richardinmotion

OK, so am on the way home after 3 days in Mumbai. The "el cheap" prepaid cab from the airport to my hotel on Marine Drive was really bad, and overpriced, so I decided to skip cabs and Uber around the city during my stay there. Since Uber is new in Mumbai, I thought I would share a few observations.

Its very hit and miss. The Uber app will show lots of cars in the area for both UberBlack and UberX, but when you request one, they magically all disappear and you have to wait 10-15 minutes for a car.

I had several cancel on me within minutes of confirming, for whatever reason.

I used only UberBlack cars, but they were ratty Suzuki Swifts with roll up windows. Nothing even close to resembling a nice car.

On every single occasion, the cars would head off in the wrong direction. I tried calling and SMSing the drivers to clarify my location, but that did not work. No responses. I got one guy on the phone and he sounded very shady. I cancelled that request.

Rates were pretty good.... about on par with regular cabs, and a step up in quality.

Overall worth it, I would say, but keep your expectations very low.

Keyser

i've been using this service in mumbai all year long & i've been pretty lucky with the cars & drivers....i always request an uber black cab myself & the nissan sunny or toyota innova is what i end up with....

the only problem i regularly face in mumbai is that the drivers often insist on cash payment....but when i tell them its going to be charged to my card then they quickly back down....

SOLTATIO

Used UBER during a trip in Mumbai in March. The driver got lost and we waited almost 40 minutes for him to pick us up. The car was a really nice huge 4X4 and the ride comfortable enough. My only worry was that he was unsure of where to take us and had I not research it beforehand to give directions he would not have been able to take us, despite the GPS, which he didn't know how to use. He also seemed to be expecting a tip but that could just have been a language barrier where I didn't understand what he was asking for.

B747-437B

This is a major problem I've had with Uber in Mumbai and rather strangely not anywhere else. I'd say about 50% of rides wind up with at least 1 driver cancelling. Often the same driver picks up the fare multiple times and then cancels a few minutes afterwards. Highly annoying.

My parents use Uber regularly and do not have the same issues - but then again they tend to request pickups in more respectable parts of town than I do. They do not use UberX or the new UberGo though - the wait times for these relative to UberBlack are often ridiculous (and UberX is almost always on surge pricing in Bandra).