He looked like he was barely out of national service and he had no idea where or what Chijmes was.
So when the wonky GPS could not direct the Uber driver to the main entrance of the complex, we had to spend another five minutes going around in circles.
Young drivers who are too reliant on the sometimes-not-very-accurate GPS to get them to their destination is the bane of my Uber experience. When I book one from my condominium, I always have to follow up with a call because there is a 50-50 chance that the driver will end up in the neighbouring estate.
Despite these problems, I am still using Uber regularly.
Why? It comes down to technology.
Now, if I want a driver who knows his roads, a better solution might be to book a taxi – most cab drivers I’ve encountered are real experts when it comes to our roads.
LONGER
The problem for me is that it takes much longer to get a booking confirmation.
Now, the new ComfortDelgro app is slick and easy-to-use, but it can take as long as five or more minutes before it tells you that it can’t hook you up to a taxi.
Uber drivers don’t get to see the destination. Which means they aren’t choosy. This also means the drivers are in the frame of mind that they are there to service the traveller.
It is a stark difference in attitude to many cab drivers, who often act like the world owes them a living.
That is the reason I go for Uber, even though their GPS system and inexperienced drivers can be a pain.
If you are in a hurry, like I am most times in a workday, the peace of mind that a ride is on the way is the main reason I choose Uber.
Sometimes, that even means forking out double or triple the price of the ride during peak hours, when the Uber Surge pricing kicks into pocket-burning action.
Another cool thing about modern ride-sharing and cab-booking apps is that you can now contact the driver directly and vice versa.
For some strange reason, some cab drivers refuse to pick up my calls when I am trying to assure them that I am on my way to the pick-up point. This happened again this week when I was late because my youngest daughter had to make a last-minute nature call. I called him twice and he refused to answer my call. The next minute, I noticed he had cancelled my booking, claiming that it was a “no show” case.
The only plausible reason I can figure out why this is happening is because cab drivers do not like to wait for passengers and would rather rush off to get the next job, even if it means that they had wasted 10 minutes to get to the pick-up point.
With Uber drivers, often, they are the ones calling because they can’t find me.
This article was first published on August 26, 2016.
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