not find any details regarding the kms travelled/travel time duration. I just see the total fare (both within the app and in the e-mail invoice).

This is convenient for Uber if they do not want to show the customer how much they've charged per kilometre. For my last trip, which was from Adyar to Radisson (Near the Chennai Airport), the fare was initially 330/- (UberGo), which came down to 179/- after I waited and checked for about 10 minutes (i was also checking the Ola app in parallel). Though the initial reason for checking other providers was that the ETA of an Uber cab in this case was over 10 minutes, I found the initial fare quoted to be significantly high. And they seem to be having surge pricing whenever I book a cab in the last 2-3 days.

While using data sciences to determine a person's willingness to pay might be the golden method that companies have been looking for, how fair is this compared to the fact that we expect other autos/taxis to give us a complete visibility on the distance travelled, the rate per kilometre and the rate per unit time? I honestly think there should be a framework in place for this - they cannot simply hide the details of the fare breakup from the customer in entirety. While the approach is indeed novel, it probably needs to be implemented in accordance to the laws of the land (not sure if this new system follows the existing laws).
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Old 29th May 2017, 07:27   #907
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks View Post
customer's willingness to pay a certain amount [/u]!!
Good you brought this up. I have noticed this being in place for sometime now. Tell tale signs have been as you mentioned - friends who use Uber irregularly receiving free coupons than me when I used to use it regularly. I also noticed that when I was using a coupon or an offer ( like a 20% cash back on Standard Chartered card ) - the fare shown was higher. The app probably guesses that, if the rider is getting a discount, he wouldn't mind paying more for the trip since the effective cost post discount is still competitive

Quote:
Originally Posted by FanaticOnWheels View Post

While using data sciences to determine a person's willingness to pay might be the golden method that companies have been looking for, how fair is this compared to the fact that we expect other autos/taxis to give us a complete visibility on the distance travelled, the rate per kilometre and the rate per unit time? I honestly think there should be a framework in place for this - they cannot simply hide the details of the fare breakup from the customer in entirety. While the approach is indeed novel, it probably needs to be implemented in accordance to the laws of the land (not sure if this new system follows the existing laws).
I feel, there shouldn't be frameworks to control such moves. Don't look at it as a non-transparent, vague pricing methodology - rather see it as a bidding system. The app sees your historical pricing behaviour and charges you more since you are "willing" to pay more. That is normal market behaviour where sellers want to sell goods to buyers who would pay the highest for their services. At the same time, sellers would want to bring out schemes to onboard new buyers ( and these schemes may not be applicable to existing users ) - for e.g a discount on a new gym membership sign up ( which may not be applicable to existing members and so on. ).

Having said all this - I think, most Indian consumers will outwit the app even on this aspect
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Old 29th May 2017, 16:05   #908
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by narayan View Post

I feel, there shouldn't be frameworks to control such moves. Don't look at it as a non-transparent, vague pricing methodology - rather see it as a bidding system. The app sees your historical pricing behaviour and charges you more since you are "willing" to pay more. That is normal market behaviour where sellers want to sell goods to buyers who would pay the highest for their services. At the same time, sellers would want to bring out schemes to onboard new buyers ( and these schemes may not be applicable to existing users ) - for e.g a discount on a new gym membership sign up ( which may not be applicable to existing members and so on. ).

Having said all this - I think, most Indian consumers will outwit the app even on this aspect
True, any seller would want customers to pay the highest for their services. However, it serves for everyone's benefit for a ceiling to be present in terms of pricing. If you look at bidding (both forward and reverse bidding), one of the key factors why they work is that the buyer/seller (depending on if it is a forward/reverse bid) has done enough homework and knows in and out how much that particular product/service is worth. Typically, they get enough time to do their research, and mostly they'd be well versed with what the actual worth of that service/product is.

In this case, if it is a service such as transportation, not every customer might know how much a trip from point A to point B would be worth. Nor would they have the time to sit and compute it every time. If too much information goes to the hands of the cab aggregator, there might also be a situation when they realise you have a 3AM flight (if they are able to read your Gmail content), and they appropriately quote 600-700/- for a ride to the airport while it may normally cost you 200-300/- . This can lead to over pricing when the customer is most vulnerable - for instance, trips to airports strike me as the number 1 candidate.

