It seems to me that pretty much every problem associated with taxis and their competitors will be moot in a few years once self-driving cars become commercially available.

First off, the cab driver haters and Uber (or whatever gay name they are called) lovers need to lay off this thread. This is Funk's AMA thread, lay off him and his trade. He's been the first to admit the problems and even dishonesty in the business. Tick him off and he leaves an awesome thread.

I'm not one to answer officially but the last several LV cabs I've been in all have a sign that mention that paying by credit card will incur an extra fee. Ticks me off because I hate paying with cash on business trips because it's more paper work for me. I own several businesses and I am specifically NOT allowed by the credit card companies to charge customers a fee for them using their credit card.

Thanks for the explanation. I had not considered the issue of the driver waiting in a line for a ride, hoping it's lucrative, then only getting a few bucks out of the deal. I'm usually a good tipper, and my thinking was "Hey, it's a 33% tip", but really the guy just made 3-4 dollars after possibly waiting in line for 20 minutes.

It's not a perfect comparison, that's why I began that by saying, "the best comparison I can make..." You apparently skipped that line. The question was, why did that ride tilt the driver? And I believe the comparison served well to help you empathize with the plight of the cabbies, a bit.


Yeah, I literally have no idea what your point is, or how it has anything to with what we're talking about.

I never said your tip should be dependent on his wait. Again, the question was why was the driver tilted, I offered that as a possible explanation. Then you say, "If he's waiting that means I'm waiting also"....Huh? That's contradictory.

Ok, now you're making a gross generalization of thousands of different people, and speaking of them as if they are one person. I don't like CAB DRIVER so I no tip CAB DRIVER! To use the fact that one cabbie did you wrong as an excuse to not tip the next one is pretty pathetic. Here's an idea, maybe tip for good service and don't tip for bad service? This is something most people understand already.


Bravo, you said something I agree with.

People's opinion of cab drivers is so low that the default assumption
is always that a scam is taking place. Despite the fact that the $3 CC fee is denoted in plain sight along with the rate schedule on every door of every cab in town, despite the fact that the same fee was denoted clearly on the touch screen device that you used to swipe your card and input the tip amount (if any) and sign your name, despite the fact that it is indicated separately from the fare again on your receipt, months later you still can't get past if the guy was trying to take you for $3.

Now I'm not trying to beat you up about that necessarily, but in short, c'mon man. Not everyone is out to get you dude. I'd be very curious to hear if that guy longhauled you or not. I'm assuming he didn't because you probably would have added that if he had. So to me, here you have a guy who totally did you right, you trusted him to take you the short way and you trusted him to be safe with your life in the backseat, and he delivered on those tasks and yet you're still so convinced he's trying to scam you out of $3 that you pay cash. And people wonder why cabbies are crazy.

By law, per NRS Sec. 706 a cab driver is NOT allowed to charge you any monies that are not listed on the meter/fee schedule. This is, you know, why the CC fee is plainly marked everywhere.

As a side note to this topic, I should mention that everyone needs to realize that literally every market you go to has different rules and nuances to them. I know NYC for example there is no charge for using credit cards. It's no coincidence that NYC hacks fought that legislation hard because they knew they would be paying to install and upkeep the CC system in their cars as well as now being responsible for the merchant fees associated with accepting credit cards. Is it any wonder that I constantly hear stories about NYC cabbies who always claim their cc machine's are not working. Of course it doesn't work, it cost me 1.5% when it works. But transportation regulators decided that accepting CC was a part of the public service aspect of the industry, like so many other regulations. And so it is in NYC....

Where as in Vegas, while there is no legislation that requires cab co's to outfit CC systems or accept them, they all did on their own anyway. One company took the jump and did it on their own a while back. They were the only co for at least a year. Then that company starting getting more rides bc people figured out they accepted CC, so throughout the next year almost every other company had outfit their rides similarly. (at this time Cc fee was only 2.50). So through the fee the cab co's passed on their considerable expenses (and then some) on to you the customer. If you want that service, great we offer it. But there is a fee associated with it. The only time TA got their hands on this at all was when a few outfits raised their charge to $3, at which time they stepped in to review that increase as well as maintain a standard city wide.

