Update: It appears Uber passed the New Year’s Eve test without problems. There were almost no complaints at all.
New Years Eve 2011 was a tough night for customers of the Uber hire car booking service in New York City when fares surged as partygoers headed home.
This year, Uber hopes to overcome problems by making sure customers are aware with big warnings of prices and even a sobriety test so users can confirm they know what they are doing when they agree to catch a cab.
Uber’s dynamic pricing matches supply with demand, which means a more reliable service but also opens the company to allegations of price gouging during busy periods.
Those allegations are exactly what happened in New York last year and in 2012 Uber’s risks of bad publicity are far higher as the service is now international with operations in cities like London, Paris and Sydney.
Sydney will be the first city to encounter the effects of surge pricing and big risks lie in the Harbour City as Sydneysiders are used to fixed cab fares and enjoy a good whinge when things don’t work in their favour.
Over a million people are expected on the shores of Sydney Harbour to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks which means cabs and hire cars are at a premium.
If Sydney has the triple fares expected in New York then Uber’s fare from Circular Quay to Bondi Beach will be around $150. This compares to the standard cab fare of around $30.
Those markups will be exploited by the incumbent taxi companies and booking networks. We can expect a wave of stories over the next few days from tame journalists regurgitating the incumbents’ media releases.
How Uber’s Australian management deals with this will be worth watching. One hopes they are prepared a tough week and don’t enjoy the festivities too far past midnight.
Another problem for Uber is going to be Sydney’s mobile data networks which are horribly unreliable during peak periods. It may well be that Uber’s customers and drivers never get a fare anyway.
Last year I was near the Habour Bridge and didn’t have a Vodafone signal from 8pm onwards. I’ll be comparing the performance of all three Aussie networks from the same place tonight.