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Old 7th December 2014, 08:20   #256
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by Vid6639 View Post
Went down and saw a Meru cab with Ola stickers today. Got confuses as I had actually booked an Uber!!!

Meru wasn't paying him enough so he moved to Ola and now Uber. The driver responds to both Ola or Uber to earn more.

Attachment 1314765

ps: don't miss the ford wheel caps on a Mahindra Verito. lol
This is what I am refering to drivers are signing up with multiple providers picking up the route as they feel comfortable with going on.Hiring out the vehicle to someone else during their off time.Since all the companies incentivise them for number of trips ,app "on" time etc.These are good services however the talent that is running these companies needs to put in equal focus on improving the supply side of things as they are in marketing and technology for the consumer to have a uniform and safe service experience consistenlty
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Old 7th December 2014, 09:10   #257
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

A lady who had booked a Uber was raped by the Driver last night in Delhi. This is a big blot on the service ( as per police Uber had not got the driver verified and the car was not equipped with a GPS) .

Uber was very highly rated for its drivers . The company has been asked by police to join the investigation and they may be prosecuted as well.
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Old 7th December 2014, 11:38   #258
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by rajneeesh View Post
A lady who had booked a Uber was raped by the Driver last night in Delhi. This is a big blot on the service ( as per police Uber had not got the driver verified and the car was not equipped with a GPS) .

Uber was very highly rated for its drivers . The company has been asked by police to join the investigation and they may be prosecuted as well.
This is the most deplorable incident. Just read it in TOI.
I doubt the car was not equipped with GPS. Uber provides GPS enabled iPhone to every driver. So unless driver turned off the iPhone or if he was in "dead network zone" he could have been easily tracked.

In the recent times I have also seen cabs which are not up to mark working with Uber. Surely they are not following all the standard procedures of recruiting the driver and car.
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Old 7th December 2014, 14:03   #259
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Re: The Indian Taxi Revolution - Uber, Ola, TaxiforSure, Meru etc.

Not very comforting, I would rather trust my friendly neighborhood taxi walla. I would have expected more checks from Uber. http://www.firstpost.com/living/uber...s-1838013.html
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Old 7th December 2014, 15:56   #260
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

I am shocked to hear about the incident.
This has made me realise that the new age companies are cutting corners to increase their user base.

The worst part about Uber is that there is no contact number for the company incase of any emergency or otherwise.
The cab operators need to pull up their socks and ensure security as the foremost priority than user base.
Lets hope no such incidents ever occur ever again.
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Old 7th December 2014, 17:07   #261
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

I still vastly prefer my regular cabbie. He comes to pick me up at any time of day or night. All I have to do is to plan my trips.

I can sleep in the car peacefully all the way from the airport every time I return from somewhere at an unearthly hour and he will drop me home.

I prefer to trust him to take my wife to and from her occasional commutes (mostly at night to and from the airport) because he has been serving us for 7 years and is a nice guy.

I really don't mind paying him a little over the top for first class service.

Given all this evil in India, I would be concerned to just use any old cab, irrespective of the Tech Major or VC Funded entity that might be backing it.
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Old 7th December 2014, 18:01   #262
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by shankar.balan View Post
Given all this evil in India, I would be concerned to just use any old cab, irrespective of the Tech Major or VC Funded entity that might be backing it.
I agree - irrespective of the brand, advertising, technology and slick marketing campaigns, the weak link is inevitably the driver who finally faces off to the customer.

Based on one's luck, these drivers can be uncouth, smell of cigarettes, may be drunk, or - in the case of this poor lady - far worse.

Any measure of control within the vehicle (e.g. fitting tamper-proof cameras) will only work if the cab companies own the vehicles. However, the trend seen is for the cab booking company to go for a partnership with the owner/driver of the vehicle.
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Old 7th December 2014, 18:30   #263
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

I just read somewhere that unlike operators like Meru who have GPS fitted to the vehicle (though it can be removed with some effort), Uber can track only the phone (via the app). If true, it is a major security lapse.

