I have used Uber twice so far. Both times, I was dropping my car off to the dealer, and needed a ride back.
I wanted to see how Uber and Lyft worked. Unfortunately, Lyft doesn’t seem to have much of a presence where I live (a small town called Greenwich around 35 miles from New York city). So I could only test Uber.
The technology itself is very nicely done. You order using an app on the smartphone, and soon your ride shows up.. all very nice, easy and convenient.
And in both cases, I enjoyed my ride far far more than any taxi ride. Why? Not because of the technology (though it was cool), and certainly not because of the cars itself (though they were also both nice and relatively new).
No, what made the rides interesting were the drivers. I learned something from both of them.
The first one told me that he had been using Uber for around a year. He liked it. I asked him about Lyft, but he didn’t care much for it. I asked him why? He said Uber keeps him busy enough, so why bother? I queried him about how easy it is to find passengers. He said he had figured out my town, and knew exactly where to be at what time of the day. Except the holidays! No, he didn’t like the holidays. Everyone seemed to be taking off, and no one wanted his services.
I asked him about Uber. Did he like being part of the service? By and large he did. He had minor quibbles about the 20 percent fee. He said “A little too much for doing nothing!”. But overall he seemed happy.
The second driver was an Immigrant from Peru. He asked me where I was from. I told him I am originally from India. He liked Indian food. He told me that his daughter had lots of Indian friends. And Asian. And African. And from all over the world. And she was now working in San Francisco for a startup company doing innovative work in the education space.
It was clear that he was mighty proud of his daughter. She was a gifted student, and through hard work and determination, had graduated from a top school in Chicago before moving to San Francisco. I exited the car with a nice feeling. It’s always good to see hard work pay off.
So, does this mean that rides in Uber are always going to be fun? Clearly not! But I am human and first impressions matter.
I am optimistic of the service.
thinktradepray 