[andmarios]

In Greece we have a solution for this, as old as Uber but that works with the taxi drivers instead against them.

Taxibeat is an app you can use to call taxis from your smartphone. You may choose which taxi you want from the list of nearby drivers. For every driver you see his/her name, plates number, car, reviews, whether he permits pets, speaks foreign languages, has wifi, permits smoking, can help people with disabilities etc. Also you can pay with paypal or credit card.

When you take a ride, taxibeat's driver app essentially monitors the ride.

What's interesting is that since the taxi drivers that choose to work with taxibeat know what a smartphone is, know about reviews etc, they are in general very professional and I never had any issues with them, in contrast with the rest. Of course that they are accountable to a company that takes seriously its name, also helps.

The idea went so well that now we have a competitor too, taxiplon, which also works with phone calls.

[kubiiii]

I'll try next time I go to Greece, thanks for the tip. I was amazed at how cheap and easy to find taxi are in Greece. Add the evaluation on top of that (with the app you mention) : all problems solved without Uber's help. You need to put some pressure on taxis to get a correct service, either competition or evaluation (= competition with peers). Otherwise you end up with France's situation.

[xgbi]

This. I don't understand how the French Taxi lobbies cannot try and copy Uber's app for themselves. If I was a taxi I would LONG for a way to simplify the user's experience.

Uber's app is just the missing link. I don't understand how you still have to order a taxi with a phone call in 2015.

[palmer_eldritch]

They probably don't want to have to deal with customer reviews. For most drivers, user's experience is pretty low on their priority list.

[SlashmanX]

Ireland has something similar with Hailo. It's an absolute godsend.

[atmosx]

I used the service a couple of times to give my girlfriend a ride. I wanted to know car + driver and monitor the ride in real time. Other than a driver hitting on her - not aggressively though - the experience was smooth.

[andmarios]

I hope you gave him a bad rating. No matter the job, professionals should keep it professional.

In Greece it is very common for the driver to engage in small talk with his clients but there must be limits. Once I had an independent driver (not associated with any company) recounting —without me asking— his adventures as a client in the sex industry.