Uber and Lyft are not yet in my area but I know plenty of people who use Uber. Everyone has liked it.
The system works well if you, as a customer, do your reviews. As I understand it, Uber has pretty strict rules on how poorly drivers can be reviewed before they are dumped. Similarly, a customer who gets regular bad reviews is unlikely to find a driver willing to help them. It is also safer for the drivers, as it is a cashless business. With no physical money changing hands there is nothing to steal.
As for the supposed dirty business practices in American cities, between multiple podcasts, articles, and personal acquaintances I have only heard of one bad experience, and that was the drunk customer puking all over the driver's car.
I personally believe this shared economy thing is a great thing for economic freedom and is tearing down the expensive regulatory hurdles that large businesses have to protect them. I've heard insane tales of how much a taxi medallion can cost to buy one from another driver.
According to USA Today a medallion in Chicago is $270,000, after reaching a high of $357,000 last year. How can anyone compete in the taxi industry when you need a quarter to a third of a million dollars just to be allowed to drive one car? How can consumers receive good service when competition is locked out and the taxi fees have to cover that kind of start up cost?
I can see large cities, who benefit from the taxi industry themselves, doing everything they can to restrict or block Uber. But in more open areas where public transportation is not a necessity and is the exception, not the rule, they will flourish. Politicians in those areas don't have a giant taxi lobby to support them, but risk angering every drinker who votes.
Ultimately, anything that reduces drunk driving rates is a good thing. Nosey politicians can try to get in my business all they want, but they will have to explain to me how less drunk driving, less accidents, and less deaths is dangerous. I think of some of the tragic tales hear about drunk driving accidents and I wonder if they would have changed their behavior if they had a better alternative to a taxi.