Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Seems like a pretty rough re-launch. I've tried 3 times and each time there are no cars available near DT or in the West end of town. Just tried again now, random Sunday at 330pm and there are no cars available for my trip...

Low demand time period, poor weather and a rate cut from before (from $1/km to 90c/km before Uber's commission) probably don't help.

Reading through the Uberpeople.net forum on Calgary, there's little recent activity so it could be there's no promotion from Uber right now to incentivize people to drive.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Seems like a pretty rough re-launch. I've tried 3 times and each time there are no cars available near DT or in the West end of town. Just tried again now, random Sunday at 330pm and there are no cars available for my trip...

Isn't that kind of the point of Uber being banned and now coming back with different regulations? The city didn't want every single person just jumping in a car and offering taxi services. You have to get a special license and insurance. These things don't happen over night.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

I had a cab scheduled to pick me up 35 minutes ago and not showing up. Guess that can be expected on a Saturday with Christmas parties and Flames game and such, but I can't even get through their phone line to cancel the pick up. Too bad Uber is still jammed this early on.

Ditto for Friday night. Tried calling cabs, couldn't get through, no cars on uber. Ended up parking our car at the train station and picking it up in the morning.

[Swayze11]

The amount of hoops uber drivers have to go through to become an uber driver in Calgary now, it is going to be a very slow process to get drivers on the road. Give it time people.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Swayze11

The amount of hoops uber drivers have to go through to become an uber driver in Calgary now, it is going to be a very slow process to get drivers on the road. Give it time people.

It would have made more sense for uber to get more drivers lined up before relaunching, now people trying to use the service for the first time and even those who remember it being better, may not like the poor availability and give up on it.

[Amethyst]

Yeah, it seems kind of strange that they would re-launch at such a busy time, if they didn't have enough drivers lined up. I don't know what it's like in other cities when it starts.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Isn't that kind of the point of Uber being banned and now coming back with different regulations? The city didn't want every single person just jumping in a car and offering taxi services. You have to get a special license and insurance. These things don't happen over night.

If you were a business person, you'd know that you should anticipate demand and be decently staffed before launching... It's like a restaurant opening with one waiter to a packed house.... Obviously I understand the timelines to become a driver are now longer, but I also expected uber would have known this and would have planned for it and had drivers ready. All they are doing is leaving a sour taste in prospective clients mouths. Better to delay launch than to launch with 2 or 3 licensed drivers.

Pretty much business 101.

[shogged]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

It would have made more sense for uber to get more drivers lined up before relaunching, now people trying to use the service for the first time and even those who remember it being better, may not like the poor availability and give up on it.

I made it part way through the hiring process when they first launched, and for the last 3 months or so, uber has been sending me daily text messages trying to recruit me this go around, including offering $200 if I prove a class 4 license. I think they did their absolute best to hire as many people as they could.

[skudr248]

Took 2 ubers this weekend.. saved probably 100 .. love it

[East Coast Flame]

Took an Uber both Friday and Saturday night, it was great! Wasn't hard finding a car and was a lot cheaper than a cab.

[Otto-matic]

Had an odd experience with uber, still love em but kudos to their customer service for fixing it.

Driver started the trip early on his way to pick me up, I didn't really care since it was freezing out and I needed to get back to my place asap for a pickup. He also was only 3 blocks away so it was only a extra buck he made off the trip. Still I reported the error and they fixed it fairly quickly.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

If you were a business person, you'd know that you should anticipate demand and be decently staffed before launching... It's like a restaurant opening with one waiter to a packed house.... Obviously I understand the timelines to become a driver are now longer, but I also expected uber would have known this and would have planned for it and had drivers ready. All they are doing is leaving a sour taste in prospective clients mouths. Better to delay launch than to launch with 2 or 3 licensed drivers.

Pretty much business 101.

Has anything that uber has done seemed to be done by the book? They operate without licenses. They give brand ambassadors burner phones to call competitors to book rides and then cancel them. They called cars driven by women as Boober. If you're uber, and you think you're the greatest in the world, are you going to wait until all ducks are in a row, or just roll it out like you have since inception? There's no risk to not having cars now. Are people really not going to take uber in March because they couldn't get one in the first week when there weren't many drivers? Look at this thread to see how many people hate taxis. This won't hurt them at all.

[Dan02]

We've used Uber 4 times so far. Awesome every time and save over 100 bucks so far.

A couple times it said no cars nearby. Tried again a couple minutes later and was good.

[Tron_fdc]

Used it twice from the SW (Cranston) on the weekend. No problem whatsoever getting a ride, both arrived in minutes.

I love Uber!

[Canehdianman]

I've looked a few times from my house (Discovery) and 8/10 it has said no car available.

Is there not an option to say "I don't care, send a car over to get me regardless?"

[Lubicon]

Am not able to take advantage of the service (there is no Blackberry App) but we were downtown last night with a buddy who uses it when he travels so we checked out the availability - there were at least a half dozen cars showing as available.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

I've looked a few times from my house (Discovery) and 8/10 it has said no car available.

Is there not an option to say "I don't care, send a car over to get me regardless?"

Much like cabs, Uber drivers don't necessarily want to go out of their way to pick up a fare.

If I was an Uber driver and was busy with trips down town I would be kinda pissed to have to drive 30 minutes or more to pick someone up in the suburbs.

[GGG]

With the shortage of cars is uber in permenant surge mode?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by GGG

With the shortage of cars is uber in permenant surge mode?

I was wondering about this, but seems like no. I wonder if they have an artificial surge repression going on while they start back up.

[GomerPile]

Used Uber 3 times this weekend. I live in central Calgary and I had no issues getting cars. I asked how it was going to each driver. One mentioned how great it was, especially how Uber kind of helps direct the drivers to the areas where the most requests are coming in. For me, with the short distances, I didn't save much. Maybe a couple bucks a trip. I love the tracking ability, not having to deal with the g'd cab company dispatchers, the overall ease and not hearing "Oh my cc machine doesn't work" over and over again.

Uber forever!