Has anyone tried using Uber before?

[Mieow]

I've been hearing that a lot of people worldwide have been using Uber instead of taxis, I even have one friend that recommended it to me but most of these positive reviews came from outside of Melb so I'm just wondering if there's anyone here that used it and wonder if it's any good?

Thanks

[zhenzhenzhen]

Pretty good

[EspoirTron]

I've used it before, it's pretty good

[spectroscopy]

alot of my friends use it and have never had a problem

[pi]

Yeah I don't have the app myself, but have used it with a mate. Pretty good and cheaper than taxis most of the time (*cough* not NYE *cough*)

[slothpomba]

I use it all the time now.

Make sure you check OzBargain (search "ozbargain uber"). Usually you can find like $30 voucher (or if you're lucky and its still going, $25 x 2 vouchers) for new users only. It's one of the reasons i ever got into it. If it wasn't my inner cheapo using a new voucher, i probably never would have gotten onto uber.

Uber is just basically dudes in their cars. There are some specifications like their car has to be newish (either 5 or 10 years old max, i forget). They need police checks, license checks, insurance etc. But at the end of the day, its regular dudes, in regular cars, in regular clothes.

The rate per kilometer and minute is cheaper than taxi's by a fair bit. Likewise is the flagfall (the rate for just jumping in, in taxi's its now like $6 or something, uber is $2). During normal times, it will be cheaper than a taxi.

However, it operates on a "surge pricing" basis during periods of high demand (and low supply of drivers). So, you will pay a multiple of the regular price (2-8x at the very worst). Think end of major sports events, just after midnight on NYE. In this case, a taxi is cheaper.

An advantage of the app is you can see where the cars currently around you are on a GPS map. It shows the car you hire on the way to you. You know a car will come and when it will come. Unlike calling a taxi or just waiting for one. I've called taxi's before, they've promised "the first available" and been stuck in rough areas, after dark, by myself. Not fun.

The drivers can cancel on you (had it happen once late in the city, guess he didn't want to leave the city and all its potential shorter jobs between destinations inside the city). You can cancel on them within 10 minutes for free. Once i accidentally ordered an uber, panicked and just turned my phone off. They charged me a $10 cancellation fee (at the time i didn't know cancelling was possible).

Overall though, the cars and drivers aren't necessarily much better than taxi's (people overblow it a bit, they're just dudes in cars, never gotten mints or water either). It's more the convenience of GPS, an app and the lower price is why i use it. Also, i guess we all might suspect some taxi drivers work under exploitative/poor working arrangements, with Uber, the driver gets to keep the money himself (minus 20% uber fees).

[lzxnl]

Used it in LA; no problem with the service at all. Quite cheap and the driver was very friendly. You get to see your driver's rating beforehand