No one is stopping an organisation from being profitable/charging their customers what the services deserves, but I think it should be done the right way. Transparency is key here IMO.
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Old 29th May 2017, 19:03   #909
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

^^ I think we are overthinking this. The pricing model of Uber takes into account both consumer and driver, which is a far cry from the earlier model of being biased in favour of one or the other. I live in Pune which doesn't have a public taxi service at all, only autorickshaws, and extortionate ones at that. Uber is my go-to for a lot of my non-commute, non-leisure drives. Attended an alumni reunion over the weekend and more than one classmate admitted to being an Uber regular, managing their daily commute with the service and only using their personal cars on weekends.

The model is here to stay and whether Uber or Ola or someone last it out is the only question!
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Old 29th May 2017, 20:02   #910
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

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Originally Posted by noopster View Post

The model is here to stay and whether Uber or Ola or someone last it out is the only question!
The model is here to stay but for how long, is the question.

Both Uber and Ola are unprofitable right now, and are only surviving on Angel Investor's money.

How long can an unprofitable business continue?

Maybe a year or two more.

I dread to think what will happen then.

1) The commuters who started reliying heavily on these cab services and shared rides, they will suddenly be left in a lurch.

2) The drivers will have no bread and butter to earn.

Ofcourse- there will be a third alternative that will come up, but to be profitable, it will have atleast twice the fares that of Ola/Uber (much like Meru). And Meru/Easycabs will rise again - but with minuscule ridership.
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Old 2nd June 2017, 02:03   #911
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by dailydriver View Post
In today's Selfie centric world, how could Uber be left behind? TOI reports that drivers will henceforth be required to take selfies while logging in to their account.
This security feature has been in existence since more than 2yrs now. Both me and my driver are asked to take a selfie before we can login - but this happens randomly and mostly around once a month or so.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks View Post
Super interesting update. Let me ask you a few questions first-

1. In your experience, has the Uber pricing gone up (a bit or otherwise) from what you vaguely remembered, in the last year or so?

2. Are you experiencing more 'surcharge' (not the amount, but the number of times you encounter surcharge pricing) than you did previously?

3. Have you noticed that there are times when your friend has some promo he has received, which gives him a discount, but you haven't received any such promo offer from Uber?

4. Have you had a discussion with Uber driver at times, and realize that the driver is not receiving the amount (lesser infact) that you are paying for the ride?
1. Pricing has gone up because the fares have increased - at least in Mumbai they have.
2. Uber's surcharge algorithm isn't perfect - at times it's simply weird with super high surcharge in an area with no demand!
3. Promo codes have been personalized to ensure that they're able to offer discounts to regular users as their ARPU is significantly higher than those who used these codes just for a one-time use (used to happen a lot when their first ride discount was higher).
4. Whilst I've heard that this is 'allegedly' happening overseas, I believe it's hard for this to be done here because we have a lot of cash transactions happening which makes the billing transaction completely transparent. Also, from my experience of taking multiple Uber rides as a driver and passenger, I've not seen this happening.
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Old 17th June 2017, 09:02   #912
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

I had a strange experience with Uber 10 days ago when I took a ride from home to Bangalore airport.

Within 5 minutes, the driver tells me that I have to separately pay the toll which is usually charged while leaving the airport. He said Uber used to collect it before, but now they don't. So driver has to collect it as cash from the passengers. I started wondering about it, whether the driver is pulling a fast one on me.

As we reached Hebbal flyover, he suddenly asks me whether I cancelled the ride. That was because he was receiving one more ride request from another passenger. I quickly checked my Uber app and saw that it was in a strange state. It was showing the driver name and destination, but didn't say it was on trip. It was saying another passenger needs to be picked up. I hadn't selected UberPool, I was on UberX. Can the driver cancel/change a trip while on trip?

So the driver stopped the car as if we are not going to proceed. I told him to keep moving because I can't afford to miss the flight. He started moving again, but started asking how he will be paid. Since the app was behaving weird, I had no choice but offer him cash. The ride history showed no record of this cancelled ride. It was as if I never ordered the cab.

