RIDEGURU
I figured this would be the case. With the introduction of upfront pricing, Uber can charge customers anything they want. They will ask for any amount riders are willing to pay. I have heard cases where during the hours when the business users are out, the overall fare goes up. Trips to and from airports? You guessed it. It'll go up because people are willing to pay.
All the cheap Uber fares that we have gotten accustomed to are about to go out the window. Regulators and law makers who shoved the taxis out. Are you happy now? What about those Uber fans who said, "Uber is better and cheaper. Screw the taxis. Stronger survives." So irresponsible. Here's the proof:
"Uber appears to have the opposite of a rewards program. That is, it appears the more you use Uber as a passenger, the more they’re going to charge you per mile. We know Uber said they were going to experiment on charging different customers different rate, based on a variety of unpublished factors. My current belief is the more you use the service in a way that suggests you can afford more, the more they will charge you."
https://therideshareguy.com/uber-is-ripping-off-frequent-riders-and-heres-how-to-avoid-it/
Comments
What a tactic. Uber initially set the prices of rides VERY low to undercut taxi companies. Now that the taxi industry is in shambles, they decide to raise the fares to whatever they want.
Soon, I am sure Uber will be more expensive than taxis. Why wouldn't they, right? They dominate the market now.
Uber's taxi takeover has been completed successfully. Congratulations!!!!
This is an age-old tactic. Predatory pricing. It was especially effective in this case since the taxis couldn't even try to compete since their pricing is regulated.
If you ask me the local governments screwed this up. They should have regulated Uber when they had the chance. The cat's out of the bag now.
Or maybe they never should have stifled the free market in the first place...
It's the whole Starbucks tactic. Build a store right next to an existing and successful coffee shop to compete. Advertise it nationally then make the coffee half as much. Run crazy promotions.
Run that for 6~12 months. Let the famous coffee shop that was there for 35 years close its doors.
Then end all promotions, jack up the prices, and let the millenials spend $7 on a latte.
Blame should also rest in the hands of the taxi industries, who should have embraced the new technologies.
How dificult would it have been to provide all cabs with GPS and give their customers the service that would then be available?
Then customers would have had properly licenced, trained and insured professionals looking after them.
The reason the taxi industry couldn't respond was that they aren't centrally owned or managed. It was all distributed and locally regulated. There were some strong entities and large unions like NYC/TLC, Pittsburgh, and mega-taxi companies in Chicago, but they were not able to respond, build a technology stack/platform, and have the large enough influence like Uber could.
Uber was also working on a leverage and had access to billions of dollars (to spend on lobbyists, etc.) while the taxi companies were working for a profit, and a thin one at that.
I think the taxi industry figured the government would regulate the Ubers out of existence. How could they not?
So if you are desperate for a ride, the price will go up.
You better not tell your Uber driver if your wife is in labor. It'll be $100 a mile.
Perhaps that's capitalism and we should embrace it. Demand based pricing.
Yes, it’s capitalism. Late capitalism is all about monopolization, the dominance of consolidated wealth, and the leverage of accumulated capital which has actually eroded competition, diminished the marketplace, and as predicted by Marx, destroyed private property (the fruits of individual labor), the opposite of what it started out to do. Yes, yes, by all means let’s embrace it, as we do the eviseration of nature and our planet.
All contraversies lead capitalism vs socialism discussions. Good job, guys.
Is your screen name a joke? I can't tell if it is your real name or a Chinese cuisine joke. No offense.
Capitalism cannot exist without intervention, certainly not in a stable form. SEC, anyone?
You fundamentalists, please stop hiding behind an illusion of a free market just to get what you want. the rich gets richer, you call that success?
LOL $100 and hour. It'll be tax deductible at least. Actually I have no idea.
This reminds me of the test surge of 50X they ran in another city.
That's why you gotta be all chill about it and make comments like, "we get there when we get there." "The baby will come when it wants to." And "oh that, she likes to fake it."
Or
"I know a much better competition and the insurance covers it. It's called an Ambulance."
It's ridiculous. I request a trip to my job. It was usually like $35, but last time was $50 (because "it was busy").
I tried another day and checked. Same trip from home to job. Now the fare was $110 !!!! (Because it was busy) I immediately changed the destination address (a hospital that is front of my job) and the fare was $30 !!!! 😐
Wow, they are really taking advantage of people necessity. Luckily I got my car back from the mechanic.
Haven't you heard? Uber can charge whatever they want now. Basically, Uber charges whatever the rider is willing to pay. It isn't based on time and distance anymore.