I do not remember reading similar incidents on organized operators like Meru, Easy Cabs etc, and feel this incident is a result of laxity on Uber's part
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Old 7th December 2014, 18:42   #264
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

India is a lucrative market for two reasons, one being its potentially humongous user base due to the sheer size of the population and the middle class and the other being non-existent or lax regulation.

Why only speak of women being unsafe, some cabs I get assigned (esp. ones for midnight/early morning commutes to airports) give me the creeps. Not to mention the concern every time my parents, wife or someone else I know takes a cab by themselves at odd hours.

Shameful that we can't even manage a point A to B commute in this country in peace and security.

@Arun: I second the reliable local driver theory. My father still trusts his ex-driver to pick/drop him when he travels and park the car back even when nobody's home. He can easily take a cab, but he admits he's more at ease with a known driver. Trust is paramount in such scenarios.

Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 7th December 2014 at 18:48.
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Old 7th December 2014, 18:44   #265
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by i10 View Post
I just read somewhere that unlike operators like Meru who have GPS fitted to the vehicle (though it can be removed with some effort), Uber can track only the phone (via the app). If true, it is a major security lapse.

I do not remember reading similar incidents on organized operators like Meru, Easy Cabs etc, and feel this incident is a result of laxity on Uber's part
It's the same for Uber, Ola and Taxi4sure.

All 3 of the operators are trying to streamline the unorganized taxi segment not the organized one.

Meru, Mega are the ones in which you drive only for them and need to pay them daily. Cars have to have the brand livery, GPS meter/tablet in the dash and are tied up with the company.

Ola, Uber and Taxi4sure bring together the taxi's that are attached to travel firms or the taxis which drivers own. They make it simple by just giving the phone to track rather than part of the car.

It's sad that this incident has happened and that too with Uber. The brand seems to be taking a beating off late but in reality this incident could have happened to any one.

How will it help if the GPS was mounted in the car? Will a firm be able to track whether the driver is on call or on a trip? No they don't.

All agencies including Uber allow a friend/relative to track the cab when you send trip details.
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Old 7th December 2014, 18:46   #266
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

What scary about the whole incident, is the lack of accountability on part of Uber.
They are not just a tech company, they are putting these drivers and cabs through their technology on the road and it is imperative that they are liable for all the good and bad things that happen during these rides.

While they claim credit for each good ride, they should also take responsibility for each and every bad one as well and not pass the blame on the driver.

Setup a contact centre where there is human connect for your services and not just hide behind the thin veil of technology.
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Old 7th December 2014, 21:22   #267
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Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vid6639 View Post

Ola, Uber and Taxi4sure bring together the taxi's that are attached to travel firms or the taxis which drivers own. They make it simple by just giving the phone to track rather than part of the car.
Absolutely correct. I don't think Uber (or any other organisation) can be expected to vouchsafe the integrity of every contractor or employee. It's for law enforcement to identify the taxi driver and punish him. I don't understand how anyone can say the driver is not traceable. There was a car, with a registered commercial plate. Plus Uber obviously pays the cab owner through a bank account - which is supposed to be KYC verified. The law should be able to find the owner, and the driver through the owner. An app that connects the contractor and customer can't be expected to do the police's job for them. The police officer's statement is a typical attempt by incompetent government officials to blame others for their inability to stop or punish crime.



Quote:
Originally Posted by speedmiester View Post
What scary about the whole incident, is the lack of accountability on part of Uber. They are not just a tech company, they are putting these drivers and cabs through their technology on the road and it is imperative that they are liable for all the good and bad things that happen during these rides.



Setup a contact centre where there is human connect for your services and not just hide behind the thin veil of technology.
This is what I call the liftman argument - the propensity for Indians to want liftmen in automatic lifts. Uber IS a tech company. It has not put any cabs on the road - the cabs it connects you to are all registered commercial vehicles, registered with state RTOs, who bear the primary responsibility to regulate them. Uber can't be held liable for everything that happens during rides,

And the entire idea of web apps is to NOT have call centres and human contact - that is the reason why they are efficient. If you want human verification, use Avis, Carzonrent or some other similar car rental agency ( or even better, rent through a 5 star hotel) - don't expect 5 star service from an app.

