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The Lone Badger posted:They lie about their address in order to appear on your local map. Street view could help with that.
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Aug 8, 2022 03:15
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Doesn’t matter, used to run dispatch for tow/unlocks, vehicles have GPS. It was hilarious unfucking multiple tow companies one night where there was a pile up and dickheads were fighting for the state tow off (more money). E: We had the phone dispatch contract for more than one company in the area and LET ME TELL YOU they were not interested in anything beyond hooking and pulling. goatsestretchgoals fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 03:20
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greazeball posted:The google SEO bs I've recently order a pizza and got one of those ghost/fake phone numbers that went to someone else instead of the actual biz, I was miffed that my order wasnt ready and had to wait another 10 min. lock smith chat: do a local drive through tour of your local area, probably with a friend or spouse so one of you can drive and the other can pay attention to side street stuff. also maybe consider getting a pick set yourself, or a spare key to trusted neighbors. my slightly new content: been getting a lot of spam texts saying my Paypal/Amazon account is getting closed. oh no.
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Aug 8, 2022 03:31
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The Lone Badger posted:They lie about their address in order to appear on your local map. I did not know that. Thx for letting me know. I guess you could street view the building and make sure they have signage? Or like someone else said, go through insurance or something.
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Aug 8, 2022 03:38
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namlosh posted:Locksmith: bring up maps on your phone and find someone local and call them up. Lol at going to a generic search engine to look for a local business. You do realise that Google search and Google maps are pretty much the same data in a different interface, yeah? As The Lone Badger said, the scammers manipulate the poo poo out of maps results too. From that article I linked earlier: quote:The flaws in the Google machine are well known to Avi, an Israeli-born locksmith, who asked that his last name be omitted from this story, citing threats by competitors. (“One told me there is a bounty on my head,” he said.) Avi has been at war with lead-gen operators for eight years. It’s like guerrilla combat, because the companies are forever expanding and always innovating, he said. It's a high-tech war on consumers and Google is delighted with their CPM metrics so they don't do poo poo. You have to get a personal recommendation from someone or go to page 3 or 4 of the search results and know how to spot a real local business.
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Aug 8, 2022 08:48
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Wtc I'm lucky to live in Japan (in general) but also the language barrier keeps these creeps out of my irl and my maps
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Aug 8, 2022 11:30
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thrakkorzog posted:I'll admit, I'm a bit weak on the slurs. "Please stop calling me," doesn't work. LOL this person went full computer scammer angry in the thread whooee.
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Aug 8, 2022 11:36
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DiabloStarCraft posted:Genuinely can't believe people in this thread sounding like a 2002 chain email saying a scammer is gonna abduct and rape you like cmon. When I was in a stupid rush to find an apartment on craigslist out of necessity after moving cross country, one of the hits I found wanted (needed) to show me the 4-person techbro house they were proposing in the entry but only in person. It was also extremely underpriced per techbro. But I had to meet them and get in their van, was a waste of $1.25 in bus money and a couple of hours of not dying. They wouldn’t let me meet directly at the house. Edit: Love unpacking scams but had no interest in this one, haha. Also it doesn’t matter, but just a bit iffy that everyone I corresponded with had an immediately detectable Mandarin accent. hellotoothpaste fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Aug 8, 2022 |
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Aug 8, 2022 11:40
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namlosh posted:Locksmith: bring up maps on your phone and find someone local and call them up. Lol at going to a generic search engine to look for a local business. This is still just Google data, though?
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Aug 8, 2022 14:44
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Do these locksmiths only come out to emergencies? What happens if they arrive, ask for 4x the price, and you just tell them no? Assuming you are in the position to wait.
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Aug 8, 2022 17:10
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bamhand posted:Do these locksmiths only come out to emergencies? What happens if they arrive, ask for 4x the price, and you just tell them no? Assuming you are in the position to wait. "Lol ok" and then they come back in an hour when you call "another" locksmith probably.
