"Let's do it off the books!" How taxi drivers and hoteliers cheat their aggregators

Very typical example of what is Russian business, resulted in his blog journalist Andrey Desnitsky:

“I call a taxi through Uber or Yandex, it arrives...

- Cancel the call, please, and pay me in cash.

- Why?

- Well...

Doesn't want to share with the aggregator. He wants to use his services, but does not want to share.

Have you fallen for this? I got. And he always refused: firstly, do not steal someone else's work, and secondly, after that the taxi driver can do whatever he wants, and he will have nothing, there is no one to complain to.

Hoteliers are unhappy that Booking takes a lot. Yes, he takes - more than Avito or a piece of paper on the fence. But it guarantees the hotelier that the guest will pay and cover the damage if he smashes the room (the card details are entered). Don't want to pay? Do not use, advertise on Avito and in the local newspaper.

For the guest, Booking guarantees that the hotel exists at all, that the room will correspond to the description, and most importantly, the ability to influence the rating. The difference with the Soviet style "you are in the Crimea, say thank you and for the bed in the chicken coop" is striking. Therefore, yes, Booking or Airbianbee, not advertisements on poles, not helpful grandmothers with cardboard boxes "a room by the sea for rent".

If you don't like it, don't use it.

And if you do, do not steal someone else's work.

Pay for it.

PS They say that it does not guarantee anything at all. I had no experience, I cannot confirm or dispute, except for one case: they found me when I forgot to pay, and they arranged payment. I also know that I am entering my card details and that if the booking is canceled after the specified period, it will be charged a forfeit.

PPS . No, I'm not saying that "the market will put everything in its place" and "why are you so poor if you are so smart." This is the other extreme. I just assert that the logic "I'll take it for free, because I need it, and they are rich there" is vicious, which was proved in the XX century in our country..."

Alas, this is by no means an isolated example of this kind. Users of not only taxi services, but also such as Booking and Airbienby, through which many people book hotel rooms or apartments while traveling, have had to deal with just such "requests" more than once in Russia. And they are by no means always friendly:

- It was like that for me too. The driver almost threw out of the taxi. And I have been using Booking for many years. He automatically gives me a 10% discount. Comfortable

- At some point in CityMobil a button appeared when a taxi was refused - "at the request of the driver", they apparently realized that the drivers were doing this.

- I totally agree. All these "tips" are also remnants of the slave system. Consider yourself a slave, agree to the conditions of the owner. If you don’t think so, start your own business and understand how “fun” it is. Dissatisfied with the salary - try to argue with your superiors, if it doesn't work out, quit your job. Only honesty can bring the world out of the hole.

- By the way, domestic owners of mini-hotels with booking on the booking are also trying like taxi drivers - they repeatedly ask to cancel the booking on the spot (if it is not written off in case of cancellation) and pay them directly. It is very unpleasant, because you do not want a scandal with people with whom you will communicate for another week on everyday issues.

- I was so in a Moscow hotel offered: "You cancel your reservation, and we will give you a discount." Disgusting...

The last remark is very important: it happened more than once that when a client refused to request the owner of a hotel or apartment to cancel the reservation and pay him personally, they began to shit, making the stay unbearable. The simplest and most effective thing that such unscrupulous owners usually use is to turn off the Internet. They will say that there is an accident, and that's all - go and check in a strange city, whether it's true or not ...

However, there is another point of view. Like this:

- As a hotelier, I will disappoint: booking takes 30% and does not guarantee anything to us, the owners. Or rather, not so: nothing. No compensation for damage, no failure of the reservation, no protection from customers who left without payment. So there is always a priority and a discount to customers who come directly.

- I worked on a lease for 7 years. When in Minsk they take 40% of the order from you, and fuel and rent are at your expense, whether you like it or not, but you have to chemistry. Otherwise, 16 hours of work will not be enough to earn bread. Lying is not good. But the driver does not set the prices. And Yandex doesn't care whether you make money or not. For them, the driver is NOBODY. And to think that Yandex is giving work is a little wrong. Yandex is killing work for the driver, earnings are decreasing every month. Everyone knows that. It’s clear that I don’t like it, don’t work. But if the driver delivers without a commission, for the billionaire Yandex, this is dust. And for the driver, this is sometimes the only way out. The passenger, of course, doesn't care about the driver either. It happens that 4 blacks travel for 0.5 dollars. But there are also normal passengers, they themselves offer to cancel, because they understand that everyone wants to eat, not only Yandex.

But this seems to be a purely Russian feature of business. As one reader wrote:

- In Germany, this cannot be imagined. On the contrary, once my friend and I rented a room in the mountains, in the private sector, and the hostess charged us a resort fee. My friend suddenly asked her if it was possible next time to agree not to pay this fee. I was very ashamed of her. She, of course, like me, comes from Russia.