[nagdu] Washington Post: Uber sued for allegedly refusingridestothe blind and putting a dog in the trunk

[Raven Tolliver]

This just happened to me this past Saturday. Fortunately, I had the
option of taking a bus, but I chose to request a Uber because the
buses were only running once an hour at the time of day. So I request
a Uber, and the guy is 3 minutes away. I'm on the phone with him,
telling him where I am because I'm not at a physical address. He pulls
up, sees the dog, apologizes and pulls off. Okay, so I gotta go wait
for a bus. The biggest pain in the butt with an ap like this is that,
unlike a taxi, you can't request another ride, because the one you're
going to get is the same person that just left you stranded.
Fortunately, I did not get charged for a ride that never happened. And
the same as with Nicole's mentioned Taxi Magic, you can only rate and
comment on drivers after your ride.
I love Uber. Every other driver I've had was incredibly nice. But
something has to change. This is a service provided to the public, so
they need to pull up their drawers, own up, and realize that they must
accommodate people with service dogs as such.

On 9/12/14, Dan Weiner via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Well you know the problem with specifying that you have a guide dog is
> this"
> Honestly when I've done it I still get drivers who have issues--smile.
> Not always of course, but it has happened several times when I would say
> that I'm blind and have a service dog or guide dog that then the driver
> would come and act like a numbskull and claim whatever excuse:
> Allergies, fear of dogs, or ""I don't take dogs".
>
>
> So I suppose what has to happen is that penalties need to be beefed up and
> they have to be laws with real clout, I mean readily enforceable.
>
> Dan W.
>
> dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nicole Torcolini
> via nagdu
> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 12:24 AM
> To: 'debby phillips'; 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide
> Dog Users'; 'Marion Gwizdala'; nyagdu at nfbnet.org; njagdu at nfbnet.org;
> flagdu at nfbnet.org; nagdu-leaders at nfbnet.org
> Cc: marion.gwizdala at verizon.net
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Washington Post: Uber sued for allegedly
> refusingridestothe blind and putting a dog in the trunk
>
> This is going to happen with any service that uses apps for scheduling that
> does not provide a way for specifying  that you have a service dog. I know
> that some people don't like specifying that they have a service dog with
> them, but I would rather wait a little longer for someone who will take a
> dog than wait at least double time for someone to come, see the dog, and
> then get someone else, provided that I realize right away what has
> happened.
> There is another app called taxi Magic, and I have had this happen to me at
> least two or three times. There needs to be laws about smart phone apps for
> scheduling that say that the app has to allow the user to provide feedback
> to the company that the driver drove off when they saw the dog. Taxi Magic
> has a ride survey, but you don't get to take it if the driver cancels the
> ride, which is what most of the drivers did.
>
> Nicole
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of debby phillips
> via nagdu
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 9:11 PM
> To: Marion Gwizdala; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide
> Dog Users; nagdu at nfbnet.org; nyagdu at nfbnet.org; njagdu at nfbnet.org;
> flagdu at nfbnet.org; nagdu-leaders at nfbnet.org
> Cc: marion.gwizdala at verizon.net
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Washington Post: Uber sued for allegedly refusing
> ridestothe blind and putting a dog in the trunk
>
> Hi all, there's another company similar to Uber called Lift.  The same
> thing
> happened to a friend of mine.  He and his dog were supposed to be picked up
> at work and driven home.  He lives in another city from our job, and
> there's
> no bus connection between the two.  So when he downloaded LIFT to his
> phone,
> he was given a bunch of free rides, which was their offer for new folks.
> Anyway, the car came to get him and when the driver saw that the blind
> person had a dog, he left.  Not sure what he is doing about this.  I had
> thought about getting this App and using Lift, but I
> don't exactly want to get stranded.    Peace,    Debby and the
> Golden Neena
>
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com