Last edited by Hayek : 7th December 2014 at 21:38.
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Old 7th December 2014, 21:54   #268
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by Hayek View Post
Absolutely correct. I don't think Uber (or any other organisation) can be expected to vouchsafe the integrity of every contractor or employee.
The reason Uber is under so much criticism now is because of the false promises they put in their official website where they gave assurances on the safety and driver behavior like no other provider, which they claim is done though an extensive background check of the driver and so on. If they advertise something like this as a unique advantage of their system, then they should deliver on that promise.

If they cannot vouch for every driver that they engage, then they should never have given such false promises in the first place!
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Old 7th December 2014, 23:16   #269
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by Hayek View Post
This is what I call the liftman argument - the propensity for Indians to want liftmen in automatic lifts. Uber IS a tech company. It has not put any cabs on the road - the cabs it connects you to are all registered commercial vehicles, registered with state RTOs, who bear the primary responsibility to regulate them. Uber can't be held liable for everything that happens during rides,

And the entire idea of web apps is to NOT have call centres and human contact - that is the reason why they are efficient. If you want human verification, use Avis, Carzonrent or some other similar car rental agency ( or even better, rent through a 5 star hotel) - don't expect 5 star service from an app.
Are you being serious? Don't you think even for a second UBER on their part are not responsible for their customers.
They are making money off on customers, they are surviving on customers, they are what they are because of customers.

Yes, the legal terms of UBER clearly states that they are not responsible for their customers safety.

Quote from the User terms and conditions
UBER User terms

"UBER DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE SUITABILITY, SAFETY OR ABILITY OF THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS. IT IS SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE IF A THIRD PARTY PROVIDER WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS. UBER WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND A THIRD PARTY PROVIDER. BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU MAY BE EXPOSED TO SITUATIONS INVOLVING THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS THAT ARE POTENTIALLY UNSAFE, OFFENSIVE, HARMFUL TO MINORS, OR OTHERWISE OBJECTIONABLE, AND THAT USE OF THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS ARRANGED OR SCHEDULED USING THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND JUDGMENT. UBER SHALL NOT HAVE ANY LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO YOUR TRANSACTIONS OR RELATIONSHIP WITH THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS."


Then why is this company saying that safety is their priority? Why can't they put in a big disclaimer on their app or website saying that "customer is responsible for their own safety, we are just a service enabler"
Why are they even bothering to co-operate with police now? They can just palm off their responsibility because the victim has agreed to their terms and conditions. Is that so simple?

When they can push for promotions and offers continuously on the app and email, why can't they push their limited liability information on the same app and emails.

Their only connection to their drivers is through their phones and what will stop any other person known or unknown to the driver to use the same phone and car to ferry passengers or for any unlawful activities.

I have been a UBER customer since long and I have recommended this app to many of my friends and relatives and personally I have asked my wife to use only UBER if she has to travel alone anywhere? Now with what face can I recommend UBER anymore?

Any business or establishment has a moral responsibility for their customer's safety. This is what is lacking in this case. I hope the companies wake up and put in a safeguards to stop such incidents from ever happening again.

Last edited by speedmiester : 7th December 2014 at 23:24.
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Old 7th December 2014, 23:37   #270
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re: Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service *EDIT: Banned in Delhi, Telangana, Thailand & Spain*

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Originally Posted by zenren View Post
The reason Uber is under so much criticism now is because of the false promises they put in their official website where they gave assurances on the safety and driver behavior like no other provider, which they claim is done though an extensive background check of the driver and so on. If they advertise something like this as a unique advantage of their system, then they should deliver on that promise.

If they cannot vouch for every driver that they engage, then they should never have given such false promises in the first place!
These are promises which are a common form of advertisement.
Now, if a company such as Sony is selling Bravia with something like 'True Colors never seen before'. Or something like '4K- Four times the clarity'. These are promises based on the input. They can't be held liable for the same, atleast in this country.
Every cab company will at one point or the other promise 'Safety, Comfort and VFM'. For me, those are factors that I decide on my experience.
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