Uber and uber like services are the future. I know there are some apps now, but none of them as good as Uber when it comes to GPS maps, requests, preferences, and reviewing. Most of my taxi experiences are neutral as in they take me from point A to B without issues, but i can’t think of any that were good.
The issue comes with the bad experiences like tonight. Got into a taxi, it wasn’t clean so that’s already a red flag, but I just wanted to get home. The driver had some body odor, so I opened a window since he didn’t open the AC anyways. I told him the address and he drove me half way and said he wasn’t sure where it was and asked me. I don’t know, I just moved into this new place, I said that and he got frustrated. Him being lost cost me more money as well. I don’t know why he would drive me if he wasn’t sure, that’s what I paying him for. Finally arrived and he didn’t have change for a 500…had to run to 711 and get change.
Bad experiences don’t always happen, but when they do, nothing you can do. The driver can continue to provide piss poor service for years, he probably already has. They don’t care.
At least Uber drivers try, almost all my expereinces were nuetral to good. Very few were negative. Little things like helping me put in luaggae, opening the doors, having a charger, or a bottle of water in the middle of the summer all help make it a better experience. This is the way forward.
If you know Chinese, I use the 55688 app and it has a wide variety of cars, GPS and payment methods that dont differ from uber’s.
the price is always metered, and there is no absurd surge price like in uber that wanted to charge me 240 nt for a 110 nt ride in a yellow cab.
Then get GPS in the car. It wasn’t a particularly out of the way either. Or don’t take me/ ask me before if I can give some guidance like where it’s next to. This is why the taxi service is obsolete. The only reason I would pick them is for cheaper prices or they know some short cuts and know their roads. Something they test for.
I am discussing. I think it’s rude of you to expect every cabbie to know the exact location of every residence in the city or to be equipped with a GPS when he might not make enough to afford one.
Why don’t you just call Ubers if you prefer them so much? At least until you learn where your own home is located.
I agree. Since the buses close before the MRT. I need a cab to get home after a night of classy drinking. Our friend Eric Chu decided that Danshui Taxis need to start at $100.
Uber is $110 to go home. Taxi is 50% more expensive. Uber also has better cars, better experience and no bloody binlang.
In my experience, most cabs in the city do come with a GPS, or the driver just pulls up your location on his smartphone. It sounds to me like you were unlucky.
Or actually provide something uber can’t make obsolete. London cabs are specially designed to be cabs and the drivers have the knowledge that GPS can’t make up if they need to reroute through traffic.
I went outside and saw a cab right in front of me. Most of my experiences are ok as I’ve said. But they’re never good and sometimes bad. There’s no incentive to provide good service and no way to penalize bad service. Which is my point.
I think a lot of people here develop a relationship with a cabbie or cabbies whom they come to depend on for longer trips or special trips that involve transporting sensitive goods, the elderly, the disabled, etc. My family has a few go-to fellas on call for that sort of thing. In the past they’d help us transport grandma to the hospital for check-ups, and when she died they helped us caravan everybody on the day of her funeral. They are usually the ones to drive us to the international airport when we’re flying out, too. The cost of their services is always set up as a flat rate beforehand. We’ve depended on them countless times over the years, and we’re not their only regular customers. So that’s one thing Uber doesn’t provide, as far as I know.
That’s true, but I feel like this is the way of the past. There were far less options back then, now even the MRT line to the airport is competing with these kinds of drivers. Young people probably aren’t making these kinds of relationships.
I have like six or so cabbies who are always outside my building at seven in the morning, when I need to get to work. They all know where I’m going, and don’t ask.
If I need to travel elsewhere, I get a faux Uber. Nice cars, GPS, air con, no bin lang, and half the price.
I agree. The main problem is that the taxi system can’t change. There are effectively no new taxi drivers entering the system. Too many of the drivers maintain the same driving habits, don’t adapt to changing landscapes, and don’t use newer technology that would make their lives easier.
If it was a competitive market we’d see much better taxi drivers, but since it’s not then yes a “taxi-alternative” is going to conquer them.
