Rumorsville: Arecibo Losing Drivers. Owner Demands Higher Percentage.

If you've lived in Park Slope for any length of time, you've used Arecibo car service. Sure, sometimes when that hold music plays too long, you go for Family or Eastern, but Arecibo is usually the go to for most people in the hood. A tipster wrote in with some behind-the-scenes dirt from a former Arecibo driver:

I used Family Car Service a couple weeks ago, and got quite the scoop from my driver, who had recently defected from Arecibo because the Arecibo owner is now demanding 30 percent (rather than 20) from his drivers. He also charged drivers a fee for the new digital dispatch technology he decided to install in the office, on top of having to upgrade from radios to digital consoles in their cars -- at their own expense, of course. Family charges a flat daily or weekly fee -- I can't remember how much -- rather than a percentage, which is apparently now more appealing.

There's a Drivers Wanted sign in the Arecibo window and it's not nearly as easy to get a car as it used to be, so I hear. And they are supposed to be opening an Arecibo Express (sign is up and everything) on 5th Ave. between Warren and St. Mark's (where the Chocolate Room used to be). It's been looking ready for a while but has not opened. 

I imagine Uber and Hailo and all those green taxis have taken quite a bit of business away from the car service companies, so maybe the percentage hike is fair? Have devoted Arecibo users noticed longer delays in getting a car?