Lastly, know that nary a cab driver in town see's one penny of that $3. And it's common for cabbies to have to pay back any charge backs out of their own pockets. But that's another story for another time...

Side Side note...I remember a long time ago I picked up these two smoking hot Asian chicks at the Venetian. To their credit they asked me if we accepted CC as soon as they got in and at that time we didn't, nobody in Vegas did. But all that meant was they now had the entire duration of the ride to argue with me about the fact that cabs in Vegas didn't accept cc's. I remember things went south really quickly for some reason, they were being snide and entitled and accusatorial towards me so then I started getting annoyed. They kept saying, "cabs in LA take credit cards...cabs in LA take credit cards" so I finally said, "I'll tell you what, give me $1000 cash and I will drive you to LA so you can take a cab to the Palms and pay with a credit card, how about that?"

They just talked to themselves after that, except the only thing they were saying was talking **** about me, in an obvious manner so that I could hear them. It was weird. But that was the final straw for me. I can't say I'm exactly proud of what happened next, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a small amount of joy from making them get out of my cab on the Flamingo bypass of I-15 so they could walk in their heels the rest of the way to the Palms. The good news is they didn't have to pay me any cash after all.

Good one bro!

If absolutely worst case they are making $12/hr+, I find it hard to feel bad.

I tried to put the starting dot on that map as close to where I got in as possible; I actually don't know which terminal that was.

Thanks for the info; NTA hasn't responded yet, so I may have to do that.

I just got laid off from my job as the company has downsized the call center in Henderson and if I don't find a job in two weeks tops, bills aren't going to be paid at my house. I have a clean driving record from both states that I have lived in. How quickly could I get into a cab company to start working?

Yes it does, however with regards to cabs this is not something that I have EVER seen enforced. I do believe there are one or two companies that take it upon themselves to require them and they will refuse you if you do not have a car seat. I have seen this happen, but the majority of companies leave it up to you. Which is probably a poor idea on their part as far as liabilities go but it's not common enough for them to worry about it guess.

Personally I, though I technically could be cited for not requiring my passengers to engage their seatbelts, I'm a big believer in letting adults be adults. I'm not going to insert myself into how folks live their lives. You got the child seats? Cool, I'll be patient and try and help you put them in. If you don't have them, right on lets rock in roll I'm sure it will be fine. That said, if you are me and I am you, I bring my child seats.

Am I?


Hundreds and hundreds, that's a lot. That's also a good story. I will even concede it as fact. How bout that? There is no questioning that some people have positive experiences with Uber. I think what you've failed to realize however is that you are not the only person using these services. While it's true that you have never had a ride cancel on you, this does not disprove my point that a plethora of people are having their drivers cancel rides on them. Sometimes they do it because they've determined the rides destination is undeseriable, sometimes they do it because the surge has increased so they want the ride re-requested at the higher fare, sometimes they just do it for who knows what.

I didn't just make that up, bro. I don't need to misrepresent the facts to sell anyone on why Uber has issues. I suspect that I am as well-read on this topic as anyone, as such I have given interviews about it, I've helped other journalists research projects, I've had twitter spats with both Chris Sacca and the great Travis K himself about it, in addition to the foundation of a decade of experience in the industry....So I would ask you, is it possible that maybe I just know what I'm talking about?

For my next trick, I will do what no one ever does on the internet which is cite my sources. The first of which I already mentioned here but I will do so again because you surely have not given it a gander.

Read @NextApprentice1 timeline on twitter. He is a former Uber driver who promptly quit once he discovered the realities of his situation and has since made it his mission to archive peoples complaints about uber. It's far from all inclusive, but he RT's, to use your term, hundreds and hundreds of complaints and negative testimonials every week from Uber customers. Oftentimes with very horrific tales that go way beyond just canceling a ride so he can surge you. What I think is most fascinating is if when you read his TL you could easily take out all the mentions of Uber and replace it with "taxi" and it reads exactly the same. Hey, it's almost like we're in the same business.

