<story><title>Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all</title><url>https://www.economist.com/business/uber-doordash-and-similar-firms-cant-defy-the-laws-of-capitalism-after-all/21806198</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>roystonvassey</author><text>If there was any time to be skeptical of Uber&amp;#x27;s longevity, it is now (at least for me).&lt;p&gt;My experience is anecdotal but I visit my home country every year for a few months and I can clearly notice the declining quality of Uber&amp;#x27;s services:&lt;p&gt;1. Vehicles, on average, take at least 10-15 mins longer to get&lt;p&gt;2. Even if you find a vehicle,  60% of these rides are canceled (either by the driver because they call me and find out they don&amp;#x27;t want to go that way or they just don&amp;#x27;t move at all and I&amp;#x27;m forced to cancel)&lt;p&gt;3. After all this, if I am lucky to get into a commute, every driver has complaints about Uber (complaints include intransparent pricing, delays in payments). Most of these drivers are completely dependent on Uber or similar services and have heavy debts that they are now unable to service.&lt;p&gt;4. Uber&amp;#x27;s app itself appears to get bloated by the day and while they do appear to make an effort collect my feedback when rides get canceled, not once have I got an impression that the feedback matters at all. Additionally, payment options are numerous but they require me to complete multiple steps to finish which puts me off using it (not Uber&amp;#x27;s fault I suppose but is part of the riding experience).&lt;p&gt;Given that they are competing against flag-down autos and rides, not to mention public transport and private vehicles (as electric bikes and cars get more popular), I think their model is not sustainable anymore and I expect them to struggle further as riders withdraw and once the demand-supply gap grows further, it&amp;#x27;s a downward spiral.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bennysomething</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a shortage of drivers (in the UK at least) &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bbc.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;business-59158230&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bbc.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;business-59158230&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s actually getting really noticeable. It used to be easy for me to hail a taxi or get an Uber from a pub, it&amp;#x27;s next to impossible now</text></comment>
<story><title>Uber, DoorDash and similar firms can’t defy the laws of capitalism after all</title><url>https://www.economist.com/business/uber-doordash-and-similar-firms-cant-defy-the-laws-of-capitalism-after-all/21806198</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>roystonvassey</author><text>If there was any time to be skeptical of Uber&amp;#x27;s longevity, it is now (at least for me).&lt;p&gt;My experience is anecdotal but I visit my home country every year for a few months and I can clearly notice the declining quality of Uber&amp;#x27;s services:&lt;p&gt;1. Vehicles, on average, take at least 10-15 mins longer to get&lt;p&gt;2. Even if you find a vehicle,  60% of these rides are canceled (either by the driver because they call me and find out they don&amp;#x27;t want to go that way or they just don&amp;#x27;t move at all and I&amp;#x27;m forced to cancel)&lt;p&gt;3. After all this, if I am lucky to get into a commute, every driver has complaints about Uber (complaints include intransparent pricing, delays in payments). Most of these drivers are completely dependent on Uber or similar services and have heavy debts that they are now unable to service.&lt;p&gt;4. Uber&amp;#x27;s app itself appears to get bloated by the day and while they do appear to make an effort collect my feedback when rides get canceled, not once have I got an impression that the feedback matters at all. Additionally, payment options are numerous but they require me to complete multiple steps to finish which puts me off using it (not Uber&amp;#x27;s fault I suppose but is part of the riding experience).&lt;p&gt;Given that they are competing against flag-down autos and rides, not to mention public transport and private vehicles (as electric bikes and cars get more popular), I think their model is not sustainable anymore and I expect them to struggle further as riders withdraw and once the demand-supply gap grows further, it&amp;#x27;s a downward spiral.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cryptoz</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s like this in Tacoma, WA right now. An Uber or Lyft may never arrive. 5-10 cancelled drivers before the car arrives is normal. A notice saying &amp;quot;No cars available&amp;quot; is shown 70-80% of the time for XL size cars. Often it takes 1h or so to get a ride. Sometimes it will come in 4 minutes, sometimes it will &lt;i&gt;say&lt;/i&gt; 4 minutes but then 5+ drivers cancel and it takes an hour of real time, while the app just says 4 minutes.&lt;p&gt;I have come to depend on Lyft and Uber and they are failing me and have been for a long time now. So long that I now plan to get a driver&amp;#x27;s license and a car. I don&amp;#x27;t know how else to make it in this world. If you&amp;#x27;re at a business and it&amp;#x27;s closing soon, and raining outside, you are likely to be outside in the cold and rain for 30 minutes waiting for a car.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s ridiculous. I&amp;#x27;m giving up and have already booked my written drivers test for WA.</text></comment>