Uber valuation $18.2 BILLION! Crazy!
 

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/...ype=blogs&_r=0

anyone ever use Uber? Miami is trying to shut it down here

I dont what is that,sound racist lol

uber is incredible!

I use it whenever and where ever I can!

Last month, we took a normal cab by mistake. Stopped halfway and ordered an Uber car instead.

The Brussels government banned it. Retarted protectionistic socialists stopping the innovation in our country.

You hop in into an Uber car, leave it and you don't need to take out your wallet to pay for the ride. Amazing!

Good thing they have good chocolate in Brussels! You should drive for Uber for a little extra income ;)

I have been thinking about that! :thumbsup

There has been Taxi strikes across Europe because of Uber. Today in London there were gridlocks because of the strike.

Uber is killer, but 18 billions?!?

With a valuation like that taxi service is just the beginning. Soon it'll be freight and just about anything else logistics related

I love Uber... which I was involved in ownership some how, especially with that valuation!

I use it and know a lot of people who use it. Getting a cab in LA isn't as easy as in NYC, SF, London, etc., and Uber has taken all the hassle out of it.

At its core it is like a taxi service where individuals can pick people up and give them rides for a price. It allows you to get on the app and use your phone's GPS to locate the nearest Uber driver. They can come get you, drive you to your location and then your credit card that is on file with Uber is charged for the ride.

It is basically crowd-sourcing taxis.

uber alles! :fart

taxi drivers have cameras, licenses, etc..what is stopping some uber driver from jacking the people they pickup?

Yes I can see this much like tubes, that's illegal and official taxi's being the pay sites.

Massive anti-Uber protests of taxi guys in Italy - local politicians declare Uber illegal:

http://tg24.sky.it/static/contentima...gramma__5_.jpg

http://www.meridiananotizie.it/wp-co...er_go_home.jpg

http://www.informarea.it/image.axd?p...testa_taxi.jpg

http://www.uritaxi.it/portaltest/imm...sisti_mi_0.jpg

http://video.repubblica.it/photo/201...-full-taxi.jpg

This is the very small italian uber office (mine is bigger lol), they're full of journalists interviewing about them being illegal and may expect police coming to raid and jail everyone:

you've never called for a town car before?
whats the difference?

before uber, i NEVER called for taxi's to begin with.
this is money that i am spending that I never gave to anyone before.

i dont use "uberX" though, thats too low end for me.
I stick to the Town Car and SUV service with the suited up drivers.

The only differance with Uber vs. a car service is you can pay online with a CC. But if limo companies offered that (and many now do via their own apps) then what's the diff? Uber has safety and standards issues. What recourse do you have if some Uber driver robs or rapes you? Give them a bad rating?

And since anyone can become an Uber driver there's no standards other than a driver's license. I dunno, seems like more of the same to me. Explain the advantages to using Uber please anyone?

I guess, in theory, nothing. I don't know if there is any kind of screening process that you have to go through to be a driver for them or not.

My understanding is that Uber may, in some cases, be a faster and easier service to get. If you need a ride, you fire up the app and see if there are any drivers in your area. With a car service or taxi you normally have to call them and then potentially wait a while as they come to you.

I also believe they have up front pricing. You tell the driver where you are going, they tell you how much it will be and you know the price before you ever sit down in the car. Some taxis will take longer routes or routes they know will cost more, although I know you can ask up front and they can usually give you an estimate of the price.

So if you are a scared baby, don't use Uber.
I don't need the government worrying about whether or not I decide to ride in someone's car or not.

It is illegal in Australia.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/04/ne...illegal-again/

$110k fine if you use it without having the correct licenses.

OK thanks I won't.

Uber does nothing that other limo companies aren't already doing (giving the price, sending cars, etc). Dial 7 and Carmel here in NYC already offer apps where you can track your driver, get a price, etc etc. Have a cc on file and you're done.

I think some of its appeal, or maybe I should say potential future appeal, is that it could provide ride services to places that don't have much in the way of taxis or car services. I live in a small town. We have some buses, but there are no actual taxi services. Uber would be a cool service if they found drivers that lived in this general area.

That is not entirely true, I used to always gas the same car service company, they had my card on file and would always get me a town car or suv within an hour regardless where I was in the states. I could even have them send a car for someone else, and no didn't apply for special accounts or anything.

They even add tips etc to the charge so would never need to worry about cash for the driver.

It's an innovative service, have had the app for a year or two already.

Cooln idea but some major hurdles.

Cabs pay big $ for medallions to be authorized to give rides.
Not sure the benefit or Not of using that system.
some cabbies are super dicks but id prefer an authorized dick than sime random dick.

did that sound ghey?

Anyways in less developed countries this is done with shared cars buses etc and it n work but is a shit storm when they over fill the buses and cars.

Anyways whatever i take my helicopter so this is useless for me...

they double their revenues very 6 months

i like poober...

