I have never had a desire to use ride-sharing services. They were either too expensive; unavailable in whatever area in which I was located; or there was a better alternative to me…
Completely Unimpressed With My First Uber Experience
…but on a recent trip to the District of Columbia metropolitan area which was paid by Hilton — please note the disclosure — I was given a credit to use Uber; and my first ride was from Washington National Airport to The Graham Washington DC Georgetown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton. Although the stay was also covered by Hilton, I intend to give a review as though I paid for the room — but I digress.
First, I checked how much the Metro fare would have cost: $2.35; and it would have taken me 49 minutes. A Metro station is conveniently located at the airport; and I would have had to walk several minutes to reach my destination. That would have been my travel option.
I then checked my Uber options. Express Pool would have cost almost $13.00; while Pool was priced at almost $16.00. UberX would have cost approximately $25.00 or so; and Uber Black priced at almost $40.00.
I decided to go with Pool. I would have to wait 15 minutes; but that was okay with me.
The first driver was to arrive in a Honda Civic with a certain license plate number. That was eventually changed to a Chrysler Town & Country with a different license plate number. I saw neither vehicle arrive to the designated pick-up location at the airport. The ride was cancelled; and the account was dinged five dollars.
What the heck?!? I thought to myself.
The Actual Ride
I already lost almost 30 minutes and did not want to go through that again. I went with Uber Black this time for fewer than $40.00; and I waited for a Chevrolet Suburban with a specific vanity license plate.
I eventually saw the vehicle drive up; but with a completely different license plate. I looked around; and the driver opened the window. He had my name; so I entered the vehicle.
“My information has the correct vehicle; but the wrong license plate”, I informed the driver.
“What do you mean?” he asked, not knowing what I was talking about — so I showed him the license plate information which I was given.
“I don’t know why the license plate was wrong,” he said, “but this is the right vehicle. You are going to The Graham hotel, right?”
“That is correct,” I responded.
“What is the address?” he asked.
“1075 Thomas Jefferson Street,” I confirmed.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he replied. I did not understand why he said that — and he repeated that statement during the ride.
He initially headed in the right direction; but then he overshot the hotel. He turned right. He turned left. He did a U-turn. His frustration was growing. He had no idea why he could not get to the hotel. He even reset the Global Positioning System on his device.
“Are you sure about this hotel?” he asked.
“I promise you that I did not make it up,” I said.
“Did you check and make sure that the address was correct?” He asked.
I wanted to reply that I just made it up so that I can have some fun watching him frustratingly try to find this nonexistent hotel; but I was rather tired myself after having just flown in to Washington. I wanted to get to the hotel as fast as possible too.
“All I did was enter The Graham; and the address automatically popped up,” I politely replied — but now I was starting to get irritated.
He eventually stopped in a right-of-way lane to double check everything and reset the Global Positioning System once again — and this time, he realized his mistake: he took the viaduct instead of using the road underneath it to access Thomas Jefferson Street.
We finally arrived at the hotel. He apologized for the inconvenience and shook my hand. However, I could have arrived at the hotel at least 30 minutes earlier had I taken the Metro…
…and the Uber account was depleted by $53.96 — which was at least $14.00 more than I expected.
Summary
Now I am being asked to rate the driver — who was impatient, frustrated, rather brusque, and apparently not very knowledgeable about the streets of Washington — as well as offer a tip. Do I give a gratuity on top of what was paid?
This experience was probably my fault somehow — but regardless, I really do not understand why people like ride-sharing services. For me, there was little to like about the experience. It was expensive and frustrating — and I arrived at my destination later than I would have liked.
My choices of walking or using public transportation will still be my preferences as of now…
Photograph ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
