Uber Charlotte and their scary drivers. A voice mail. - YouTube

Uber Charlotte and their scary drivers. A voice mail. - YouTube: "Published on Dec 4, 2014
An uber driver got frustrated with me because I wasn't in the right spot and since my phone was in my pocket he wasn't reaching me. When he did find me he yelled at me and scared me so I chose to not ride. I paid the $10 fee. This voice mail was the result."



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Taxi Wars: Uber Rolls Out Program in NYC That Will Cut Fares By Half

Taxi Wars: Uber Rolls Out Program in NYC That Will Cut Fares By Half: "The Uber announcement comes on the heels of the company taking heat for its so-called “surge pricing,” where riders are charged at higher rates for cars during rush hour and peak travel times. One local New York City official is pushing legislation to cap Uber fares.

In other Uber news, the company announced a partnership with America Movil, billionaire Carlos Slim’s telecommunications giant in Latin America. The Uber app will automatically be loaded onto some phones in Latin American countries, Uber drivers will get discounted phone packages and first-time Uber customers in the region will automatically get a discount when they download the app.

Related: Ride-Sharing Startup Lyft Is Coming to NYC (Yes, For Real This Time)"



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Breeze | Grab the Keys and Go

Breeze | Grab the Keys and Go: "Breeze empowers job seekers by handing them keys to cars optimized for use in today's on-demand ecosystem. No other financing option adequately addresses the needs of individuals hoping to join the on-demand workforce. We offer our members the most flexible, cost-efficient solutions so that they can start driving to make money and writing the next chapter of their lives.

Anyone who's willing to put in the work deserves a shot at making a living. Join Breeze today to learn about how you can fit a steady income into your schedule.

Breeze was founded in early 2014 by former employees of Uber, Homejoy, Twitter, and Google and is backed by Mark Cuban."



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The Shared Economy Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Tax Preparation for The Shared Economy

The Shared Economy Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Tax Preparation for The Shared Economy: "What do we Do?

As participants of the Shared Economy, I would like to congratulate you! You are treated from a tax perspective as an independent business owner and are able to take advantage of many tax positions that will help you save a tremendous amount of money once tax season rolls around.

We specialize in tax saving techniques and tax deductions that are applicable to your specific scenario that will help you mitigate your tax liability and amount of taxes that you are expected to owe at the end of the year. 

To help you in saving money, I've provided great tax deductions below related to each platform that may be applicable to you.  If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me.  Happy tax savings! "



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Peers Launches Home Liability And Car-Replacement Insurance For Airbnb, Uber, Lyft Workers

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When a Lyft or Uber driver gets in an accident or an Airbnb host’s house becomes damaged and unrentable, it can be a one-two financial punch: they have to fix the damage, and their income stream is suddenly shut off.

Now, if those workers are willing to pay a monthly fee, they can ward off some of the risk of supporting themselves on marketplace startups like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, VRBO and others. Peers, an organization that gathers and advocates for these workers, introduced two insurance programs for workers on Thursday: home liability insurance for those who rent out their homes and car-replacement insurance for those who drive around people or deliveries for money.

Home liability insurance, which Peers is selling for $36 a month, would protect homeowners from liability claims if a guest was injured during the stay — by falling down the stairs, for example. Airbnb already covers up to $1 million in damages to the home, and it introducedits own liability insurance two weeks ago, which is included at no additional cost to renters.

Peers’ home liability insurance, however, applies to more than just Airbnb, so if hosts are renting out on multiple platforms, it might be easier to get independent liability insurance. And more importantly, Peers’ product offers income protection. It will cover up to three months or $5,000 of lost income resulting from a damaged home that can’t be rented out.

The second insurance product allows drivers to get a replacement car to work with if their primary car is damaged in an accident. If Uber, Lyft or Sidecar drivers are in a serious crash, they can be stuck dealing with a complicated insurance claims process and deductibles as high as $2,500 — and not be able to work to pay any of it off. The companies don’t allow drivers to work using cars that aren’t registered to their name, so drivers whose cars are damaged can’t borrow from a friend or rent a car from a traditional company.

“The income from ridesharing is unstable. It’s vulnerable,” said Shelby Clark, Peers’ executive director. “It can be taken away in an instant in an accident.”

To make the car-replacement insurance, Peers partnered with Breeze, a company that provides flexible car leases and registers cars in drivers’ names for people who want to drive for Uber or Lyft. Drivers who pay $20 a month for the insurance would be able to rent a Breeze car for no additional cost for up to a month while their primary car is being repaired.

The car-replacement insurance, which is called “Keep Driving,” is only available in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Clark said he’s excited that Peers is able to offer a kind of insurance that never existed before. It speaks to the market power of gig economy workers, who many companies are beginning to view as potential customers for tailored financial products. Peers hopes to be a place where these workers gather so companies can sell them new products — and in this case, so Peers can sell to them, too.

Car-replacement insurance “is something I’m particularly excited about,” Clark said. “It’s an entirely new product. There’s no traditional economy counterpart. It’s exciting to think about new solutions for new problems.”

How to Use Edmunds True Cost to Own | Edmunds.com

How to Use Edmunds True Cost to Own | Edmunds.com: "You've narrowed your choices to two new vehicles: One is a domestic luxury sedan and the other is a foreign sports car. Of course you know the sports car will cost you more in the long run, but you don't know exactly how much and if it would really be enough to make a difference in your decision.

Anyone faced with a similar choice (in fact, anyone who is car shopping) should review Edmunds True Cost to Own® (TCO®) data, which reveals costs associated with buying, owning and operating a car over a five-year period. Sometimes, when comparing cars (particularly vehicles in different classes) the TCO data is a valuable wake-up call for car shoppers.

To show you how stark the differences can be between cars, let's compare a luxury sedan and a sports car. The sticker price of both cars is about $50,000. However, when you review the TCO data, you find that over five years, the sedan will require $7,600 in maintenance while the sports car requires $9,400. That's a difference of $1,800. Furthermore, predicted repairs for the sedan over the same time period are $1,100, while the sports car is expected to need $3,500 worth of repairs, for a difference of $2,400. In maintenance and repairs alone, the sports car would cost you $4,200 more than the sedan over five years of ownership."



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No insurance, no ridesharing, cities tell UberX, Lyft and others | www.bullfax.com

No insurance, no ridesharing, cities tell UberX, Lyft and others | www.bullfax.com: "Wed, 02/26/2014 - 07:18 EDT - Business Insider
RDF10
By Sarah McBrideSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Using mobile apps to connect passengers with drivers, ridesharing services like UberX and Lyft say they are bringing new zip to transportation. But a number of cities say they don't want to share the road until they get something utilitarian: better insurance.If the cities insist, they could slow or halt the services' expansion. The conflict poses the latest challenge to the nascent "sharing economy," which allows people to rent out personal property and services, often on an ad hoc basis.On one side stand the ridesharing companies, which believe their business plans are undermined by forcing drivers to add higher-cost commercial insurance to services intended to attract casual drivers for an hour here and there.On the other stand many city officials, who worry that ridesharing lacks adequate coverage."Insurance is way complicated, and it's far more complicated than a company telling you, ‘Don't worry, you're insured,'" said Sally Clark, a city commissioner in Seattle."



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