On 07/03/2018 14:04, D A Stocks wrote:
"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 07/03/2018 12:28, Basil Jet wrote:
snip

No, it isn't. There are countless places where one wrong turn can put
you on a motorway and add 10 or 20 miles to a journey.

Do Uber's terms and conditions leave the customer liable for the costs
of such a mistake (assuming the customer did not give the driver
instructions directions which caused it)?* I'd have expected it to be
negligence by the driver - on the basis that any reasonably competent
driver of a PHV would either know a reasonable route or take steps
(SatNav, map, phone a friend, or whatever) to find one.

The trip is charged automatically and it's possible that even the driver
may not be able to make an adjustment. So the customer can give the
driver a bad rating or ...

https://help.uber.com/h/0487f360-dc5...9-9d3f04810fa9
"My driver took a poor route

If you have concerns about the route your driver took, let us know here.
We'll be happy to review.

Trip fares are calculated including both distance and time, as well as
other applicable charges.

Please keep in mind that if events outside your driver's control (such
as traffic or road construction) impact your route and travel time, we
may not be able to provide a fare adjustment."
.... which would be more productive than moaning about it on a newsgroup.


Thanks for that. But it patently leaves it all to Uber's discretion.
What I tried but failed to find were the actual T&Cs - in the sense of
the contract between customer and driver. (There must be one given Uber
insist they are not providing transport services.) And as I am not a
user of Uber I don't have any practical experience.

I do know that TfL require all PHVs to "give you an accurate fare
estimate before your journey starts (unless you've pre-agreed a fixed
fare)". But I've no idea if that's:

a. "accurate - subject to delays, enforced diversions and other events
outside the driver's control" or

b. "accurate assuming the driver is competent - but you just have to
lump it if not".

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

In message , at 14:14:26
on Wed, 7 Mar 2018, David Cantrell remarked:
On Tue, Mar 06, 2018 at 02:36:19PM +0000, Roland Perry wrote:
on Tue, 6 Mar 2018, David Cantrell remarked:
It gives you an estimate, not a quote.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/23/...cing-replaces-
estimates-with-guarantees/

The Uber app on my phone, that I am looking at right now, and says that
it will cost GBP 21 - 28 to get me home, disagrees.

Gosh, I wonder which source I should trust.

You are about a day late to the "we've now agreed Uber has confusion
pricing (let alone disastrously vague press reporting of their product),
so avoid them like the plague" party.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news
In message , at 10:36:14 on Wed, 7 Mar
2018, Clive Page remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a killer.
Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is grossly
uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around 30
miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in a
minicab. Wise travellers to an airport use a pre-booked specialist airport
car service, but I once had to grab a cab off the rank at Brighton station
when I arrived to find the rail service to be in tits up mode.

--
DAS

In article , (D A Stocks)
wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news
In message , at 10:36:14 on Wed,
7 Mar 2018, Clive Page remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a
killer. Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is
grossly uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around
30 miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in
a minicab. Wise travellers to an airport use a pre-booked specialist
airport car service, but I once had to grab a cab off the rank at
Brighton station when I arrived to find the rail service to be in
tits up mode.

You could of course just get a direct train from Brighton to Gatwick Airport!

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote in message
...
In article , (D A
Stocks)
wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news
In message , at 10:36:14 on Wed,
7 Mar 2018, Clive Page remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a
killer. Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is
grossly uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around
30 miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in
a minicab. Wise travellers to an airport use a pre-booked specialist
airport car service, but I once had to grab a cab off the rank at
Brighton station when I arrived to find the rail service to be in
tits up mode.

You could of course just get a direct train from Brighton to Gatwick
Airport!

Only if such a train is available.

--
DAS

In article , (D A Stocks)
wrote:

wrote in message
...
In article , (D A
Stocks) wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news In message , at 10:36:14 on Wed,
7 Mar 2018, Clive Page remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a
killer. Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is
grossly uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around
30 miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in
a minicab. Wise travellers to an airport use a pre-booked specialist
airport car service, but I once had to grab a cab off the rank at
Brighton station when I arrived to find the rail service to be in
tits up mode.

