Monday, September 03, 2018

Uber sucks!

I don't know about you, but my experience with Uber has been very rocky. Here are some incidents:
  • Several times, Uber drivers didn't turn the AC on despite the ride class requiring it. The excuse was that no one runs AC, otherwise they don't save any money. 
  • Several times, a ride is confirmed, the driver is coming my way and starts spinning around the world in a trajectory that can't be explained. I'm standing there waiting for the guy to show up. I often set up a pick up on a road and walk there to make it easier for the driver - that way, he/she doesn't have to navigate the pickup point. I get what I deserve for being courteous. Day before yesterday, I decided to use the motor bike service since I was traveling alone and light. The guy starts coming towards my place, I leave the house and walk to the pick up point. I check Uber and I see that he has overshot and gone. He keeps going a long long way. That wasn't an overshot by mistake. He was taking care of some personal chores or whatever. Why the hell did he take my ride until he was ready to take it? I called him, no reply. I can't stand around on the road waiting for him. I texted him to kindly cancel the ride as he was clearly going around town while I was waiting. I got charged for the cancelation. The same thing happened once earlier when an auto driver couldn't find the front gate of FAST University in Faisal Town, while I was standing out in the heat. I asked him to forget it and took my own car, instead. I got charged for cancelation. This is criminal.
  • Once we had a car break down. By the driver's reaction, it was clear that this wasn't the first time. He was used to it and tried the tested way of waiting for a while and trying to start the car again. We stood in the heat and hailed another Uber. That guy couldn't find us for about 20 minutes. We were standing at a busy market center in DHA on the main road! The driver apparently wasn't familiar with the smart phone and navigation. We called him twice and gave him verbal directions until he was able to rescue us.
I visited their website and there isn't even a decent portal to lodge a complaint at. Just a bunch of FAQs explaining to me that I am wrong. All these times, I took pity on the drivers and didn't give them poor ratings. I guess I should have. Until the day before yesterday, I was reluctant to hail Uber. Now, I have decided that I wouldn't. Either I'll drive my own car or I'll take a rickshaw from the roadside.