I always enjoy travelling with Uber and find Uber in Manchester to be managed very well, much better than other cities across Europe, North America and even London, where I have accounted many more issues.
Fares are incredibly reasonable, even on holidays where many local providers would charge time and half, to double, Uber seem to always charge a fair that is still good value. Of course, surges can still happen at peak times, but they never seem to go as crazy as they once did, back when Uber first launch they often reached between 2 and 4 times the original fare, but it is very rare it comes close to that now.
Most drivers are friendly with high-quality and new cars, delivering a good service. They have a great selection of cars including the standard flagship Uber X, including fancier executive cars, and even a small selection of WAV's for those with disabilities.
I also like how Uber gives back a lot to the community here in Manchester, so it doesn't feel like a big company taking over the taxi scene and giving nothing back, they have run promotions in the past in order to help fund free rides to get people to polling stations and vaccination centres, both of which I managed to take advantage of.
The Uber app is convenient, easy to use and what of course made Uber well-known in the first place, I love the safety features of being able to send your journey link to a friend, contact emergency services on board and even be able to see the name and photo of your driver, with his license plate before boarding, making sure you get in the right car and avoiding the awkwardness of asking a private hire driver if he was your car, as it's right in front of you.
Of course, mistakes go wrong, I have had some particularly terrible experiences with specific drivers that have gone terribly wrong, from minor mistakes to major ones that almost made me want to ditch the platform for good, but whenever I notify Uber about these experiences, they often take complaints very seriously, one of them was a safety issue which I had to report to Manchester City Council, but they treated everything with the gravitas the situation deserved.
Uber generally offers a much greater service that the local taxi firms can't match, from friendlier drivers to nicer cars, this is a huge plus point on its' own before you even consider how great the app is. Having had so many issues with local firms and black cabs over the years, Uber is a fresh of fresh air, and I'd be lost without them in Manchester. 5* read more