Eventually I paid him 650 bucks, which was slightly less than what a regular cab would charge, much higher than what Uber would charge. However, an hour later Uber charges me ₹113 for the ride.

Since then I keep wondering what happened. Did the driver cancel it intentionally or did the Uber application screw up. If the driver cancelled it, why did Uber app take so long to record and charge the ride, an hour after I paid in cash?
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Old 17th June 2017, 09:29   #913
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
I had a strange experience with Uber 10 days ago when I took a ride from home to Bangalore airport.

Within 5 minutes, the driver tells me that I have to separately pay the toll which is usually charged while leaving the airport. He said Uber used to collect it before, but now they don't. So driver has to collect it as cash from the passengers. I started wondering about it, whether the driver is pulling a fast one on me.

As we reached Hebbal flyover, he suddenly asks me whether I cancelled the ride. That was because he was receiving one more ride request from another passenger. I quickly checked my Uber app and saw that it was in a strange state. It was showing the driver name and destination, but didn't say it was on trip. It was saying another passenger needs to be picked up. I hadn't selected UberPool, I was on UberX. Can the driver cancel/change a trip while on trip?

So the driver stopped the car as if we are not going to proceed. I told him to keep moving because I can't afford to miss the flight. He started moving again, but started asking how he will be paid. Since the app was behaving weird, I had no choice but offer him cash. The ride history showed no record of this cancelled ride. It was as if I never ordered the cab.

Eventually I paid him 650 bucks, which was slightly less than what a regular cab would charge, much higher than what Uber would charge. However, an hour later Uber charges me ₹113 for the ride.

Since then I keep wondering what happened. Did the driver cancel it intentionally or did the Uber application screw up. If the driver cancelled it, why did Uber app take so long to record and charge the ride, an hour after I paid in cash?
These Ride apps are not very reliable or safe. Whether ola or uber. In my view the mode of payment should always be cash so that you are not taken for a ride. This happened earlier to me on Uber when I had used Credit card as payment mode. I paid for the ride twice and I had to fight it out with Uber for refund ( They did refund me the money as one off case). Since then I have stopped using credit card or ola money as the mode of payment. I always pay cash. Ola currently has a PIN number sent to customers and the driver has to input the same to start the journey. Once the pin is put into the system the ride cannot be cancelled from both ends. This is a good feature that ola has built in which uber has not.
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Old 20th June 2017, 10:28   #914
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Uber is bringing 'UberPASS' to India. The pilot trial will run in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai and will allow Uber customers to choose from top rated drivers and will have discounted fares.

This is presumably to rival Ola's SELECT offering.

More details here: http://www.business-standard.com/art...1900959_1.html
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Old 20th June 2017, 14:00   #915
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Re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
Within 5 minutes, the driver tells me that I have to separately pay the toll which is usually charged while leaving the airport.

He said Uber used to collect it before, but now they don't. So driver has to collect it as cash from the passengers. I started wondering about it, whether the driver is pulling a fast one on me.
Usually a driver asking you to pay toll is a red flag, but these days airports seem to have these charges and sometimes they change faster than uber can cope with. In Mumbai I've seen the app mention an additional Rs. 100 charge (i think it said it would have to be paid in cash by the customer while exiting the airport -- it was an airport pickup for me).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
Eventually I paid him 650 bucks, which was slightly less than what a regular cab would charge, much higher than what Uber would charge. However, an hour later Uber charges me ₹113 for the ride.
What does your trip history show (in terms of route)?

Also, its SUPER EASY to get a refund on the Uber app these days. Go to "Your Trips > I would like a refund". Done.

I think they realised it was cheaper to just throw away money without question, rather than hire people to deduce whether a refund should be given

Quote:
Originally Posted by TejasKinger View Post
Uber is bringing 'UberPASS' to India. The pilot trial will run in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai and will allow Uber customers to choose from top rated drivers and will have discounted fares.
Nice! Though do note the mention of "discounted fares".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Ola offers "no surge pricing" for their subscription model -- which is a lot better than what Uber's open-ended "discount" offer here...
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