Why Didn’t I Use Uber?

I should preface this to say I almost never use taxis in Toronto. In fact I can’t remember the last time I used one. However, this week I had a one day trip to Chicago and I needed a taxi to get to the Island Airport. Unfortunately I didn’t think about using Uber until 5:15am and I had to be at the airport for 6am. So at 5:25am I called one of the major taxi companies in Toronto. This is how our conversation went.

Me: “Please send a taxi to (my address which is on a major thoroughfare in mid-town)”.

Dispatcher: “That’ll be about 15 minutes”.

Me: “You’ve got to be kidding! It’s 5:25am. If you can’t get a taxi here in 5 minutes, I’ll call someone else”.

Dispatcher: “The taxi will be there in 5 minutes”.

Great way to start the morning. But, it gets better… The taxi is there in 5 minutes. I tell the taxi driver to take me to the Island Airport which is hardly an obscure, unknown location. The taxi driver, looking quite puzzled says, “I take Bathurst”? At 5:30am I don’t care which way he goes so I tell him it’s fine. As we approach Bathurst he’s in the right hand lane planning to go north; the airport is south. I asked him where he was going and he said, “Sorry, sorry”, cut across 3 lanes and went south on Bathurst. At this point he couldn’t get lost and I got to the airport without further incident.

While I was at the Island Airport waiting to board, I downloaded the Uber app. I have a 2 day trip to Chicago next week and this time I’ll be ready. Everyone I know uses and loves Uber (my niece Erica is their biggest fan!) and I plan to join their ranks. 

Make someone smile today. Tell them to download the Uber app, just in case.

Geri