https://twitter.com/nextapprentice1

The second thing you can take a look at is a website called http://uberpeople.net/ and read the forums. It's a discussion board just like this one, only for Uber drivers mostly but also customers and other interested parties. This is the motherload and the flaming gun wrapped into one. My favorite threads are when the drivers all figured out that they didn't actually have insurance and they discussed the best ways to defraud their insurance providers. Or when they figured out they could conspire and corner the market and induce the surge rate at their whim. Or when they figured out how to charge you for rides that never happened. Or to my point, the many where they talk about if they should accept a ride or not and and how to figure out if they should or not, and if not then how to get out of it if they've already accepted it. Huh, it's almost like they don't like to drive all over town to pick up a short ride, apparently it's not as financially sound as picking up a longer one. That's funny, I swear I've heard that before somewhere. It's almost like we're in the same business I tell ya.

Thirdly, and I shouldn't even have to tell you this; go to Google and search for "my uber driver cancelled" ...There's only 8 million plus results. Some are not relevant of course, but just sift through a few of them and you'll see a wide assortment that demonstrate the issue.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...iver+cancelled


I note on bias. Surely I am biased. And I have already admitted as much. However, my bias has no relevance to any truth that I may speak. 'The worlds biggest fool can say that the sun isn't shining, but that doesn't make it dark out'. Furthermore, and while I highly doubt you will admit it, you have a bias as well. You are pretty clearly biased against cabbies. Even if you had nothing but negative experiences in cabs, and as a result your opinion is absolutely justified, it still represents a bias. So I would just say, try and keep that in mind when you sift through the empirical data I have just submitted to you in support of my claims. And you report back to me and tell me with a straight face that Uber drivers don't cancel rides.


In light of your previous statements it begs the question, why did you not use the infallible Lyft or Uber for your return trip as well?


You are showing your ignorance here my friend, and your misleading these nice people in the process. Did you really just imply that bad cab drivers are never terminated? Surely if you knew what you were talking about, you would have never said that because you would have known it to be untrue. Just on driving history alone a ton of guys get let go. As cab drivers we're required to submit driver history reports every six months dude, and insurance companies DEMAND people get let go. And that's to say nothing of all the other reasons we get fired. I wonder how many Uber drivers get let go for post hire driver history checks? Oh right, they don't do that. The cab industry has some of the highest turnover of any industry, but I'm sure you're right, they all just quit probably.

Do I?

What's the answer to 99 out of 100 questions? It's money.

It does seem counterintuitive, why when you're in desperate need of business would you turn down business? Because money that's why. If it's super slow for instance, and I have to wait an hour for a ride, and the customer wants to go across the street for $5, surely that is better than waiting there w/o a ride for the rest of my shift. But it is not better than refusing that ride and waiting an additional X amount of minutes until the next ride fare came out. If I can grab a $15 ride from waiting an additional 5 mins then that would be a better financial move, albeit an illegal one. (cabbies have very few reasons to legally justify refusing a fare) Oftentimes when this scenario pops up, the cabbie at front of line will tell the ride he just refused to go to the last cabbie in line, who doesn't have the time invested and he will always accept that fare.

On the flip side, back in the day when it was real busy on the Strip and moving fast and you loaded at Bellagio going to Summerlin cabbies would refuse THAT ride. Why? Because money silly. You can make more turning and burning 5 rides on the strip in the hour it will take you to go summerlin and back with one ride.

I mean, black people complain that they can't get a cab when they flag one down in NYC but nobody ever mentions that all of the freakin cab drivers are black! (or other minority groups). It's not personal for cabbies, it's about maximizing income. The only color that matters is green. Black folks think that when a cabbie doesn't pull over for them it's because they're black, when in reality it's because they don't tip. Or at least, a disproportionate number of them do not.

If a cabbie refused your ride it's because it made cents to do so. Or maybe because his shift was almost over and that ride would make him late to the yard.

I believe this post says more about you than it does about cab drivers.

Ill skip ahead to you here because we're in a time crunch.

It CAN be done in two weeks, that's how long it took me. There are some factors out of your control however so keep that in mind...

