Ring… Ring… Ring…
“Please hold”
“…. call is important to us. Please wait on the line….”
“Yeah?”
Hi, I need a taxi please
“OK?”
Yeah, I’m on 23rd St, near Denny Way
“No intersections! What is the address?”
Uh… its 123 23rd St…
“Zip code?
I’m not sure… one second? (Hey, what’s your zipcode here?) Ok, it is 98112
“Ok, it will be about an hour”
An hour?!
“You still want a taxi or not?”
Yeah
“Ok, an hour.” Click!
It was already pretty late, but another glass of wine would make the time flow by nicely. We just finished a nice home cooked meal at a friend’s house, roasted chicken with herbs and vegetables from the garden, and settled in by the outdoor fountain to wax philosophical with other friends also waiting for a taxi.
90 minutes later I called the taxi company again.
“Yeah, I cancelled your taxi because we didn’t have any cars available. You want me to send another one?”
Do you have cars available?
“It will be about an hour”
Yes please
“Ok, an hour.” Click!
Wtf?! We all looked at each other in disbelief, and thought maybe we would take up the offer to stay in the guest bedroom after all.
And then something happened that changed our lives forever
“Oh, I just remembered. Have you guys heard of Uber?”
A few minutes later I had their app downloaded on my iPhone, and was looking at estimated arrival times
Even in Taipei, We Can Get a Car in 9 minutes
10 minutes later we were sitting in an UberBLACK luxury car, free bottles of water in our hands.
20 minutes later we were home. The driver opened the door for us and wished us a good night
No cash changed hands. A receipt was sent via email. The price was a few dollars more than a taxi, but priceless in terms of customer service
And since we signed up with our friends invite code, we got the ride for free
On our way out, the application asked me to rate the driver, 1 to 5 stars. Definitely 5 stars, never have I had such a friendly or courteous driver
Never again would we be stuck in a taxi that smelled like an ashtray, or with a driver speaking to his mother-in-law on speakerphone for the whole trip, or with a driver that gets pissed off because you don’t have exact change (Here, just take the whole $20, jerk.) Sure, you could call the taxi company and complain, but after dealing with their reservation system, would you?
And how much to tip? With Uber, it is included in the price. And since it is billed to your credit card on file, you don’t even need to open your wallet.
Our Uber Receipt
Pretty awesome. But wait, there is more!
What was the last innovative thing a taxi company has done? (Complaining about Uber to state and local governments doesn’t count)
On the other side, Uber has:
- Provided an application to request a vehicle without making a phone call and using your GPS location. You can even estimate the cost of a trip before reserving
- Allows users to pay with a credit card on file. No cash, no change, and no tipping
- Sends a text message to the user when a car is about to arrive
- Offer different classes of service with different bill rates
- Provided a feedback system that incentives drivers to be courteous and professional
- Uses math and science to optimize their whole vehicle network, resulting in faster service and lower prices
Not content with revolutionizing the whole human transport system, Uber is now experimenting with shared rides / carpooling, kitten delivery, and the most EXCITING feature ever!
Bike racks! Never again would I have to ride home in a torrential downpour or after one too many beers (not that I would ever do that), or leave my bike locked to a No Parking sign overnight. Uber just keeps getting better and better
Do you have some positive or negative experiences with taxis or Uber? Feel free to share them in the comments
And if you haven’t tried Uber yet, click here to sign up and your first ride (up to $30) is free. (This link also gives us a free ride)
Give it a try. I think you will love it as much as we do
I live in Japan, and I think Uber is going to have trouble cracking this country (at least until they have automatic robot cars). The problem is that the normal taxis are quite good! They are polite, professional, turn up on time (or early) and basically do a fine job.
Apart from the GPS thing Uber doesn’t really have an advantage here.
Still, looking forward to trying them out somewhere else :)
Yeah, Japan has a great taxi system. I love the white glove treatment
Taxis in Taiwan are quite nice also. They even have an app. Generally the quality of vehicle is lower than Uber, but they are efficient and cheap.
It will be interesting to see how things play out. Worst case, the taxi system in the US catches up and everybody gets better service
Still like your blog after 3 or 4 years. Thank.
I was in Taiwan this Oct and Nov. Thought about to visit you but did not make it.
I use UBER ( as I remember I go through your site last year, but never get a free ride.) in Taipei and like it very much.
But there has no UBER at Hualien and that is not good. Wish there will be one soon. I talked to taxi driver in Hualien he said if UBER come to Hualien, they will smash their Cars…. Really surprised of what I heard !!
Just chat with you on this now.
Have a great season.
Hi Jeremy – just wanted to say that I enjoy your blog & your next Uber ride is on me. -Eric
Right on, thanks Eric! Enjoy your 1st Uber ride
Tip included is a misnomer. It is not. My husband is an Uber driver. Uber discourage tips so the customer will get a cheap rate and be happy. Just last August 2017, Uber finally added a tipping option but unless you update your app, you will not have it. Some nice people give cash tips. Drivers are on the losing end of the deal but he loves the flexibility of the job.
Currently, in a big city in the Middle East, I can walk outside and get a cab in under 2 minutes any time from 6am to midnight (it seems like every 3rd or 4th car driving on the non-highway roads is a taxi). Here, you agree upon the price before getting in the cab. This price will be 2-3 times cheaper than Uber (depending on the number of passengers) if there is no traffic. But since there is usually traffic, the Uber estimate is often unrealistically low, and costs 3-4 times the local fare. Although this method requires cash, many things here (rent, utilities) do, so it’s not an extra hassle. But Uber is very convenient when you’re in need in a low traffic area/time. Also, when in Istanbul, it’s near-impossible to communicate with cabbies if you don’t know Turkish, so Uber is a big help there :)
Uber is great when there are language issues. Sounds like you have a good setup in the ME