Sounds great.
Everytime I visit Italy or Spain f.ex the local airport cabdriver:
1. Dont speak english
2. Dont give me a reciept
3. Cant accept creditcards
Makes me feel robbed everytime I get to my hotel.

well they are a business and know who their employees are and probably have cameras as well. i know around here there are there 'underground taxi's' but those are mostly used by escorts and drug dealers. nothing stopping those people from jacking you either.

Huge fan of Uber. More reliable, better prices, nicer drivers, cleaner cars, track that shit on GPS. It's perfect.

The difference is that Uber drivers actually give a fuck about their passengers. I've been an Uber / Lyft driver for the past 7 months and I've heard hundreds of horror stories about taxi / limo drivers. Basically their motive is to completely fuck with you. They won't pick you up if you're black. They won't pick you up if you're in a bad part of town. They won't drive you to a bad part of town. They won't give you a ride to a far part of town. They won't drive you to anywhere they're not likely to get a return fare. They won't ever take your credit card, because "the credit card system is down". They take the "long way" to where you're going, because "they got lost". They won't let you out of their car because you won't leave a tip for their crazy ridiculous antics. These are the STANDARD games they play. This is not what their taxi license requires them to do... this is what they do to deliver the absolute worst customer experience you could possibly have.

And then if they spot you with an Uber trade-dress in your window, they'll cut you off, they'll box you in, they'll jump out, jump on your hood, pound on your windshield like a fucking gorilla on LSD, try to pull you out of your car, and throw a pizza on your windshield... while screaming maniacally about they're going to kill you, and how you should "get a real job". And what they mean is they want you to get a job as a taxi driver under a medallion owner that pays $8 / hour and pays the medallion owner $150 / day for the taxi lease payment instead of $40 / hour and the vehicle you own.

Let's not forget taxi does not maintain their vehicles whatsoever... the vehicles stink like dog shit... the suspension will be on it's last legs... the car will be squeaking like a banshee all the way to your destination. And then the taxi driver plays games with billing, etc. Uber requires an inspection every 3 months, and requires a vehicle no older than 2006. The card is billed upon exiting the vehicle... zero nonsense.

Each and every day, I deal with customers who want nothing to do with taxi for the above reasons.

What I find hilarious is that taxi medallion owners want to deal with the competition with government regulation, instead of facing the root of the matter... which is that their service has their customers in a mass exodus fleeing to the competition. The LAST thing they want to do is actually IMPROVE the service... they ONLY thing they want to do is call for more legal restrictions on the competition.

Really makes you wonder...

hell I've given them at least half that much... those guys rule... they provide a better service at a better price

South Carolina is trying to make it illegal too

Uber destroys cabs in every way :2 cents:

it going to pass any any state they wanted to pass in... no Sen. or Congressman wants to see their daughter on a porn site

Uber is what an APP SHOULD be. Easy to use, makes your life easier etc.

Example: I took the red eye to NY 2 days ago. I no longer have to worry about calling a car service to get me from JFK to the city or CT before I leave. I land, pop on Uber and in 2 min I have a town car in front of me....or an SUV if I go with the kids etc.

They are so tied into the transportation companies in most major cities, its never more than a 10 min wait for ANY type of car. I find myself taking car services 2-3X more than I normally would because they make it SOOOO easy.

Amazing company, amazing model

Let the battle begin.

RandyRandy (NYC taxi driver) vs. xenigo (Uber driver)

If i'm using my personal car for commercial purposes and run over someone on a bike or injure a passenger there is no way Geico or State Farm is going to cover the accident. How are these people getting around the insurance issue?

Are they paying for commercial insurance or just driving illegally? Anything is cheaper, easier, if you don't sweat the details your legal competition has to endure. Sort of like ripping content vs paying to have it shot.


.

Have used uber and it worked great

You can search on Google if you really want to know what Uber is doing about driver screening and insurance requirements, FYI. I'm flabbergasted that people who work on the internet for a living post such questions on a forum rather than spend 5 minutes finding the answers.

18,2 billion - what year is it - 1999 again?

Excellent idea, yet it seems that there's plenty of legal issues that may conveniently arise in favour of cab drivers.

Be it that they would infringe on cab licenses, would be curious where the line is drawed between a cab and a transportation service.

Theoretically, in case you can rent a car, or even rent a car with a driver, the same legal construction could be used for uber. On the other hand, it's, even more, using your car for commercial transportation on request.

Curious if there's any litigation going on already.

I know that for example these drink'n'drive drivers over here that pick you up and drive you and your car home are dead scared of getting caught transporting people in their (not the driver's) vehicle, so they can't be accused of giving someone a ride without a license.

I have used uber 3 times and twice found them to cost more than a cab. Not enough regulation.

Until you get raped or robbed ... then you'll want the government to get involved ... right?

Bc. there is a digital foot print and who says the drivers can't have a camera as well?