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Aug 8, 2022 18:18
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greazeball posted:You do realise that Google search and Google maps are pretty much the same data in a different interface, yeah? As The Lone Badger said, the scammers manipulate the poo poo out of maps results too. From that article I linked earlier: I’m on mobile so I can’t quote quotes very easily… but am I to understand that these scammers are somehow able to change google’s streetview data???? The article mentions seeing a pink building on streetview and then when they went to the address it wasn’t actually there?? Was the building demolished and the scammers knew that somehow? Well that is crazy. I guess use Apple Maps or bing maps or something and cross reference. I’m not saying don’t get a referral from a friend… just think you could detect who’s real or not using only sleuthing
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Aug 8, 2022 19:06
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greazeball posted:You do realise that Google search and Google maps are pretty much the same data in a different interface, yeah? As The Lone Badger said, the scammers manipulate the poo poo out of maps results too. From that article I linked earlier: this is like the Paper Towns/copyright traps thing but dumber. also reminder that you should probably use a standalone GPS device.
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Aug 8, 2022 19:13
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Volmarias posted:"Lol ok" and then they come back in an hour when you call "another" locksmith probably. Yeah if your thing isn't urgent, you're wasting a bunch of their time making them come out over and over again. Obviously doesn't apply if you don't have time to waste either.
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Aug 8, 2022 19:24
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namlosh posted:I’m on mobile so I can’t quote quotes very easily… but am I to understand that these scammers are somehow able to change google’s streetview data???? Not streetview, just the bog-standard google maps that people use on their phones. And yeah, all the businesses and points of interest in google maps are added by users, owners or google's own data-mining. It works the same way for iOS maps and probably all the other apps. Want your business to show up on people's phones? Fill out an online form for Google/Apple/whatever. Want to advertise a fake front for a business that doesn't exist? Exactly the same procedure.
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Aug 8, 2022 19:25
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namlosh posted:I’m on mobile so I can’t quote quotes very easily… but am I to understand that these scammers are somehow able to change google’s streetview data???? If they had actually checked streetview, as in the google product that is part of maps, the building wouldn't have been there, obviously.
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Aug 8, 2022 22:10
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A mechanic once seriously tried to convince me my car needed a new flux capacitor and only backtracked when I said "my car sure as hell is not a loving time machine and now this shop isn't doing anything for it. gently caress you bring my car back out and I'm done." It's really frustrating to me being a person who knows enough about cars to know when I'm being hosed over but I'm also unwilling to my own drat repairs. I send my husband instead since he's less likely to be outright offered a scam, but the problem is that if he is he won't know it. Our current system is he goes to the mechanic and calls me and tells me what they said to basically double check.
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Aug 8, 2022 23:32
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It depends on how much you want to provide free labor to Google, but you can flag fake businesses and they will actually remove them. Google Maps only allows businesses that have actual offices or storefronts. I occasionally search for "Amway" and similar and zap their suburban house "stores". 
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Aug 8, 2022 23:50
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Yeah the other thing is mechanics are super sexist, they regard any woman they see as a whale to be cleaned out. My brother's ex grew up fixing cars with her dad and would take her car to a mechanic already knowing what was wrong with it and tear them a new rear end in a top hat when they tried to rip her off. Which they always did.
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Aug 9, 2022 00:03
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bamhand posted:Do these locksmiths only come out to emergencies? What happens if they arrive, ask for 4x the price, and you just tell them no? Assuming you are in the position to wait. Usually they have a flat lockout rate that they quote over the phone before they come out; I'm sure someone has tried to jack it up once they got there but generally they won't come out until you've agreed on a price. I am personally aware of one instance where the customer refused to pay and tried to renegotiate the price after the door had been opened and the locksmith just shrugged, relocked the door, and drove off. I laughed too, that guy was a dipshit and would try to haggle everywhere.
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Aug 9, 2022 01:06
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Where I live locksmiths are all bonded and IIRC it's illegal to call a business a locksmith/lock service/locksmithing service etc here without a certain regulatory oversight.
