Uber – Changing the way I travel

Life has been rather kind to me. For the first 25 years, I've had the luxury of driving (and being driven around) in my own car. It all started to change when I moved out of the comfort of Chandigarh to Mumbai, where even if you own a car - at times it is just more convenient to hire a cab.

The first few months in Mumbai were best described as a nightmare. I landed up totally unprepared, in the midst of the legendary Mumbai monsoons. Clubbed with the arrogance of auto drivers not willing to travel a short distance and the radio cabs which were either overbooked or often cancelled last minute - I began missing the small luxury that is a car, very much.

Things were looking better a couple of months down the line with a brand new Honda at my disposal, but Uber launching in Mumbai was even bigger savior. The time it was launched, we literally had free credit and rides all the time, that the price never really bothered me. People who've stayed in Mumbai can very well relate to the frustrations of being stuck at Saki Naka (Well the So-Bo'ers would rather want to relate to being stuck at Queens necklace) and those times you wish that you had a chauffer driven car at least. Lo and behold - Uber to the rescue! It offered the convenience of easy booking, cashless transactions and the luxury of being driven around in good cars.

Just about the time I had started to like the city I moved out of Mumbai (which was soon after Uber started. I really hope the service in Mumbai is still as good, assuming Uber has not been banned there) but my fascination for Uber never ended. 

I have since used Uber in all the 5 cities I stayed in/visited and my experience has been as good - if not better. By far using Uber in London was my best Uber experience (and also the most expensive). The drivers were always courteous and considering I did not know ways in London, entering the drop point always lead to a hassle free ride.

Uber Exec in London was certainly an experience, because of the BMW’s and Merc’s which came for pickups and after a long day at work getting a bottle of water or some sweets is always a delight.

I've also managed to try the services of Uber in Delhi NCR (where it is now banned), Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore.

Although, the unfortunate incident in Delhi lead to a ban on Uber, my experience with other radio cab players was worse than my Uber experience.

-  Radio Cabs were very expensive

-  To get a cab in morning, booking had to be made much in advance

-   As the drivers wanted to finish an higher number  of rides, twice I got drivers who were going to fall asleep while driving

In Ho Chi Minh City, somewhere I didn’t expect to find an Uber, I would say I got extremely lucky.

After being duped by a local cab driver, I was pushed to explore options and that is when I realized I can hire an Uber. Great cars and as usual much cheaper. But here the price difference was much higher than I have experience in any other country. I almost felt rescued to have found an Uber in a country where I had no idea about the routes and name of places.

But I would say there are certainly things Uber can improve upon:

Location Accuracy – Having to call the driver to explain about your exact location is often a pain especially when you yourself new to the location. If you are using Uber in a different country with local number, it is almost impossible to contact the driver. This just leads to an increase in wait time. Recently, I read an article about Uber identifying hot stops in Bay Area. An interesting idea if this gets successfully implemented across countries.

Driver Training – This is more of a soft aspect but this comes from the fact the driver in some of the more advanced countries make your ride an experience, just by exchanging basic greetings. Having a standardized code of conduct can help Uber riders be delighted.

According to me its just the tip of the iceberg. Uber is definitely bound to get better - spoiling users like me :)