Dear Taxis: It’s Not Me, It’s Definitely You
Dear taxis,
I guess this is something that I’ve been putting off for a while because it’s not easy to say, but we are done. Ever since I started using Uber I’ve never felt this satisfied, comfortable and safe. I really think the only reason I’ve stuck with you all these years it’s because there just wasn’t anything else out there. Really, I thought I couldn’t and I didn’t deserve any better.
At one point I thought it was me…
Maybe I could have been a better passenger, maybe you wouldn’t be so moody if I hadn’t called you to pick me up at 3 AM from outside that bar or perhaps what set you off was giving me a ride during rush hour that time I needed a lift from work.
The truth? It has been you all along. Your unsafe driving, your poorly maintained cars, your rudeness and your flat-out lack of awareness of customer service made me feel I was constantly paying overpriced fares and not getting the service I deserved.
Uber has swooned me from day one, their app simply works and never leaves me wondering if my order went through or not. Drivers are just friendly and helpful, even when I used an UberXL to help me move some heavy luggage to my new place. Service is cheaper, cars are newer and cleaner… Oh! And drivers are not constantly on their phones!! Not to mention they give me free rides for getting my friends to download the app, they deliver cute puppies and they even get you ice-cream, motherf****n ice-cream!
Holding onto grudges is not healthy for any relationship and I realized that I still haven’t forgiven you for the all the times that you left me out in the cold, having to walk all the way to nearest bus stop during the death of winter just because I wasn’t going far enough or I refused to get in the car when you didn’t have the meter on.
Remember last summer? I was heading home pretty late after a gig at Sound Academy. My feet hurt and my back was in pain and all I wanted to do was go home and get in my bed. I went outside and there you were… Hustling other riders and looking for the biggest fare for the least amount of work. When I asked you how much it would be to get to my place you said it would be $70 for a ride that usually costs me $20 bucks. I waited for an hour and every cabbie said I was out of their way and that they wouldn’t do it for less than $60 bucks. I gave up and with my gear in hand I walked all the way out of the docks alone in the dark until I finally found a taxi willing to give me a ride home without ripping me off.
For most people, I think that would have been enough.
The true tipping point didn’t come until you showed your true colours, you just couldn’t back off and let me be happy with Uber, could you cab companies? You started organizing rallies and protesting, making Uber sound like the bad guy. You called Uber drivers terrorists and you started doing anything in your power to stop a new competitor from entering your turf.
That’s when it hit me, your business model is old and broken and you are just not willing to put in the work to keep up with the times or even try to improve customer service. You just want things to be like they used to, when there wasn’t any other option in the market.
Uber might not be perfect, I’m aware of it, but I can say at least the company is trying instead of rioting and disrupting traffic in major cities around the world.
That’s why I’m leaving you, I just cannot support a service that refuses to improve and pushes to maintain a feudal business model that takes advantage of undertrained and overworked drivers and ends up hurting both workers and consumers alike.
I hope you can find it in you to improve your service standards and earn the consumers’ trust and respect again. I really think there is room for both taxis and ride-sharing apps in the marketplace.
Your former passenger,
Steph
P.S. If you want to keep Uber running smoothly in Toronto, let your voice be heard and fill this survey. The results will be used in the upcoming meeting of the Licensing and Standards Committee in September.