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Aug 9, 2022 05:52
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Same here, along with electricians, contractors, plumbers, etc. Anyone with any degree of credibility will be insured and licensed and will have their license number prominently displayed on their business info. It takes all of five minutes to google the license number, which should pop up on a state government website with details about the business (always good to check, scammers may try to fake a license number or piggyback on someone else's). Sure, they might still be dickbags, but they're dickbags with a paper trail that you can sue if things go really sideways. At the very least it's an indication that the business has done the bare minimum of giving a poo poo about credibility and isn't trying to hide their presence from an entity that might actually levy meaningful consequences for misbehavior.
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Aug 9, 2022 16:31
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On the subject of mechanics https://news.yahoo.com/mechanics-facing-charges-accused-intentionally-193651715.html Mechanics facing charges after being accused of intentionally damaging customer’s car quote:Two mechanics are facing charges after being accused of intentionally damaging parts to at least one victim’s vehicle while working at the #1 Cochran dealership in Monroeville. I just had a small go round with a couple of shops, like I mentioned. Needed some brake work done and went to on shop where I walked out just based on the guy's lovely attitude and there was a another place down the street. Guy at place #2 was somewhat less arrogant until I got the pricing and told him I was gonna ship it around since I had time. He didn't even want to give me a copy of the quote. My regular place is closed for renovations so I found a closer place that did the work for less than I was quoted at the other shops. Thing with auto places...couple things actually. 1. Never EVER let a quick lube oil change place do a loving thing whatsoever except the change the loving oil. Then check it before you pay. THeir entire business model is upselling and the oil change gets you in the door. 2. If you find a place you trust, do everything you can to use them, even if it's inconvenient, and make sure you inform them that you are back specifically because they've been straight with you in the past. If you can afford to tow the vehicle, do so and work to foster that relationship. 3. Always ALWAYS get a second opinion if at all possible. This is the hard one because, usually, if your car is hosed up then time is of the essence and you're not dealing from a position of strength. They know that. Document what they say and what it will cost then take that estimate to shop #2. These guys LOVE undercutting prices in my experience.
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Aug 11, 2022 15:48
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If you're lucky enough to find an honest mechanic, paying to tow your car to him is going to be cheaper than getting ripped off by whoever's close. The other difficulty with honest mechanics, though, is that since they're such rare and valuable creatures, they are always buried. I sometimes wish mine would just double his prices so I wouldn't have to schedule any work weeks in advance. But even that might not work.
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Aug 11, 2022 15:58
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greazeball posted:I may have already posted about it ITT but the greatest gently caress you bait and switch scam is the predatory locksmith assholes. You lock yourself out of your house or car, you've got poo poo you need to do, you google a locksmith in your area, click a link that has a good price for what you assume is a straightforward job for a professional, call and get the price quoted on the phone and then wait a long rear end time for someone to show up and tell you it'll cost 3-4x as much and then probably a little extra gently caress you money at the end. It's so easy and so lucrative that adwords prices were astronomical (this NYT article says $30 per click) and SEO was so insane that legit local businesses could never get listed anywhere people could find them. It's so hosed up and I wonder if Google has done anything at all about it or if these scammers have just switched to moving vans or garage door repair or something else now. This happened to me and the guy told me the price (4x increase) after he had already unlocked my car. I just told him I'd only give him what the website and guy on the phone had said, and if he didn't like it he could call the cops (he didn't). Next time give the bullshit price before you unlock it buddy. Edit: Actually thinking back on it he did give me the bullshit price before unlocking it, and I said no, I'll call someone else. We argued a bit and I told him "you're already out here, you can spend 2 minutes unlocking the car and get the previously agreed upon amount, or drive off and get no money" He ended up taking the money. SerCypher fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Aug 11, 2022 |
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Aug 11, 2022 17:43
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Perfect timing. I'm driving in a foreign country (I live in Europe) and there's a problem with the drat car. Seems to be a fuel pump/filter or spark plug or something, just losing power sometimes when you put the pedal down. My wife really wanted to bring it in to the nearest garage and I just said gently caress No. It's not even our car, we don't need one, so we had to call the regular mechanic who recommended just trying to make it home somehow and bring it to him. The people at the hotel here told my wife about a guy in town (she's nervous because we do have to cross the freakin Alps in this thing) and he turned out better than I expected but as posted earlier he's busy as hell. He did say we could probably make it though, we're gonna put the car on a train for the first bit of the mountains and then go around the second bit to get home. Will just get it towed if we don't make it.
