First Uber experience: wow!

This is my first Über experience and I must say I’ve been *very* impressed!

I installed the app – it’s straightforward and the app is well designed and very easy to use. I entered my personal info, including PayPal and credit card payment details.

When I tried Uber, I was in Montreal – and I don’t know Montreal so finding a bus, subway or even a taxi was not obvious.  I fired up the app. It found my location (a great apartment rented via AirBNB – another great and disruptive tool which I recommend, by the way).  So I didn’t have to explain where I was… (1)

I entered my destination. Über displayed the cars in my area: there were a few. I confirmed my request. A few seconds later, it was accepted: I was informed that I would be picked up by a driver named Bolivar in 3 minutes!… (2)

On the map, I could see my driver approaching: good to stay inside while waiting (3) – Montreal is cold at this time of the year… 🙂

The car was there on time and when I opened the door, I was greeted by a warm “Good morning Vincent”!… (4) Yes, the driver knew my first name via Über… Cool! So I replied “Good morning Bolivar “… Felt almost like old friends…

I knew Bolivar was a serious driver: he was rated 4.5 stars out of a max of 5. (5)

We chatted:

• Bolivar has been an Über driver for 3 months
• He likes the system but there are more and more drivers so he has less business…  Market laws in effect…
• He is also a bit frustrated because he does not know why he sometimes does not get a 5 star.  🙂
• He also told me that, unlike taxi drivers that take “people on the street”, he only carries identified people (Uber identifies all passengers and all drivers thru email and credit card) – a much appreciated extra security for him, and for me.  (6)

It was also very clear from our discussion that Bolivar was extremely interested in my satisfaction…  (7) The number of stars I would give him was important to him.  Quite a difference with many taxi drivers that just don’t care about you because, “anyway, I won’t see that stranger anymore”.  The benefits of being evaluated and in a public and trustable system: extra motivation to do good.  And it was fair too: as a customer I would also be evaluated by my driver…  (8) So both parties do have an interest in behaving correctly, being polite, being honest.  This is the benefit of local communities where everyone knows everyone, but on a worldwide scale!  “Community of trust” has a real meaning here.

While driving, I could follow on my Uber GPS the roads that Bolivar was taking.  It felt good to know that he was taking the shortest / fastest road.  (9) With taxis, you never know what trick they will use to make the trip more expensive.  Besides my control, Uber also knows the number of kilometres and time of my ride.  So I’m pretty sure that they can make sure all drivers stay honest with a bit of statistics.

We arrived at destination.  I greeted my driver and hopped out of the car. No money involved! (10) My trip would be charged to my credit card.  No unexpected extras for you-never-what-your-taxi-driver-will-add (extra for late hour, extra for luggage, extra for blablabla…).  (11).  A few seconds later, I received all the details of the trip by email (12):

Which makes it also easy to create a quick expense report if your company requires it – without the wait in the taxi for a driver that hates doing that.  (13) And by going to the web site, you can see all your previous trips… (14)

Update: Since that first trip with Uber, I travelled a few times more in Montreal, but also in Budapest. Always the same great experience.  And an extra benefit in Budapest: everything goes smooth even if you don’t know the local language and your driver is not too good in English! (15). Congratulations to Uber!  Keep up the good work!

PS: I don’t want to make too big a deal of that, but in practice, Uber has completely changed the local transportation by car, and made it a much better experience.  Somehow, the world is a bit better without all those taxi problems…  Technology can indeed improve our ways of living.

(1) the numbers in parentheses in my text count the advantages of Uber over conventional taxis…  I’m aware that some mention also disadvantages but most of them are related to taxi companies loosing their privileges.  They will need to evolve.  The world is changing.  The world is improving.