Uber quietly has updated their official pricing policy, and they updated their websites and disclaimers too.
Do you know what's really messed up? The drivers aren't even told how much the rides are, and they are only paid a negotiated rate based on time and distance. So they get paid the same amount regardless of what the riders are paying. It's not a percentage anymore.
Wow, this is so blatant! Smart to change the destination location slightly.
yeaha, that whole upfront pricing bit was spun as something nice and noble for users who wanted to know about the fare beforehand. but the truth was that Uber wanted to charge more money and not base it on publicly posted fares.
This is much closer to getting quotes from Limos companies.
and it's worse because Uber will charge you whatever they want to. whatever you are willing to pay. and it'll be different betweeen personal and business travelers, rich and poor, affluent neighborhood to poorer neighborhood, time of day, etc.
It happened to me and I chose to take Didi. Simple.
no didi choice here in US
Uber has gotten wayy too expensive and much more difficult to even locate a driver. I don't know what the hell happened but it used to be so easy and so affordable. Now its unbelievable complicated and the prices are fuckin out rageous. I needed to go just 5 mins down the street by car to the grocery store. Uber was trying to charge me $25-30!?!?! The item I needed to get from the store was only $6!!! That is fuckin insane.
Now that Uber has successfully taken over the taxi industry and forced most existing companies to bankruptcy, it's time for them to raise their prices. Their goal (that everyone knew) has always been to grab the monopoly.
Not to mention the economics of taxis have never been a highly profitable business. Uber disrupted an industry that was already established, with drivers and dispatchers. It was alreday working with very low margin. They removed it, and replaced it. It was basically just a deregulation.
The problem is they added more bureaucracy to this where the company takes a huge cut (over 28%) of every ride even though they claimed to have created efficiency. We are all now facing the reality that the prices have to be raised to pre-Uber levels. Oh, you will see.
And so it goes... Same for VRBO and AirBnb. Once they were good now they are over priced greedy companies.
Don't the owners set the prices? So who's the greedy ones?
I don't even know how much they take
It happened to me and I chose Didi instead Uber. Simple!
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Uber is such a shitty company. I’ve spent more on Uber than than my actual travel. One time it was around the time 5pm and normally my fare is aboit $50 and suddenly it jumped to $170. That’s a huge jump then I waited 5-10 minutes then it went to $80 and then back at $50. What kind of bullshit is that? That is more than double my original fair? That’s 350% more. Wtf! There excuse of more in demand is such bullshit because if I wait 5 min the price changes. It’s just to see if people are willing to pay high in panic of pretending as if the customer won’t get a Uber in time. It’s no different than online shopping and then say “12 people have this in their cart” or “this item is about to sell out” wait the 5-10 minutes and you’ll see how the price goes down. Uber knows what they’re doing.
It sure does 5 mile trip use to cost $11 now its $18 just about the same ass yellow cab!!
Are you a driver or a passenger?
Can I pay in cash
The cost of a ride from a ride-sharing app like Uber or Lyft has increased in recent years. Many riders have also noticed increased wait times for rides. The main reason may be shortage of drivers.
Hope people stop using at these ridiculous prices. Demand goes down, prices will follow.
This is total BS. I've noticed that the trip i take every other day would typically cost $5.48 with Lyft and $6.00 with Uber, well today i was ready to book a ride and all of a sudden UBER wants $10.50 and LYFT wants $9.97...?! That's a HUGE and drastic increase litterally OVERNIGHT?!
WTF?!...they have both. Ow lost me as a very regular customer. That's highway robbery
It's gotten way worse now. It used to be just $5-7 to go to the grocery store from where I am. Now it wanted to charge me $25-30 just to go 5 mins down the road by car. Like wtf is that!?!?!
Taxis are under municipal price control. Uber is not. Uber is known for surge pricing. Uber is known for being dishonest. What do you think Uber will do once all their competition is driven to the ground? They will probably charge at least $20 per mile and many people will be sorry they ever supported those fascist pricks.
Right. They can charge anything they want, which means no more deals. Someone told me about the example of trips between Heathrow and London. You pretty much have no choice except a car service and maybe the train. Well, they won't charge those friendly uberX prices for those.
This is UNBELIEVABLE! The Uber trip to the dentist used to be $8 and went up to $11. This time, the "initial" amount of $17 showed for a split second and switched. Uber wanted $45 for a less than 10 minute, straight road, no rush hour, reserved trip. It used to be an $8 trip. I thought it was a glitch and after trying several times to get a realistic price, I gave up and made other arrangements to go and return. Time to delete and use my feet, perhaps?