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Dear Uber: This is why I love you.

In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement that Uber is slashing its Melbourne UberX fares by 15 percent, I got to thinking: is it even about the money anymore?

Because after years of impeccable service, tracking and complimentary bottles of water, there seems to be more to my choice than coin.

Yes, it was the coin that first drew me in.

It sat beside me at Sunday brunch, chortling as my friends buried their heads, cursing the $100 they spent on drinks and the $80 they spent on cabs.

“You really need to get Uber.” I said.

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Source: Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/Getty.
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It was cheap, convenient and it made sense that the arm I previously threw out to hail a cab would be replaced with my ever-scrolling thumb.

But soon my loyalty grew and when streets were flooded with taxis, I stood back, opened my app and accepted surge pricing that would inevitably land me with the same bill.

But why?

There’s something about Uber that I trust more than the iconic gleam of the city cab.

This is not a logical choice. Taxi and Uber drivers are legally required to go through several levels of background checks. One is no safer than the other.

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I t comes down to personal and anecdotal experience.

How many times had a cab refused to take me because they considered my trip too short?

How many times had they not arrived after I called?

How many times had I been asked personal questions, lectured about political beliefs and otherwise made to feel uncomfortable?

This last question stayed with me because generally Uber drivers are more personable and with greater social graces. They seem to be choosing their jobs rather than doing them grudgingly.

Or it may have something to do with the rating system.

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Uber’s individual rating system makes drivers accountable for each and every turn taken and question asked.

It places trust in the user not to abuse their power, in the same way that it places trust in the driver to a deliver service that ensures future use.

Perhaps then, it is this recognition of the user experience that keeps me as a customer.

But if cab drivers knew that and recognised it with a similar system, would I make the switch?

Probably not.

Uber is cheaper.

Watch as adorable comic Jimmy Kimmel tries his luck at being an Uber driver.

Video by ABC