Friday, October 24, 2014

The good ole boys strike back.

Nothing like a little competition to scare the hell out of the good ole boy network as Uber dared to grace the city of Oxford with its presence. One would think a progressive city such as Oxford would welcome a company that brings competition to taxis. Such is not the case in the land that time forgot. What is Oxford's response to Uber? Throw 'em in jail. That will show 'em. We don't need no new-fangled ideas he-unh in Misissippi. Everything works just fine.  The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported:


Oxford Police Department will start routinely arresting Uber* drivers, as it does people who operate other unlicensed taxis.

Internet-based Uber connects potential passengers with nearby private automobile owners who contract with the company. Operating in 45 countries, the company website lists service in more than 120 North American communities from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to San Francisco, California, including most cities that are home to Southeastern Conference universities. Oxford is the only place in Northeast Mississippi listed with Uber.

On Oct. 7, Uber officials failed to convince Oxford officials that Uber’s business model is not an unlicensed vehicle-for-hire service.

They promised to return this week with specific proposals for accommodation, but Mayor Pat Patterson and City Clerk Lisa Carwyle said they had not heard anything further....

“They typically don’t arrest unless there’s specific reasons in a given case,” said City Attorney Pope Mallette. “But (East) said when you have continued violation of the statute or ordinance by the same people or same group of people, they typically do arrest. He said, ‘I don’t want to do that until we let the public know that it is our intent to start arresting people who are just flagrantly violating our ordinances.’”

Mallette noted at least two Uber ads in local media since Friday.

“Apparently their intent is not to comply with the ordinances or not encourage their drivers to comply with the ordinances,” he said. “Joey wanted it out before they started arresting folks … that he intends to make sure this is followed.”....

“I think what Chief is proposing is what other cities come to … that the only thing left to do is to arrest the drivers, because there’s no good way to stop them from doing what they’re doing,” Mallette said. “The profit is apparently too great a motive to stop.”

Aldermen will hear from the public about the Uber issue as part of a special meeting on Thursday at 11 a.m. Rest of article
I bet they think Apple is part of some communist plot. Will the Mayor launch an attack on Silicon Valley to protect our state fruit supply?

*Uber was represented by Clearwater Group. Clearwater advertises on this site.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uber is a great service, but the company has shown a history of ignoring local laws and ordinances. In fact, the entire country of Germany recently banned Uber.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/09/26/us-uber-germany-bans-idUKKCN0HL23320140926

It's great that Uber is going to offer service in MS (I've used Uber in other places), and I can't wait to catch an Uber ride home from the square on a game weekend. But Uber and its drivers should follow the same rules and laws as other taxi services.

Uber certainly should not encourage its drivers to intentionally evade local laws and ordinances, but they unfortunately are developing a reputation for doing that worldwide.

This is not just a "good old boy" problem. It's being discussed in many places - some state legislatures have taken Uber- action. I'm surprised you didn't do a little more research on this before mocking it KF.

Anonymous said...

Meaning Austin Barbour.

Kingfish said...

Germany also bans discount sales and other forms of marketing that save people money or help consumers. I wouldn't use Germany as an example. New Orleans just had a big fight over Uber.

Anonymous said...

I can appreciate the competition (yeah, it's cheap), but do wish there was some oversite. I've used it before, but only when I'm with other people since you never really know who is coming to pick you up.

Kingfish said...

as compared to cab drivers?

Anonymous said...

Too many lawyers for this type of service to work. Transportation of people is under the control of government to protect the public from being hurt. If a service in not following all these requirements they are wide open to law suits that will be lost.This is based to too much common sense.

Anonymous said...

This is not good ole boys striking back, they don't care about cab companies. This is nanny stateism saying, "operate with no oversight", "are you kidding me", "we're regulators, it's what we do", "if there's nothing to regulate", "um, uh, um, what do we do"??? Uber will fail, however, in Mississippi because of the lobbyist they hired. We learned this year these young men can't even run campaigns, but they sure as hell don't know how to lobby. Uber will learn this the same way all their other clients do

Anonymous said...

Taxi franchisees only seek to preserve their government provided monopolies and politicians only seek to protect the generous campaign contributions they receive from taxi franchise owners.

BOTH will do anything, and everything, possible to stop someone from disrupting their gravy trains.

They don't want Uber to play by the rules in Oxford. What they want is to stop Uber from doing any business in Oxford at all.

Anonymous said...

How about this:

If you want to save money by choosing a potentially risky or sketchy service, that is your choice.

If you want to spend more and get a government approved taxi, you can do that as well.

That seems like it could apply for a lot of things in life that we have determined need to be regulated.

Anonymous said...

This is really hurting consumers - especially students & tourists. Sure, any old person can get a cab on a Tuesday night and pay $15 flat rate (for a 1/2 mile or 8 mile trip). But, during peak times, good luck getting a ride and be prepared to pay $20/head for a flat rate. Meanwhile, Uber can meet high market demand during peak times and charges a rate based-upon the actual trip (usually in the $8 range in a small town). Oh, and their cars are nicer and cleaner. What's next? Ballgame rental sites and VRBO being regulated by college towns? Will they require a camera in every bedroom since rapes are more likely to happen in homes than in taxi cabs?

Anonymous said...

Last night's Ebola patient news in NYC (his last ride was via Uber) should put a dent in their business model.

Anonymous said...

What in the world does Oxford do now about people who run ads on Craiglist offering rides in exchange for a little gas money? How about carpoolers who share the cost of expenses?

Anonymous said...

Oxford govt really is no different than the Mississippi Republican Party.

No competition will be allowed by those who refuse to kiss the ring.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget DUI revenue. I don't know what it's like now, but there was ONE cab in Oxford when I was there, and you couldn't catch it on the weekends because of the staggering demand. You will never convince me that the City of Oxford didn't artificially suppress the growth of cabs in Oxford to increase DUI revenues, and I hope those responsible see the dead every time they go to sleep.


Anonymous said...

Unequal footing between the cab companies and über .
Not an easy issue and Oxford is hardly alone in blocking uber. What profession or trade is next ? At what point
does government step in ? I think you could argue public
safety is a legitimate concern.

Anonymous said...

How do the auto insurance companies treat über drivers ?
Can't believe they would charge the same rates or pay
a claim if they knew a personal vehicle was being used commercially.

Anonymous said...

South Park addressed this issue last week. Coincidentally, I'd been in Los Angeles, and used Uber a bunch. Here's the bottom line:

It's a great service. Everybody loves it. The company is profitable. The drivers are happy.

So the government has to step in. Can't have that.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit bewilderment at the number of people who oppose Uber based solely on UberX (where you're carried around by average people in their cars, and yeah, I do see some things wrong with that). You do realize you can use their service to hire a regular taxi, or a livery car, or even an SUV, right?

Used the heck out of it in San Francisco last year, Uber Black barely cost more than a cab and was waaaaay nicer. And the drivers all loved it.

Unknown said...

Uber is good ole boy network too. Why do you think it gained so much speed?? pun intended. You think if it was El Ubero it would have picked up? Not just no, but hel fuk no! its all the same just bigger


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