Shirley Baillie, Blaauwberg
I do not hold shares in Uber, but I have had a really positive experience overall with Uber since I started using them in December 2015 (“Uber user taken for an expensive ride,” Off my Trolley, Tatler, August 24).
I was not driving for a couple of months, because of my knee replacement, and I used them regularly to go around.
I have continued to have my daughter use them from time to time, as I am really happy that the drivers are traceable and their calibre, 95 percent of the time, was good.
They were always helpful to me, being incapacitated, as well as polite and decent. I had three instances in the last nine months (out of conservatively 30 trips), which required reporting – two over-charges and one rude driver who made a mistake and then took it out on me.
The overcharges were refunded immediately – and I don’t know what happened to the rude driver, but I was immediately told that the matter would be investigated.
In each case, there was a follow-up asking if I had been happy with the customer complaint person who had handled the situation, and to that I said yes.
I always used my credit card, and, in fact, did not know that they accepted cash. The whole idea, I thought, is that it is a cashless method – hence it being useful for my daughter who never keeps any cash on her for too long
I would really say that if a driver was lobbying for business “on the side” then he would have to be watched.