You could of course just get a direct train from Brighton to
Gatwick Airport!

Only if such a train is available.

If you're travelling at times when there are no trains (0010 to 0510) taxi
fares tend to attract premium rates.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 07/03/2018 14:21, Robin wrote:
On 07/03/2018 14:04, D A Stocks wrote:
"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 07/03/2018 12:28, Basil Jet wrote:
snip

No, it isn't. There are countless places where one wrong turn can
put you on a motorway and add 10 or 20 miles to a journey.

Do Uber's terms and conditions leave the customer liable for the
costs of such a mistake (assuming the customer did not give the
driver instructions directions which caused it)?* I'd have expected
it to be negligence by the driver - on the basis that any reasonably
competent driver of a PHV would either know a reasonable route or
take steps (SatNav, map, phone a friend, or whatever) to find one.

The trip is charged automatically and it's possible that even the
driver may not be able to make an adjustment. So the customer can give
the driver a bad rating or ...

https://help.uber.com/h/0487f360-dc5...9-9d3f04810fa9
"My driver took a poor route

If you have concerns about the route your driver took, let us know
here. We'll be happy to review.

Trip fares are calculated including both distance and time, as well as
other applicable charges.

Please keep in mind that if events outside your driver's control (such
as traffic or road construction) impact your route and travel time, we
may not be able to provide a fare adjustment."
.... which would be more productive than moaning about it on a newsgroup.


Thanks for that.* But it patently leaves it all to Uber's discretion.

The "fare" is not to their discretion, but any adjustment is - it's a
matter of fact how long a journey took and how many yards were covered.
It can be a matter of opinion whether the route taken was the most
appropriate as traffic conditions can vary by the minute.

When I have had issues, Uber have always been very good about sorting
them out.

How they treat their driver coworkers (or whatever they call them) is a
different discussion.

On 07/03/2018 23:47, wrote:
In article , (D A Stocks)
wrote:

wrote in message

You could of course just get a direct train from Brighton to
Gatwick Airport!

Only if such a train is available.

If you're travelling at times when there are no trains (0010 to 0510) taxi
fares tend to attract premium rates.

Those aren't the only times there were no traiins - large chunks of 2017
had a similar problem...

In message , at 17:16:08 on Wed, 7 Mar
2018, D A Stocks remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a
killer. Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is
grossly uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around
30 miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in a
minicab.

It's not as different as I expected for a trip to Stansted (~1hr on the
road) where I've got an estimate of £75 from Uber, and a fixed fare of
£55 from a local minicab firm.

That exercise has also reminded me of what my apparent confusion was
regarding Uber fares being fixed or variable. I took their site to mean
that "we estimate your fixed fare, should you wish to book at the
moment, will be £75".

On a different day, different time, I'd have expected a different such
estimate[1], but I (naively it seems) expected the fare quoted when I
booked to be honoured (like it is for minicab firms who are off their
Local-Authority meter).

[1] Or, as every time I've actually tried taking my mystery shopping to
the next stage, a "no bid".
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 17:16:08 on Wed, 7 Mar
2018, D A Stocks remarked:

A £5 fare would be (at 20mph) 2.6 miles, £20 11.5 miles. That's a
stupendous amount of "getting lost"

Is Uber any good?

I've not been encouraged by their website. For a journey that we do
occasionally by taxi from our local station to home, it shows a range
of fares from £4 to £16 (a black cab typically costs £5.50).

Once you get outside metropolitan areas the cost per mile is a killer.
Even a short-ish trip to an airport (let's say 50 miles) is grossly
uncompetitive with local minicabs.

I've just got a quote for central Brighton to Gatwick Airport (around 30
miles) that compares reasonably well with a turn up and go fare in a
minicab.

It's not as different as I expected for a trip to Stansted (~1hr on the
road) where I've got an estimate of £75 from Uber, and a fixed fare of £55
from a local minicab firm.

Is the minicab firm a pre-booked fare? Generally these are cheaper - I
assume this is because the firm has a better chance of finding a customer to
pay for the return trip.

I would expect Uber prices to be more comparable with taking a metered taxi
off a rank.

--
DAS