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Aug 11, 2022 22:45
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Excellent choice to think of the pig balls website when having car troubles with a rental in a foreign country.
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Aug 12, 2022 00:18
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SerCypher posted:Edit: Actually thinking back on it he did give me the bullshit price before unlocking it, and I said no, I'll call someone else. We argued a bit and I told him "you're already out here, you can spend 2 minutes unlocking the car and get the previously agreed upon amount, or drive off and get no money" Had something like that happen with a cab driver once. Was trying to get to my now-wife's apartment from the train station at Baltimore's airport. There were no Ubers or Lyfts in the area and all the cab drivers waiting at the station said no because I only had credit cards on me and they only wanted to take fares that were going at least 10+ miles. Finally a cabby tells me he'll take me (it's like 4 miles away) if I put 20 bucks in his gas tank at the gas station across the street from my destination. I agree and we're off. We get to the gas station , and suddenly the cabby goes "Okay, give me your card so I can fill the tank." I tell him that's not what we agreed to, and that I will go ahead and pre-pay 20 bucks worth of gas. He then threatened to call the cops on me for not paying my fare, which I laughed at him for, and said to go ahead, as he didn't bother to turn on his meter when he started the drive and they'll just tell him that's his problem. The look of defeat on his face when he realized his greed hosed him over was worth the momentary thought of "am I going to get into a fist fight with a cabby at a gas station?" In retrospect, I should have told him to eat poo poo right then and there, but I put 20 bucks in his tank afterwards because I'm a dumb idiot who felt like he should uphold his end of the bargain even if the other guy was trying to gently caress me over. Also it was right after like a foot of snow fell. RE: Mechanics. I'm lucky enough that my Father and brother in law are both mechanics, but like most people have said, they will be the first to tell you a lot of other mechanics will grift the poo poo out of you if they think they can get away with it. My father in law has been retired for well over a decade now, but he still has his lift and stuff at home, so we can do basic things like tire rotations and oil changes no problem. My brother-in-law works out of a private shop that mostly does repairs and stuff on peoples classic cars, but anytime we have a major issue, he'll have us bring the car in. The one funny thing though is that my wife ended up getting one of those "oil changes for the life of your car!" deals from the dealership when she bought her new car six years ago, so we just go there for her car. They always try to upsell her on a host of poo poo she doesn't need. Whenever I'm the one to bring it in, they immediately stop pestering me with upselling the second I say "Yeah I have a lift at home, I can take care of it there." With her though, it takes a couple of mentions of "My dad is a mechanic, and we have a lift at home" before they drop it.
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Aug 12, 2022 16:53
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I have one fairly cheap garage that is only a slight inconvenience to get home from, I used them for all major work I can't/won't do myself. Their quality level is "just send it", but it's good enough for what I had them do so far. There also is a place right around the corner that I used once so far, it's operating out of a farmhouse, but I think they do the actual work somewhere else. Can't complain, guy charged me extra because some stuff was really seized, and it was still way below my target and anything I would have paid elsewhere. Next job will go to them and I hope they keep it up. Only downside was the very obnoxious anti-masker attitude they gave me when I brought it in. But some mhm-ing when they talked about the evil government made up for me wearing a mask initially.
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Aug 13, 2022 07:40
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Handsome Ralph posted:Had something like that happen with a cab driver once. Was trying to get to my now-wife's apartment from the train station at Baltimore's airport. There were no Ubers or Lyfts in the area and all the cab drivers waiting at the station said no because I only had credit cards on me and they only wanted to take fares that were going at least 10+ miles. Finally a cabby tells me he'll take me (it's like 4 miles away) if I put 20 bucks in his gas tank at the gas station across the street from my destination. I agree and we're off. As much as Ioathe Uber, I am old enough to loathe cabbies just as much for these and all kids of other reasons. They deserved to have their industry burned down and rebuilt, but we just got a different kind of poo poo sandwich.
