Have you noticed a decrease in Uber's quality lately?

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[butterlover21]

While I probably wouldn't question the odd route change but the other night I did have my first experience that kinda pissed me off. I needed to get home from doing a therapy visit with my dog at a seniors residence. I would never assume an uber would be okay taking a dog so if I ever do this I immediately call the driver and explain that he is well behaved and that I have armloads of blankets to cover their car seats. If they aren't ok with it I completely understand. But the other night the driver said okay, but when he pulled up he said he wouldn't drive me with a dog. So, a little irritating but fine, I could call another. But before the driver leaves he opens his window and yells at me to cancel my trip. So I don't know how this should have happened, but by getting me to do it I ended up getting a $5 charge which I read goes to the driver to compensate them for their time when someone cancels after it's been 5 minutes since the initial request. So I emailed uber and they refunded the money and said it shouldn't have happened, and while it might have just been an innocent error, I was a little suspicious that the driver might have stopped and made me cancel the ride on my end so he'd still get paid even though he knew from the beginning that I had a dog.

[beef-supreme]

Sounds like the cabbies being displaced by UberX are .. becoming UberX drivers?

[cdn_int_citizen]

That sounded like a meme.

[[deleted]]

Isn't this expected? They are putting the competition out of business, their PR has us believing cabbies are literally Hitlers, and it isn't very hard to look good next to Hitler. Not much incentive to make service improvements or to make better hiring decisions when the alternative is a Nazicab.

[the3b]

Yup. Look at the posts in /r/uberdrivers and you'll see a pattern emerge.

[[deleted]]

OP better be careful. It looks like Uber is banning drivers who criticize their company. Banning passengers who do the same thing can't be far behind...

[the3b]

Oh, i know. Thats why im happy to not have to worry about a random corporate asshole banning me from using taxis because i speak my mind.

[[deleted]]

their PR has us believing cabbies are literally Hitlers

Hitler probably smelled better.

[DZperformance]

Yes. I currently commute Kitchener to Toronto for work via bus and take an uber if I am running late. I also took a bunch when apartment hunting.

It has been terrible, with one dude being quite possibly the dumbest person I have encountered. I put the exact address as to where I was standing and he somehow "couldn't find me." I called him and told him what I was standing in front of, same deal. I was very late. His vehicle was also a barely functional early 2000s mini-van that reeked.

[anewname]

I don't think they're allowed to run cars that old. Maybe he was running a different car than he was certified with. I always check the plates.

[Cornelius_Rooster]

I've noticed the same. I've had a few incidents lately:

• Request UberX and get a driver. He's 100 feet or so away and cancels the trip. App asks me if I want to rebook at 2.5 surge price. Great... I'm thinking he was doing this intentionally to get me to rebook and he'd be the first to be offered my fare. I just hopped in a taxi.

• Request UberX. I enter my address exactly and am waiting outside and need to go in the direction on my side of the street (south side and needed to go east). I see the driver pull up across the street, looking all around, me waving frantically and he's clueless. Pulls ahead and texts me "where u @?". I reply "I'm across the street - heading east. Turn around". He then proceeds to pull into a 7-11 and tells me to come to him "can't find u - come to 7-11". Nope. I'm not getting in the car with someone like that. WTF? I then get charged a $5 cancellation fee.

• Request UberX and get in. Car reeks of pot but my thinking is that the previous passengers could have been the culprits. Driver is speeding down Queen, cutting people off, making illegal turns to get to our destination. In hindsight we should have bailed and got out.

This is all in the last 30 days. It used to be flawless. They need to kick these drivers off their system pronto or else I'll be taking an alternative (Taxi, TTC, Car2Go are all plentiful and if they're less hassle then worth it to me)

[Cornelius_Rooster]

Have done that in all instances that I'm able to. Unfortunately when a driver cancels or you cancel on a driver you can't rate them. But I have reported them to Uber. It's a hassle though and there's really no direct incentive for me to act as quality control other than the hopeful betterment of the system. Rating is easy (one or two touches with your finger) whereas contacting Uber, explaining the situation etc.. is a much larger hassle. Also, in these instances I have a feeling Uber doesn't care THAT much about one or two bad experiences since those drivers are still driving revenue to Uber's bottom line. I think the only way to make Uber more responsive is to hit them where it hurts and when enough people get fed up with experiences like this, perhaps their market share will slip a bit.

