On 2016-08-12 01:37:19 +0000, Basil Jet said:

Except that you have the choice of which company you use, and can
boycott any company that doesn't speak English if you feel so inclined.

Front-line customer service staff not speaking sufficient English for
even the most basic request is not at all uncommon in London - it's
hard to avoid it at times.

It would not be accepted in any other country - to drive a taxi in
France you would be expected to speak French, in Germany to speak
German, in the Netherlands to speak Dutch. It should not be accepted
here.

Once again I'm not anti-immigrant at all - I think many benefits come
from immigration, and I've been one on a couple of occasions (in
Germany and Switzerland, and yes I do speak decent German and
less-good-but-adequate French), and have a very good Polish friend who
now calls the UK home - and, FWIW, has put the effort in and so speaks
excellent English - but I do firmly believe that part of being an
immigrant is to learn at least a basic command of the local language,
particularly if wishing to work in any kind of customer facing job.

You can speak whatever language you choose when conversing yourself, of
course, wherever you may be (I'm not one of those people who in any way
objects to people conversing in Arabic, or whatever, on the bus), and
as I say I don't care at all if the prevailing language in a
non-customer-facing environment like a warehouse or a building site is
Polish (or whatever), but if you wish to serve me in a customer facing
environment I wish to communicate with you in English and not have any
difficulties in doing so, and as people can't be bothered to do this
themselves I do agree with TfL that it is time for the law to ensure
this at least in some areas.

If someone wants to set up a minicab company in New Malden with Korean
speaking drivers for Korean speaking passengers, I don't see why they
should be legally compelled to speak English as well.

I would suggest that any such company should operate under a *very*
restricted licence such that it cannot be in any way seen to be
competing with a company which has higher costs to provide the proper
English language service they should be obliged to provide when
operating a business for the general public in England. It should
certainly not be allowed to advertise itself, as Uber does, as a
general-purpose transport company, nor to put cost pressure on such a
business (e.g. the black cabs) which is doing things properly.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In article , (Basil Jet)
wrote:

On 2016\08\11 22:04, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-10 19:10:47 +0000, Recliner said:

Transport bosses have defended new regulations requiring private hire
drivers to pass a test in English, following criticism from Uber.

I don't have a problem with that idea. English is the main language
spoken in the UK. I should be able to expect to communicate in English
with any customer facing person I deal with in any industry in the UK,
just as I would expect that if I wanted a job in France I would have to
speak basic, understandable French, and German in Germany etc.

I don't care about where they are from (provided they are here legally)
but I do agree with the principle of not making communication awkward.

Except that you have the choice of which company you use, and can
boycott any company that doesn't speak English if you feel so
inclined. If someone wants to set up a minicab company in New Malden
with Korean speaking drivers for Korean speaking passengers, I don't
see why they should be legally compelled to speak English as well.

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 2016-08-12 08:28:40 +0000, said:

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

I do think it's a shame you can't select your car on Uber based on
reviews etc - perhaps the clock could start when you select it, so you
still pay for selecting one further away if that is your preference.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:48:03 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-12 08:28:40 +0000, said:

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

I do think it's a shame you can't select your car on Uber based on
reviews etc - perhaps the clock could start when you select it, so you
still pay for selecting one further away if that is your preference.

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers livelihood.

--
Spud

On 2016-08-12 10:24:40 +0000, d said:

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers livelihood.

In practice anyone in business has to deal with muppets, and so I never
expect a 100% rating on eBay, Amazon etc. OTOH, once you get below
about 95% questions quite rightly get asked.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:52:20 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-12 10:24:40 +0000, d said:

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers
livelihood.

In practice anyone in business has to deal with muppets, and so I never
expect a 100% rating on eBay, Amazon etc. OTOH, once you get below
about 95% questions quite rightly get asked.

Not sure I'd give many of the drivers of minicabs or black cabs I've been
in anything close to 95%! But as long as they get you to your destination
safely and in a reasonable time then you can't really ask for much more.

--
Spud

On 2016\08\12 11:24, d wrote:
On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:48:03 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-12 08:28:40 +0000, said:

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

I do think it's a shame you can't select your car on Uber based on
reviews etc - perhaps the clock could start when you select it, so you
still pay for selecting one further away if that is your preference.

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers livelihood.

Uber doesn't care about the drivers' livelihoods. It relies on a
constant inflow of new muppets to replace the disillusioned leavers.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 12:12:02 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 2016\08\12 11:24, d wrote:
On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:48:03 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-12 08:28:40 +0000, said:

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

I do think it's a shame you can't select your car on Uber based on
reviews etc - perhaps the clock could start when you select it, so you
still pay for selecting one further away if that is your preference.

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers
livelihood.

Uber doesn't care about the drivers' livelihoods. It relies on a
constant inflow of new muppets to replace the disillusioned leavers.

More than likely. A lot of these tech companies are just the robber barons
of the 21st century and don't give a **** about the people on the shop floor.
I saw something on TV a while back about all these new bike based food delivery
firms whose staff end up earning less than the minimum wage. But hey, its an
app so what do the Kool Kids care if they guy delivering their organic soya
salad earns a pittance, he's just a grunt right?

--
Spud

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:18:57 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 12:12:02 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 2016\08\12 11:24, d wrote:
On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:48:03 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-08-12 08:28:40 +0000, said:

Eh? You book with the operator and only meet the driver when he arrives to
pick you up. A bit late then to cancel and ask for another driver.

I do think it's a shame you can't select your car on Uber based on
reviews etc - perhaps the clock could start when you select it, so you
still pay for selecting one further away if that is your preference.

I can see why not - a few malicious reviews could kill the drivers
livelihood.

Uber doesn't care about the drivers' livelihoods. It relies on a
constant inflow of new muppets to replace the disillusioned leavers.

More than likely. A lot of these tech companies are just the robber barons
of the 21st century and don't give a **** about the people on the shop floor.
I saw something on TV a while back about all these new bike based food delivery
firms whose staff end up earning less than the minimum wage. But hey, its an
app so what do the Kool Kids care if they guy delivering their organic soya
salad earns a pittance, he's just a grunt right?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...t-new-contract

On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 13:01:03 +0100
Recliner wrote:
On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:18:57 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:
firms whose staff end up earning less than the minimum wage. But hey, its an
app so what do the Kool Kids care if they guy delivering their organic soya
salad earns a pittance, he's just a grunt right?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...uriers-demonst
ate-against-new-contract

Can't blame them. 3.75 per delivery is royally taking the ****. All those
striking RMT ****s should have a good look at that to understand what poor pay
and conditions really means.

--
Spud