First things first get hired at a company. They are all always hiring. If it's fast money you seek best outfit might be Desert bc they are only ones who pay you're full take in cash daily, you don't get paychecks there you go home what you made that night in your pocket. You have to be 25+. You will have to pass a drug test. You will have to submit a 3yr driver history report and you will have to complete an orientation/training. That's the easy part. Before you get to orientation you have to go through the State of NV. to get your permit. But get hired on somewhere first then they will refer you to TA. There you pay the costs for license and other bs and get fingerprinted and back ground check and all that jazz. You will have to see a Dr. to obtain a DOT physical and submit that as well. You will have to pass a written test. I've heard it's shorter and easier now, but when I did it it was actually tough. I had lived here for 5yrs at that point and still failed it the first time. I'll tell you right now you should know every hospital in the valley cold.Valley, Desert Springs, Spring Valley arrrg they all sound the same!! Then, you'll have to complete a driver training/safety course through the TA and pass the test associated with that class, that one is cake. ...Then you're a total newb and I'm gonna put you in the wall if you try and take my ride.

The rest of you should consider, the fact that I must know every hospital, the fact I must offer my fingerprints, the fact I must receive a physical every two years just so I don't have a stroke while I'm driving you, that speaks very loudly the emphasis the taxi industry, both state and private firms, has placed on securing a safe riding platform for the public.

you go on a rant about uber/lyft drivers and cancelling and then you come back with this?

also, if googling "my uber driver cancelled" having 8 million results is relevant, you should include that "my taxi driver cancelled" has 10 million.

If it really is 8 million vs 10 million, that is not a good thing for Uber.

Oscar

Thanks Funk.

Seems his whole argument was wrapped up around "Uber and taxis are the same, and they both suck"? I don't quite know what to make of that. I'm not anti-cab (there's good and bad, I'm not unrealistic and I use them all the time) but I am definitely pro-Uber. I know they have plenty of flaws though, what doesn't. If all that they end up doing is pushing the taxi industry to more positive developments (useful apps, better responsiveness, friendlier drivers, cleaner cars, etc.) then it will all be good. The new ride-sharing industry is capitalism and the free market at work. And if the taxi industry doesn't understand that and find a proper response, they're going to end up just like any other industry that got killed off by smarter competition. Note that the response so far in Nevada has involved drawing weapons on someone getting dropped off at the mall. They have to do better than that.

Uber seems to generally be trying to run a taxi organisation while sidestepping all the regulation that comes with operating a taxi company. If it is to continue then it ldo should be regulated in the same way as the taxi firms or it just isn't a level playing field.

You're right, it's not a level playing field but IMO that is the taxi industry's problem not Uber's. Why should Uber subject themselves to the same bloated and corrupt bureaucracy the taxi industry is a part of when they've clearly established that there's a huge market for them without it?

And I hate that I sound like such a Republican on this one because I'm completely not

Because the lawmakers have deemed that taxi services should be regulated and Uber is currently operating on technicalities and weasel words to skirt those regulations?

I mean, if you think taxi services should be less regulated, that's for the local government who makes the regulations, fine. But given that the regulations exist, it seems ldo that Uber should fall under them. If the public want less regulation of taxi services they can do that by voting in politicians who will deregulate.

What happens when that Uber vehicle you are riding in is at fault in a serious accident and you are seriously injured? Then you find out the driver hasn't kept up his insurance (because it's not regulated/required) and then you go to Uber who tells you "We just match riders with rides. We are not responsible for what happens after that." Sounds to me like you would be SOL.

Just so everybody knows, I am not pro Uber or pro Taxi. I have only taken 1 Uber ride and it was fine. But after doing some digging, not so sure I would feel comfortable in the event as described above.

Cowboy, that falls under something that the market, the powers-that-be and/or the courts will correct. There is a place for laws and regulation there, of course, and I'm certainly not advocating for no regulations. They've already addressed that exact issue in some places.

If a customer leaves a $2 tip on a $6 fare, it seems completely out of line to get angry at them. In their minds, they are being very generous. They are leaving a 33% tip on what appears to be like 5 minutes of work.

It is not fair to expect a customer to know the internal economic details of the cab industry to understand why the driver is not well-compensated here. If a driver is going to be mad at this, they should be mad at their employer for how the base pay is calculated, or mad at the regulators for not setting a higher minimum fare.