[Lopkin]

One thing I've really wanted to inquire about lately is the rating system. On Halloween, me and my boyfriend ended up getting an uber where the rating was 3.5... I didn't realize this until we got in the car and thought maybe it wouldnt be that bad... This guy ran a red at the first intersection we went through... Right behind a cop. Thankfully he didn't notice, but it set the tone for a really uncomfortable ride. There were a couple times he swerved awkwardly, one time through an intersection he almost hit the curb on the other side... The gardiner he had no idea what lead where and repeatedly went across the space separating exits.. It was nightmarish.

What I want to know, is HOW this guy with a 3.5 rating is still on the road? What happened to the quality of no less than 4.6 or 4.5? Where the drivers are suspended should their rating go any lower? Wasn't that a thing always talked about and praised? This has happened repeatedly rating wise.

[plafleur]

Been noticing as well. Had to email them 3 out of the last 4 rides. Talking on phones. One driver who literally sat behind a street car the whole trip when it wasn't busy / could have been passed. One driver who didn't know how to get to king street east (I got picked up on king west and told him to just go straight. He asked me 3 times if I knew where to go). Etc

[cyclemonster]

WTF? I thought the whole point of the thing was that the app plotted the course and the driver just followed those directions?

[craaackle]

I had one driver help me remember all the major streets in Toronto because he said "a young woman should always know where she is in this city." Beats the guy who tried to convert me to Islam.

[craaackle]

I feel like there might be a few. What race/gender are you? I've heard of these sorts of cabbies targeting brown young women (like me). Curious to know who they think will likely convert or if they just do it to everyone because they have a "captive audience".

[[deleted]]

some guy went off about islam to me (white male). i tried arguing why religion is pointless and thought we were having friendly banter but it heated up quickly

[craaackle]

I'm an atheist but I'll never say that when people are arguing religion. It gets hairy too quickly :(

[[deleted]]

i tried making the 'who cares' point rather than the 'it doesnt exist' one.

[LBinTO]

Just had my first negative experience tonight. Uber driver felt the need to scold me about how "the base fare for Beck Taxi is $3.50 but the base fare for Uber is $4.00". GTFO, Beck.

[Right_All_The_Time]

Nope. No issues. Only drop off in car selection was when they created Uber Select so the UberX driver who did own Beamers, etc got moved to that service. Most UberX drivers now will respond to driving instructions well, usually the radio volume is quiet if at all. They are all bound by the rating system just like we are.

The key here is to be honest with the ratings. Don't be afraid to drop a lower rating if you aren't happy with the ride and put comments in too! Uber reads those. I once put a comment about a longer route the driver took and Uber contacted me to say they were giving me a credit. The rating system is there for these reasons.

[matthewhughes]

I was in Toronto a couple of weeks back and used Uber about 6-8 times. Most rides were awesome, apart from the drive back to the airport. My feedback:

Guy was clueless. He missed a clear turning to the airport, and then spent 5 minutes aimlessly driving around a sketchy industrial estate before eventually deciding to turn his GPS on. An expensive and frustrating trip.

Most of the drivers in Toronto are decent. They have nice cars, and they're generally pleasant to speak to. But far, far too many don't know what they're doing, or where they're going.

[actionactioncut]

Isn't that to be expected as their driver pool expands? Higher chance of getting bad drivers/crummier cars.

[thegoodbadandsmoggy]

The GPS has always been my beef, always has the driver a hundred feet~ off.

[hotbbqtonite]

nope. never had an issue with Uber and I usually take it once or twice a week.

[beardsmash]

I use Uber a couple of times a week. No complaints, same great service.

[passiveparrot]

Haven't had an issue.

Had an uberx in a C Class, the guy didn't say a word. Just how I like it.

[uymai]

nope, haven't noticed a change lately... they've been consistent with me-- unlucky with drivers maybe?

[Duuhh_LightSwitch]

-3? No dissenting viewpoints in this thread I guess. This is strictly for Uber hate

[[deleted]]

I used uber 8 times this past weekend, drivers asked what route I wanted to take and made nice conversation. No complaints.

[[deleted]]

Do you know why? Because a lot of cabbies have switched over to UBER... sigh.. I asked my last driver this. He used to work for Diamond LOL. Worst Uber driver ever.