Uber London

I don't have an Uber account but I've used them with friends. Ive always found them pretty useless and borderline rude - regardless of where in the country I was. Whereas the vast majority of my black cab experiences have been fab.

I use black cabs frequently, usually via apps MyTaxi or Gett which often run discounts (for example, MyTaxi were offering cheap fares to Heathrow from Zone 1 for £25 over the summer - way cheaper than Uber and with a lot more luggage space). They offer the same convenience of app booking, the same security of tracked bookings and drivers and charging direct to credit cards or PayPal.

I don't like Uber - I live in a small street in Zone 1, and Uber never seem able to find me despite being in the A-Z and on all satnav systems. The last Uber I did get from an office in West London refused to take me because I couldn't give them the postcode of St Pancras station and they couldn't find it in their satnav. They dumped me on the A4 because I was told that a postcode was mandatory for them to get anywhere in London. I'm probably lucky in that I live north of the river, fairly central, but I've never had a black cab refuse to take my fare.

That said, I believe that competition is good, and clearly a lot of people like Uber, but I think what's happened here is that Uber has played fast and loose with regulation and when TfL have challenged them, Uber have played hardball because they didn't expect this outcome. I find it worrying that the head of Uber in London was on BBC News earlier today encouraging people to "get angry" with the Mayor of London in order to get the decision reversed. Firstly, this is TfL's decision, not Sadiq's and while he may agree with the decision, he can't personally turn it around. Secondly, we've had far too much of people "getting angry" in public debate and it doesn't help anyone. If you look at the personal abuse on Sadiq's Twitter account today - often directed at his race or religion - I do think it's indicative of the way Uber run their business.

Ultimately I expect that Uber will agree to come more into line with TfL regulation and they'll get their licence back. Their relationship with TfL has been high-handed and arrogant and if they agree to follow the rules then there's no reason why they shouldn't retain their licence.

Worth noting that another Uber competitor, Taxify, was shut down just a few weeks ago. This isn't a campaign against Uber - it's asking new entrants to meet the same requirements of other market participants.

And, technically, Uber are in the same breach.

Last year Uber updated their T&Cs to riders to say that the supplier of services in London would now be Uber BV - a Dutch company. Previously it had been Uber London Ltd - which holds the operating licence. So technically when you book an Uber now, you are booking from a company that does not have a London carriage licence. That's partly what I mean about playing fast and loose with regulation - there are certain things that they just thought they could get away with because of their size and rider power. (Coincidentally moving to Uber BV reduces Uber's tax bill, but I'm sure that's irrelevant)

They don’t have any employment rights. They’re not employees. They’re not being fired because they’re not employed. That’s part of the point.

I have never had a problem with an Uber driver - always found them friendly, educated and intelligent - something I could never say of most London black cab drivers. The decision does seem to have a xenophobic/racial content, pandering to the basically all white, all British black cab lobby.

My experience with black cabs is laregly positive - 99% of the time they knew exactly where togo and how to get there, the Ubers of this world are the equivalent of the virtual coffee - which seems to have gone out of fashion - it is the internet era claiming everything can be done cheaper through new technology. It certainly can't be done better just because you use new technology.

I hope we never get driverless cars even though it would be very handy for me. I hate automated tills. Also, they are a wonderful weapon.

An uber-type nearly mademe miss a play at Stratford once but the worst service of my life - blackmail basically - was with Addison Lee. I wouldn't use them if they were the only form of transport in the world.

I'm a single woman living outside zone 1 in London and I've never got an Uber home - I just get the Night Tube and before that existed a night bus or 3.

I really don't understand the argument that Uber is so much safer than night buses - for me it's the other way around, I feel safer when there are other people around and CCTV rather than in the back of a stranger's car in the middle of the night. Never had a problem with night buses, or with standing at a bus stop in Camberwell for half an hour at 2am waiting for one.

Then again I'm invariably sober when doing that, so maybe that makes a difference.

When I have got an Uber with friends in London they've generally been hopelessly reliant on their sat navs. I've had decent experiences with them in other cities, but I wouldn't use any form of taxi in London unless I was putting it on work expenses!

I use black cabs in London in the centre of town. Of course! Incidentally go see The Knowledge at Charing Cross theatre. Quite fun. You will be surrounded by cabbies.
But where I live black cabs don't operate. Too far out. The nearest place to me where they operate is Golders Green. But if I wanted a black cab to take me home from there ( actually the bus is fine) it would cost a lot. I use uber for trips to places from my home to where there isn't parking so I don't drive e.g. The Finchley Road where my dentist is.
My local mini cab service often runs out of cars especially at peak times. They and Uber appear to use the same group of drivers i.e. Ethnicities and recent arrivals! They none of them know the way anywhere - the sat Nav is god - but they are all ok. Uber cars are clean and the drivers actually get out and open the door for me. Honest !
I wish they would sort this out because the Uber idea is brilliant and has made my life much easier. I don't consider them the devil tho they might have some dodgey drivers. My experience has been positive.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, I don't see it as a political decision by TFL. If anything you could argue that an Uber driver would potentially more likely be a Labour rather than Tory voter and that a Black Cab London Driver could be more right of Centre, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

We all know the Cockney Black Cab Stereotypes - so I was just trying to word it in a tactful manner. Probably saying they would have supported Farage era UKIP may have been more accurate.

Having just spent half a year studying employment law I'm glad they came to the right decision though I think it would have been very hard to justify any other decision on the facts. I don't know what Uber's contracts with drivers look like nowadays though so it's entirely possible that they will be considered independent contractors and even if they aren't Uber might go out of their way to ensure that they don't ride the line between workers and contractors anymore.