[vadimberman]

> at least here in Greece, everyone sings the praises of Uber, in comparison to the terrible service normal taxis provide

There. It's not only in Greece, it's pretty much all over the world except a few places.

I know, the taxi drivers work hard, but the standards before Uber were really abysmal. Why? Because monopoly.

For the young ones and those with poor memory, the overcharging, taking 5 times the normal length "shortcuts", geographically challenged, downright scammy taxi drivers were a norm. In the States, they also expect a tip of 20% for deigning to do their job; one thing I never understood in Boston is how it is physically possible to accumulate so many fumes in a modern car. In places where the taxis are in demand, they wouldn't bother picking you up.

Today the horrible ones still exist, of course, but their number is dwindling.