TravisKalanick
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DEWEY!!!
Dewey's middle name is "I eat Scouts for breakfast"
Dewey will fetch up an Uber promo code!
@PhillyGuy81 @benjaminrcox and of course we connect consumers to TAXIs in 4 cities, in North America, soon to be more. Those are available with no surge on NYE... guess what though, probably little to no availability
@PhillyGuy81 @benjaminrcox so the best you have is that this doesn't happen anywhere else so it must be wrong?
how about airlines?
- go to the checkin line and try to buy a ticket and you will get an up to the minute price. their website, mobile, etc, is all the same. with drastic changes very quickly. I saw a ticket this morning from LAX to SFO listed at $97, 2 hours later that same ticket was going for $250...
- how about hotels? up to the minute pricing
- gas prices change at least daily, sometimes multiple times a day.
- commodities and natural resources
- the list goes on. i'm not saying this approach works everywhere, but it works for us... and if it's not up your alley there are certainly other services like renting out a limo for the night as you have done... I continue to not understand what your beef is
@PhillyGuy81 @MattKuzma Phillyguy, you're totally uninformed and making accusations that are now bordering on trade libel.
Artificial inflation would suggest we're taking higher margins during NYE, that the cost of suppliers isn't going up, but that we're pushing the price up anyways.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Uber takes 20% of total fares generated. Surge or no surge. End of story. If prices got too high, drivers wouldn't make any money. If prices got too low, riders wouldn't be able to get a ride.
@PhillyGuy81 I'd prefer Uber to be a platform that doesn't dictate draconian terms to its serf drivers as you suggest. We partner with sedan companies and their drivers. Those companies have the freedom to work on our system when and how they like.
As we like to say in the office, "We give riders high fives but we give drivers hugs"
I'll leave you to the serfdom and whipping.
@benjaminrcox @PhillyGuy81 only the wealthy can go to a happening bar on New Year's eve. only the wealthy can get a first class ticket to Singapore on New Year's Eve. Only the wealthy can afford a table at TGIF's in Times Square which goes for $3500 on New Year's Eve... I'm not sure what I can do to help you, but we'll make sure we'll connect you with the most reliable on-demand luxury limousine transportation on New Year's Eve... it's not for everyone, but we aim to do a great job for the folks who can afford the service we connect them to.
@benjaminrcox @PhillyGuy81 vs. what Philly had before Uber which is a TAXI system that no one could rely on at all on New Year's. You guys still have the TAXI system. This is an additional alternative, connecting you to other licensed, regulated transportation options in the city. Why are you so angry about this new option?
@PhillyGuy81 so let me get this straight, you're proposing that Uber suspends the accounts of drivers who don't do schedules as dictated by Uber... and that those drivers lose the ability to make a living for two weeks if they want to work their own schedules...
All i can say is WOW...
@PhillyGuy81 I appreciate the note. We are working quite hard this weekend.I do however think you have things a bit backwards. Uber has dynamic pricing for the exact reason that it HAS TO COMPETE for supply. We'd prefer not to do it, but suppliers will go elsewhere. And quite honestly, because we compete for supply, drivers get paid far better as a result. It's the fixed price, artificially fixed supply of the anti-competitive, corrupt monopoly that is the TAXI industry that you should be against. They don't have to compete as they are protected by the government, and it's why Philadelphians get screwed on New Year's Eve. Philadelphia's PPA which regulates taxi and limos in Philadelphia doesn't even operate under Philadelphia authority or jurisdiction anymore because of the rampant corruption in that organization. The authority over that agency was transferred to the Speaker of the House in Harrisburg. Think about that.
And when you call for the PPA to regulate Uber and set fixed prices, think about what you're asking for, and think about the innovation and experimentation and competition that you're hurting in the process.
Just my $0.02
@PhillyGuy81 @MattKuzma phillyguy, it depends how you look at it... it's a discount if you're going to pay for a black car to sit around all day or night waiting for you... but it'd be a discount if you hired a taxi to wait around for you for the day. in the end, i just don't know why we're arguing about this at all. Uber is more expensive than a taxi all of the time, more expensive than a black car service some of the time... i'm really not sure why any of that matters.
@PhillyGuy81 There are alternatives and getting your own private car for the night is one of them. It's definitely not as economical or efficient, but it is a very viable alternative for reliability. I'm still not sure what principle so upsets you. If folks don't like the on-demand aspect on NYE they can get a taxi if they can find one or hire a car for the night like you. Again, we're not for everyone, but I'm not sure the principle that says what we're doing is fundamentally wrong.
@PhillyGuy81 drivers have other options on New Year's and will go off the system if they think they can make more money elsewhere, or it's simply not worth their time. dollar-cost averaging doesn't work if your supply costs are highly volatile, price sensitive and come on and off the system in a highly dynamic way.I guess one thing we'll agree on is that Uber is not for everyone. But if you find yourself without a reliable ride on NYE, we'll be there for you as the only reliable option because as you point out, we're the only ones that do what we do.
@PhillyGuy81 Trust me, I would much prefer not having to do surge pricing at all. But if we fix the price as you suggest, the demand is so volatile that we will grossly overcharge at some times and/or grossly undersupplying at others. This will ultimately lead to FEWER people getting a ride when they need one, and generally lead to those who are able to get one, likely overpaying for the service they get. I'm confused as to why that's a better world.
In terms of planning, I think you make a decent point. That is why we put the warning in there about the $100 minimum fare ride at the peak time. Why don't you just assume it's going to be $1000 and anything under that will feel like you won the lottery?
@PhillyGuy81 Also, as a sanity check, have you seen the prices on all nightlife, restaurants and bars on New Year's Eve? With many clubs/bars, cover charges for a club that is normally $5 is going for $100. They don't even have the upside of getting more supply - the restaurant doesn't get bigger, and the bar can't all of a sudden serve more people (Uber serves more people when the price goes up). Do you disagree with restaurants and bars raising prices as well? Should all of their prices be regulated by the government?
@PhillyGuy81 We do not control supply. We do not own cars or employ drivers. We are simply a marketplace. If suppliers go away unless price goes up, then there is no service if price stays the same.
If we do not let prices go up on New Year's, there would be hardly any drivers on the system, and hardly any rides happening on the biggest demand spike of the year. Not letting prices go up basically means uber is not an option on New Year's Eve. We'd prefer to leave it up to the customer and make sure that Uber is ALWAYS a reliable ride instead of unusable like most TAXI systems in the U.S, and especially Philadelphia.
@stenson1 we might be able to figure something out... I'll talk to the math team about what's possible ...
@GHorsfall If prices do not go up, then drivers which we do not employ and their cars don't come on the system. There is no other way we've come up with to provide a reliable ride other than market pricing. If I'm missing something, let's have that discussion in this thread..