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Uber does not work at SDU for short rides.

Uber does not work at SDU for short rides.

Old Sep 8, 2018, 4:48 pm
  #1  
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Uber does not work at SDU for short rides.

We landed at SDU at 9 PM on a Tuesday a couple weeks ago and could NOT convince an Uber to drive us to our restaurant reservation in Santa Teresa. We had 10-15 cancellations. Finally, we walked over on a scary freeway overpass to the French consulate, which seemed to open up a different pool of drivers, none of whom had been (I suspect) stuck in some virtual queue waiting for a long fare to Ipanema. I emailed the GM of Rio de Janeiro Uber about this, but of course I got no response. I know Uber is really really struggling on the corporate side right now. Still, there has to be a better way. Would a yellow taxi also have refused the ride to Santa Teresa? Uber was supposed to fix all these problems, but we are back to square one!
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 9:09 pm
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My only data point is about 3 years old now and my friend tried taking a short ride from SDU and all the taxi drivers refused her but Uber did take her. That was a time when Uber was trying to break into the Rio market so times were different. Cant say if your experience is typical now but wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

Last edited by Esmjb; Sep 8, 2018 at 9:10 pm Reason: spelling
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:05 pm
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Put a R$50 note in the guys hand and recognize the situation for what it is.

That's what.......10 USD ???

UBER drivers, like taxi drivers, can turn you down. Happened to me in Pelourinho more than once trying to get a taxi back to the Sheraton.
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 10:46 am
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Originally Posted by KDS777
.....drivers, can turn you down. Happened to me in Pelourinho more than once trying to get a taxi back to the Sheraton.
Maybe because there is also a long and competitive queue for good fares (i.e. that earn a driver a living wage, not the maybe R$5 that would earn) there.......
and that "trip" is really easy walking distance (and I--solo female--have done it many times, both night and day).

Last edited by VidaNaPraia; Sep 9, 2018 at 10:53 am
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 8:58 pm
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A living wage for a cabbie is not determined by how much an individual trip costs, but by how much one makes in a day doing trips of all types and distances. On the third request down the lien of cabbies, we got one who drove us with all of our stuff. Tipped him very well as I always do (R$50) and told him to make sure the other driver's knew it........heh.

Never had this happen to me in Rio, with UBER or taxis (and I live about 5 minuted from Rio Sul, a common destination). This is just one of the many reasons I detested Salvador. Most everyone in the service/hospitality industries were horrible to deal with due to their PT induced sense of entitlement.

Last edited by KDS777; Sep 9, 2018 at 9:31 pm
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 4:35 am
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This situation is less to do with the short ride distance from SDU and much more with the fact that many Uber drivers (and taxis) are uncomfortable going up to Santa Teresa. The combination of steep, winding streets they’re unfamiliar with, along with the area being more dangerous than average, and the fact the driver will seldom find a fare back from there means many drivers just don don’t bother. This has been a problem for years.
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 4:45 am
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Originally Posted by RafKa
This situation is less to do with the short ride distance from SDU and much more with the fact that many Uber drivers (and taxis) are uncomfortable going up to Santa Teresa. The combination of steep, winding streets theyre unfamiliar with, along with the area being more dangerous than average, and the fact the driver will seldom find a fare back from there means many drivers just don dont bother. This has been a problem for years.
Exactly this. The city lets cab drivers charge the higher rate 2 fares when going up into the hills to incetivise them.

As others have said, the solution here was to offer additional cash on top of the automatically calculated Uber fare. There was no supply to meet the demand at the official price, the clearing price was higher
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 11:46 am
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Originally Posted by KDS777
A living wage for a cabbie is not determined by how much an individual trip costs, but by how much one makes in a day doing trips of all types and distances. On the third request down the lien of cabbies, we got one who drove us with all of our stuff. Tipped him very well as I always do (R$50) and told him to make sure the other driver's knew it........heh.

Never had this happen to me in Rio, with UBER or taxis (and I live about 5 minuted from Rio Sul, a common destination). This is just one of the many reasons I detested Salvador. Most everyone in the service/hospitality industries were horrible to deal with due to their PT induced sense of entitlement.
If the driver spends hours in a line, waiting to move to the head of the line for the next fare, it cuts down on the number of fares per day and hence the amount earned, so giving up his place in line for a cheap fare makes no fiscal sense. Perhaps if you want to guarantee a ride, you should mention up front what you are willing to pay/tip, because you are a unique exception to those who pay only the metered fare or equivalent. Solteropolitanos, after hundreds of years of exploitation, are largely no longer willing to let themselves be taken advantage of, a characteristic I admire them greatly for. There is a great sense of community: somehow, if one person has, everyone eats and gets by, happily, as Baianos are well known for. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear whatever story the driver you tipped told his fellows, because most assuredly it was not the one you counted on.

Last edited by VidaNaPraia; Sep 11, 2018 at 12:13 am
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 1:09 pm
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My Uber trips last night were so cheap its hard to believe...

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Old Sep 12, 2018, 4:59 pm
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We often choose to walk that short a distance on a nice warm night, from the Lagoa to Leblon, but I still remember when passing Jardim de Ala never felt safe.

Last edited by VidaNaPraia; Sep 12, 2018 at 5:08 pm
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 9:04 pm
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From what I've hard from Uber drivers:
. It is not possible for them to refuse a ride once passenger has boarded. The only way to do it is to ask the passenger the destination before the ride began.
. The virtual line in airports is designed to prevent this. A driver who gets fixed up with a short ride can return to the front of the line once it's done.

I regularly use Uber from SDU to downtown Rio, to cover distances that I always walk when on vacation, but the heat and the business suit prevent me from doing so. Never had a complaint or a cancellation, unlike taxi drivers a few years back.
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