That's more like it!
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And we’ve all seen plenty black cabs swing out in front of others cars without indicating to pick up a fair. Or been going well over the speed limit. There’s examples of **** drivers everywhere, black cabs aren’t any different, as much as a lot of taxi drivers would like to tell everyone otherwise. Majority are absolutely competent, some aren’t. Majority of Uber drivers or whatever other form of taxi we want to discuss are also absolutely competent, some aren’t.
No idea why some taxi drivers get so defensive over their profession or have such a sense of entitlement.
Don’t go having a strop because people prefer other methods of transport.
There hasn’t been one post from a taxi driver up until your post. There seems to be a misconception that taxi drivers are sitting in their taxis raging that people are using Uber or whoever else. I’m not sure how long these app companies have been on the go, but it’s made zero difference to the black cab trade. Every company has seen a year on year increase in bookings and from a personal point of view my takings haven’t been affected. If people want to use these app companies then good for them, but let’s not try and make out they’re somehow sticking it up the taxi trade by doing so.
These companies are going to end up pricing out taxi drivers who are required to do everything by the book, who have large overheads and who speak English and know where they're going.
We often complain about a low wage economy, but allow our greed as a consumer to actively facilitate it. It has "i'm all right jackery" written all over it.
No problem with competition, we've always had it. What we hate is the illegal picking up from PHC, the fact that they overcharge with their surges and many other dodgy stuff.
It can still be a good living but longer hours are required which isn't what many guys want when they get over 60 and see retirement round the corner.
There’s 4(I think?) different tariffs. That’s 4 different price points and an ability to put the prices up and down at busy periods. Hardly any different to Uber is it? Uber just do it on a more flexible, less fixed basis.
Taxi fairs are increased all weekend, every weekend from the base tariff judging by the ECC website if we really want to moan about Uber increasing theirs.
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/4118/taxi_fare_card_from_18_june_2018.pdf
This would seem to suggest from 6am on Saturday morning they’re increased until 6am Monday. So either I’m reading it wrong or you’re claiming they’re not increased ALL weekend because of the 6 hour window on Saturday morning before they go up..
Not the exact same because Uber’s increases aren’t defined in terms of when it’ll happen or by how much.. Other than that though it’s still an increase in the fair. So the same concept really, the fairs go up when it’s busier and/or less desirable to work. Just that the black cab version is more predictable.
Yeah ok I got that bit wrong so apologies. In my defence I never work Sundays :greengrin
However that's a standard fare rate over the whole weekend - quite different from Calums quote "and an ability to put the prices up and down at busy periods."
We cant. Prices and rates are set by the council and cant be altered.
Not at all, no need to apologise.
I didn’t mean that they can just be set willy nilly. But they do have the ability to go up or down at busy periods. The big difference is that it’s set in stone when that will be and what the increase will be. It’s not a massively dissimilar concept to surge pricing though. Just that Uber’s is a more “live” system.
Uber don't over-charge, they just charge - the user accepts or declines the fee. That's part of the transaction.
Over-charging would be if there was a prescribed rate and they charged more than that (i.e. Hibs advertising concession prices then charging concessions full price)
They don’t have the ability to up or down at busy periods. They’re set and can’t be changed until there’s a fare review. Your wording is suggesting that during busy periods the price can rise which just isn’t true. There’s a day shift rate, a night shift rate, and two rates during the Christmas and new year period. The busiest period of the year is the festival and the price then is the same as it is in January.
Ok, apologies for the use of the word ability. I wasn’t suggesting that the fares can be changed as and when a black cab driver fancies.
Point still stands though, black cab rates vary and are increased at certain times which is exactly the issue people claim they have with Uber.
Having the technology that Uber have at their disposal allows them to do it on a sort of live, in-play, more variable basis which black cabs of course don’t. That’s the only real difference in the concept of it.
The point is that you always know what you will pay in a taxi meter car (PHC are on the same tariff) as the price is set annually. You can never be sure how much an Uber will cost you.
Imagine if pubs operated on a surge pricing system, it would cost you more for a pint the busier the pub was. You would never be sure what your round would cost every time you went to the bar.
We were down on Manchester for the cricket for a few days and used Uber a lot, as well as black cabs.
Uber tells you the price in advance and it does vary depending on demand, but that’s your choice. Our biggest problem was we were staying relatively close to Old Trafford so there were bigger fares on offer. This meant we got acceptances which then got cancelled but that’s the nature of it.
All our drivers have always been friendly, polite and spoke English well or perfectly. Same in Birmingham and Leeds. In fact it was Leeds where we had a black cab driver who tried to take us a far too long route back to our apartment as well as being a bit of a racist ****