I’m a UBER rider! Go figure! Many might think I’m risk-averse to trying new things especially something like UBER … but nope, needed the service and used it today. I have to say – I am incredibly impressed!!
UBER is an ONLINE ride-sharing service that started in (where else) San Francisco and has broadened across this nation and world. Taxi companies/drivers aren’t real happy about this service but for me, it worked and worked like a charm.
I had to get my vehicle to my tire place for tire rotation. I didn’t want to inconvenience my staff or friends to become my taxi service to get me back to the office. So I decided I would use UBER and see how the service works. WOW!
Once I checked my car in at the tire store, I opened up the UBER app on my Android phone (there’s an app for IOS too). I already had my information in the app and UBER did the rest. UBER found where I was and a screen was available so I could get an approximate fare for my trip back to the office. That was simple enough and the price was less than taxi fare by about 20%. Then, I clicked to the next screen to reach out to a UBER-X vehicle that might be close by. Immediately, the app confirmed my request had been accepted. William (his picture came up on the screen) in a Toyota SUV that included his tag number was on his way and he would arrive at my location in 12 minutes. Here’s the good part! As he got closer, my UBER app screen showed it in minutes. 12, 11, 10 etc. down to 1 minute. When the countdown got to 1 minute, I got a TEXT message telling me “William is arriving at your location…” and I saw an animated car on my app with him pulling into the location. I then saw that Toyota SUV and confirmed his tag number. I hopped in and we were on my way back to the office.
Being the inquiring mind that wanted to know all about the service, I learned a lot in my return trip. This young, recent college graduate William is earning rent money and wants to break into the Nashville music scene! So he drives his vehicle all around town picking up folks like me. He earns a very nice percentage of each fare and is paying his share of the rent easily by driving about 4 hours per day. He was personable, took the route I suggested which was quicker than a taxi driver would have taken and was more than careful in his driving. He had two phones that handled his UBER transaction and GPS to his next customer!
Obviously, because of my profession, I had to ask about insurance. How is he using his car in this type of business and how is it covered for this work? How is UBER insured if I get hurt in an accident and I could bore you with a lot of other questions. He had answers and decided he might want to know more from UBER about his risk/exposure in this situation. But for me, I was satisfied he was insured (UBER requirement), had his own car title (UBER requirement) and had an active and never suspended drivers license which UBER also had a copy of when they hired him.
Any of us could call a taxi! What UBER offered for me far exceeds taxi transportation. The technology was truly phenomenal. The entire process is built around GPS. So I knew everything about my order and didn’t waste time waiting on my transportation. I had a commitment of when William would be there (and he was there exactly when expected) and how much the fare would be before I ever stepped into his car. I saw the vehicle that was well identified with the order so we wouldn’t miss each other. William also told me that even if I had not seen him, he could see me. He was driving to my GPS signal on my phone and 90% of the time, he can drive right up to me and not miss me with that technology! Very impressive!
We are in a world where we want things when we want them and we are not willing to wait much or be inconvenienced for some of the things we want. Today, I needed to get my car to the tire shop and needed to get back to the office without time wasted. I couldn’t have done it any better if I had troubled someone I knew to help me.
Want to try UBER?? They’re in promotion mode in order to grow and one of their promotional tactics is… if you sign up using MY CODE (uberBenton), you get a FREE RIDE and I get a FREE RIDE. We both win! Visit their website to learn more – www.UBER.com. My experience was a great one and I’ll use them again in the future. See for yourself if it is something that might work for you! Maybe you too can become UBER’d! 🙂
Recent Comments