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Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

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Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#21

Post by JumpCrisscross »

anigbrowl wrote: post #13
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #3

Dan Primack summarised this well; Uber failed on messaging: "Uber has done a lot of questionable things over the years, but its actions this past weekend vis-a-vis Trump's immigration ban weren't among them. An actual timeline from Saturday, which may differ from what you saw on social media: • 4:20pm ET: CEO Travis Kalanick sent email to employees. It stopped short of explicitly opposing the ban, but did say: (1) Th…

All true, but Kalanick has built and traded on a reputation as a 'baller ' (his words, not mine) with a combative attitude, so he has himself to blame for people jumping to conclusions.

Uber used to be spot on with their messaging, at least at in New York City. I wonder if this would have happened had David Plouffe's not left [1].

[1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/10/yes-z-can/

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#22

Post by true_religion »

rosser wrote: post #7
MaxLeiter wrote: post #2

Completely stolen from https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/5r2apd/lyft_sur... This is all a consequence of bad messaging on Uber's part here; they're not in the wrong. Uber's Surge system is all automatic--if demand goes way up, and supply doesn't follow suit, prices will increase in the app. Unfortunately, demand goes way up during catastrophes like terror attacks, so Uber has had a few bad instances where,…

I don't think the pricing is the extent of people's concerns, or even the majority. I'm not a fan of Kalanick, personally, but I was prepared to have been wrong about him when I saw his Facebook post about taking care of the drivers who were stranded by this idiocy. Then, I saw they were taking fares to JFK during the taxi strike — effectively breaking it. To my eyes, and those of many others, that is an ugly repudia…

Standing in solidarity by preventing the people who are protesting from getting to and from the protest is inane.

Without the lipservice they paid, I'd have actually believed the taxi union was rallying against the the protesters.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#23

Post by wavefunction »

foota wrote: post #14
cdmckay wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the issue people have isn't the surge pricing so much as the fact that Uber didn't participate in the strike, and thus profited from it.

Do we know there was an attempt to collaborate with Uber on the strike?

So far we have no evidence that Uber attempted to take part in the strike but we do have evidence that Uber knew about the strike (temporary cessation of surge pricing) and didn't take part in it.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#25

Post by chillingeffect »

foolfoolz wrote: post #9

these types of events usually blow over in a month or so. but it does confirm what everyone already knows: ride hailing apps have no stickiness. at the end of the day no one cares what service provides the car.

Can someone please help me understand why traditional taxis haven't adapted the same tech as Lyft and Uber? You're right, there really is no moat. Tech is mostly a big ol database. Is it due to disjointure among small companies?

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#26

Post by alphonsegaston »

Quite the PR coup by Lyft, since they were doing the exact same scabbing at JFK. In this waning neoliberal order, I hope the best protest people can muster is better than being deceived by most cunning brand.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/01/2...

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#27

Post by andrewmchen »

foolfoolz wrote: post #9

these types of events usually blow over in a month or so. but it does confirm what everyone already knows: ride hailing apps have no stickiness. at the end of the day no one cares what service provides the car.

People will care if and when Uber figures out autonomous taxis and can continue their ridiculously low prices without losses.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#29

Post by alphonsegaston »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #3

Dan Primack summarised this well; Uber failed on messaging: "Uber has done a lot of questionable things over the years, but its actions this past weekend vis-a-vis Trump's immigration ban weren't among them. An actual timeline from Saturday, which may differ from what you saw on social media: • 4:20pm ET: CEO Travis Kalanick sent email to employees. It stopped short of explicitly opposing the ban, but did say: (1) Th…

Uber broke the strike by breaking the strike. This absurd focus on whether surge pricing was a multiplier or disincentive is a complete distraction.

The taxi drivers reached out and asked Uber for solidarity. They dispatched drivers to break the strike. They made their bed in the court of public opinion, now they can lie in it.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#30

Post by jyrkesh »

rosser wrote: post #7
MaxLeiter wrote: post #2

Completely stolen from https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/5r2apd/lyft_sur... This is all a consequence of bad messaging on Uber's part here; they're not in the wrong. Uber's Surge system is all automatic--if demand goes way up, and supply doesn't follow suit, prices will increase in the app. Unfortunately, demand goes way up during catastrophes like terror attacks, so Uber has had a few bad instances where,…

I don't think the pricing is the extent of people's concerns, or even the majority. I'm not a fan of Kalanick, personally, but I was prepared to have been wrong about him when I saw his Facebook post about taking care of the drivers who were stranded by this idiocy. Then, I saw they were taking fares to JFK during the taxi strike — effectively breaking it. To my eyes, and those of many others, that is an ugly repudia…

As someone who is only just finding out about all this, I don't fully understand why the cab drivers stopped picking people up. I think the fact that people were using Uber (and Lyft) to leave the airport means they needed to (which is ESPECIALLY if true if surge was in place for some period of time and people still willingly took it). As poetic as they might think it is, taxi drivers not welcoming people into the country is, practically speaking, very similar to the airports not welcoming people into the country.

All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess, maybe with a few kids you've had to endure protecting/managing for a 5-10 hour flight, and the cabs aren't going. I'd be pretty upset at the cabs, even if I stood with the protesters (which I do). (Keep in mind, this would also include people coming from the many other countries not called out in the EO.)

Side note: I think it's crazy how quickly so many different SIGNIFICANT articles are hitting #1 on HN and Reddit. The ban, the judicial pushback, the firing...I think I'm all caught up, I sit down at home, throw open HN, and there's an entire sub-story that went down about cabs, Uber, and Lyft sitting at a new #1. It's all too much for me...

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