I ran into that in Seattle. To and from the airport at “popular” times was extremely high compared to what I usually pay in other cities for an equivalent length trip. It wasn’t my personal money, but I was also surprised. I have used the “pool”option before and it can save some $$$. I think I paid about $20 less than my boss paid in Seattle for the airport to town trip which got me some brownie points! Maybe it made up for the time I arrived at our Phoenix hotel in a limo (a shyster near the cab stand at PHX told me it was cheaper than a cab) and my boss and co-worker pulled up in a Super Shuttle. My limo was NOT cheaper.
I haven’t taken Lyft, and hadn’t heard that the final charge could end up being greater than what you agreed to beforehand, as stated in post #13.
IME with Uber, even during surge pricing, you know what you will pay before you book the ride, not sure how that qualifies as price gouging…you don’t have to book it. If you would rather try to get a cab, or a private car service, or ride a divvy bike, obviously you can. I do know in our major metro area, uber and lyft both serve areas (typically with lower socioeconomics) that cab companies generally don’t serve (lyft and uber also bring driver jobs to those areas), those reasons were among uber and lyft’s main selling points when seeking approval to operate here.
Lyft and uber have carpool options, if you aren’t in a hurry.
How is that relevant to the OP’s complaint about surge pricing?
My aunt (77) was at a big hotel in Boston and asked the doorman to hail a taxi for her. He looked at her incredulously and told her to use Uber which of course she didn’t have on her iphone. She wound up walking.
I have only caught taxis — so far. I have not experienced the price gouging and generally the estimated and meter rates match up pretty well. I want taxis to stay in business so there will be something left to catch if Lyft and/or Uber go away. The bell desks have always been very happy to call a cab and they’re often lined up just outside the hotels.
there was an article in the paper about a guy who was charged $750 for a ride of about 7 miles. It was NYE, and he didn’t notice (or was too drunk to notice) the surge pricing and that he’d okayed ‘any car.’ He got a black limo-type cadillac. Even the driver agreed it was too much but Uber wouldn’t adjust the price.
Woah! That’s pretty outrageous @twoinanddone!
My daughter lives in Boston and we have both used regular cabs a number of times to get places (including Logan airport). You call in advance and schedule a pick up and they are reliable and the price is regulated. I have also called at the last moment and usually only wait 10-15 minutes (this has been from doctor’s offices, etc. not hotels).
There may be unregulated ride sharing companies in cities with large ethnic populations also. When I was in Vancouver a couple weeks ago, I used one of them, after realizing that Uber and Lyft don’t exist there. The main catch in this case is that you’d have to be able to speak some form of Chinese or at a minimum be able to somehow communicate the address. I know that in New York, especially in Brooklyn and Queens, there are lots of these types of companies.
When I want to get out to JFK or EWR during rush hour or when it is bad weather, I take public transportation. E train is actually very good for JFK. It is longer (1 hr), but you know you’ll get there in one hr.
I’ll switch to a yellow cab when uber is too expensive, or subway works well for me too.
I am not thrilled with surge price, but at least you know ahead of time how much you are getting charged.
In Brooklyn and Queens- there is something called car service. Car service has existed forever (over 50 years). It is a cross between a cab and an Uber type service. I understand that now some of them do Uber/Lyft as well as traditional “car service” Growing up in Brooklyn we used car service all the time (never traditional cabs which basically didn’t leave Manhattan). You call them and they pick up and drop off just like Uber and charge like Uber (no meter) but don’t have a medallion required by NYC to be a taxi (very expensive to get a medallion in NYC).
Does anyone know what the “black cabs” in NYC are? I was trying to hail a taxi, but after 15 minutes of trying only got a response from a black car. Is it like an unlicensed taxi?
Black cabs are still regulated/licensed by the taxi and limousine commission in NYC (they have TLC license plates.) These are typically used as corporate cars. So companies contract with them to use them to ferry their employees. Typically they use vouchers or the like to charge back the correct company
D also ran in to surge pricing Friday am getting to train station with Uber…$30 instead of usual $10. I asked if it was weather or weekend. She thinks weather meant fewer drivers working. Caused her to miss train she wanted to nyc. Made next one and would have made flight cutting it close but that flight was delayed.
And now seeing Uber ad banner at bottom of this page?
We took s very early morning lyft once. Cost a fortune.
I complained to Uber about the price of a ride and Uber reduced the price after I complained (I received a credit.) In this instance the driver was as unfamiliar with the area as I was–not sure why she didn’t use Waze, but she didn’t.
In some situations - like really bad, snowy weather, if you don’t give the drivers a financial incentive to come out and drive, they won’t. So capping surge pricing sounds like a great idea until you can’t get a ride. A bit like rent control.
Because she saved $250/night for a ride that cost $43.
Up until a few years ago neither lyft nor uber where available at any price. Now we complain.
I lover Uber and hope it stays around. It’s great for not only us, but our over drinking kids on a budget. Our over 21 kids take them all the time now to bars, and it’s so easy to split the cost. It’s not worth it to drink and drive, and with uber we just tack on an extra $25 round trip from our usual hangouts. It Would be at least double that with a cab, if not more,
I’ve only had 2 instances of surge pricing, and did take a cab to an airport. They wanted $150 at 9:00 am on a Monday from a hotel in Savannah to the airport. We were shocked. Called a cab and it was $55. The same uber price from the airport was $15.