Ride-sharing company Uber has apologised to Dunedin users for early problems as the company seeks to establish itself in the city.
In late May, Uber launched in Dunedin, after food delivery service Uber Eats launched earlier in the month.
The San Francisco-based company provides a service where customers use an app on their smartphone to find, hail and pay for rides.
But Uber cars have been hard to come by at times in the city.
Otago Daily Times attempts to access an Uber car this week from the city to nearby suburbs were unsuccessful on three occasions about 9.30pm, and twice around noon.
On each occasion the Uber app responded that no cars were available.
However, yesterday afternoon, four cars were showing on the app, and a ride was available.
A call for reader experiences received feedback from one woman who described her experiences as "hopeless".
She had been looking forward to the company coming to Dunedin and downloaded the app as soon as she could.
Her experiences were of no cars being available, long wait times and high prices at busy times.
However, she said it was early days.
"I will continue to try and use them as I believe competition is good."
Another reader responded nine out of 10 times he had tried no car had been available.
Uber senior driver operations manager Amanda Gilmore said yesterday the company’s goal was to ensure people could touch a button on their smartphone and get a ride within minutes, which is what it had been working towards since its launch in Dunedin.
She said in cities where Uber was more established, such as Christchurch, the average estimated time of arrival was less than four minutes.
"We apologise to riders who are having difficulties as we ramp up, and hope more local car owners will see Uber as a great opportunity."
The company had dozens of driver partners complete the accreditation process and many more had signalled interest in signing up.
More driver partners were required in Dunedin to keep up with demand.