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Aug 13, 2022 20:01
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I still try to use cabs because they're not just blowing through VC cash like Kleenex to make things cheaper, and thus the drivers actually need the money, but good gravy do they need to take a hint.
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Aug 13, 2022 20:06
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Uber/Lyft etc suck rear end but yeah the cab industry has just stubbornly refused to change at all and like, sorry but it is just way more convenient to be able to grab a ride from my phone and know up front exactly what the cost is gonna be rather than wait around to spot a cab and then potentially get scammed because they can just make up whatever poo poo they want for the cost at the end. Last time I was in a cab was when I was visiting my sister in NYC and needed to get to her apartment from the airport. Get in the cab, and they've got a schedule of prices based on the areas of Manhattan you're trying to go to. Okay fine cool, I don't know poo poo about Manhattan though so I tell the driver the address and ask him what it'll cost to get there. He tells me $20, okay fine. We drive a long rear end time there and then like a block from her apartment he goes "oh shoot what was that address again?" and when I tell him he goes "Sorry my bad that's actually west Manhattan not east, so it'll be $45 instead." Ended up getting into a huge fight that ended with me giving him the $20 and inviting him to sit around and wait for the cops if he just desperately wanted that extra $25, instead he flipped me off and drove off. Uber and Lyft are exploitative as gently caress of their labor and are only propped up by dipshit VC's willing to throw money at them, but at least if I get a ride with them they're not gonna suddenly try to more than double the price on me near the end of the ride.
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Aug 13, 2022 21:01
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Sydin posted:Uber/Lyft etc suck rear end but yeah the cab industry has just stubbornly refused to change at all and like, sorry but it is just way more convenient to be able to grab a ride from my phone and know up front exactly what the cost is gonna be rather than wait around to spot a cab and then potentially get scammed because they can just make up whatever poo poo they want for the cost at the end. Or they just flat out don't loving show up, which happens a lot.
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Aug 13, 2022 21:53
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Cabbies do all of the lovely things that Ubers do, plus they scam you at the end of the ride, don't bother to clean their cars, and can't see you waving at all if you're black. gently caress Cabbies. gently caress Uber too, but to a lesser length and breadth.
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Aug 14, 2022 02:03
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duodenum posted:Cabbies do all of the lovely things that Ubers do, plus they scam you at the end of the ride, don't bother to clean their cars, and can't see you waving at all if you're black. My honky rear end never knew this was a problem until a black coworker told me with Uber he can actually get rides now. gently caress Uber and them making bike lanes useless but man the taxi industry deserved to die.
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Aug 14, 2022 02:35
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Do your taxis companies really not have apps? (and phone dispatch prior to that)
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Aug 14, 2022 02:52
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A lot of them don't in the US, and phone dispatch can be hit or miss depending on where in the world you are. Taxis in the US are generally several steps down from what you get just about anywhere else in the world.
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Aug 14, 2022 02:55
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From what I've heard from some people I know, Uber et al absolutely have the "customer is invisible, guess they aren't showing ok byeeee" situation, along with driver not actually checking the destination until the ride starts, then decides that the car actually has some kind of mechanical problem "oops sorry can't take you to Brown Town, better luck next time ok get out" But, they will at least dispatch the car, so there's a chance.
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Aug 14, 2022 03:24
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I hate the concept of Uber but hate taxis more
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Aug 14, 2022 12:51
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The Lone Badger posted:Do your taxis companies really not have apps? (and phone dispatch prior to that) I'm in England and my local taxi company has always been great. Except last time I needed them where I booked through their app, and they sent an unmarked third-party private car who refused to take my card and drove me to a cash machine so I could get him cash out. It was extremely scary as a woman travelling alone and I will not be using them any more.
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Aug 14, 2022 18:22
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