Same in Slovenia, yeah. Call, wait 15 minutes, cab shows up... or not. Again, Uber / Smart Phone tech improves on that, at least they tell you immediately if the driver cancels. (Admittedly, in the old days, the drivers didn't actually cancel, just gave up when they couldn't find your house or you weren't waiting outside at the very right moment... still Uber solves that, mostly.)
> Same in Slovenia, yeah. Call, wait 15 minutes, cab shows up... or not
...I had that happen _once_, and:
> at least they tell you immediately if the driver cancels.
...exactly that happened. Amazing, it's like they ask you for your phone number for a reason. This wasn't much of a problem pretty much since cell phones became a mainstay. I am not sure how Uber improves on that, guesses from the travel path that the driver gave up even if the driver decides not to report?
An Uber can't pick up a new passenger without cancelling their current pickup or picking up their current passenger and finishing the ride. Either way, the passenger both can see if they're coming to pick them up, and are made aware immediately if the driver cancels.
With cabs, you're expecting a cabby to call to dispatch that they're not picking you up. A cabby can easily be on the way to pick you up, find someone on the way and never let you know. That's a big difference in both what's possible, and what the reality is: cabbies never let you know if they're not coming in my experience. That said, many cab companies have an app now.
