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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

#31

Post by danso »

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 interpreted the disabling of surge to reduce the incentive for drivers to make an extra buck off of the strike. Does Uber have the ability to nullify an area temporarily so that pickups can't be made? I mean, obviously, it's technically possible, as they set up special zones for airports. But I wonder if they have app behavior to handle a situation in which they need to tell users that pickups are temporarily disabled in an area on an impromptu basis.

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

#33

Post by rm999 »

This is an example of the economic principle of goodwill. Uber has a poor reputation that leads to actual losses, but the negative value of the reputation is difficult to quantify. Conversely, Lyft has fostered positive goodwill that strengthens it in indirect ways.

This controversy will likely blow over with a small amount of damage, but it's a reminder of the vulnerability that Uber's management style brings to it. I think they should pay careful attention to how much people really want to hate them.

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

#34

Post by [deleted] »

mempko wrote: post #19
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…

Definitely a pox on both their houses. Doesn't help Lyft that Peter Thiel is an investor.

[deleted]

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

#35

Post by ejlangev »

Seems like Uber didn't really do anything wrong here other than fail on their messaging. Perhaps worth asking why so many people assumed they would be doing the wrong thing though and had little faith in Kalanick's explanations. Flocking to Lyft instead implies people make a distinction between the two in terms of ethics (which Lyft capitalized on) though probably not for any good reasons.

This doesn't seem like a good reason to delete Uber but there have been plenty of those in the past so I don't find myself very sad to see them lose business.

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

#36

Post by JumpCrisscross »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #29
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.

The sole point I'll argue in this thread is "so did Lyft". If you're boycotting all ridesharing apps in favour of licensed taxis, that's one thing. But deleting Uber and installing Lyft is misguided.

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

#37

Post by [deleted] »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #29
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.

[deleted]

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

#38

Post by alphonsegaston »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #36
alphonsegaston wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The sole point I'll argue in this thread is "so did Lyft". If you're boycotting all ridesharing apps in favour of licensed taxis, that's one thing. But deleting Uber and installing Lyft is misguided.

I agree and already had commented so prior to my post on this thread.

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

#39

Post by rosser »

jyrkesh wrote: post #30
rosser wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

> All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess...

Then imagine how it must feel to be one of the people affected by the ban.

That's the point of the strike: "Oh you think this is inconvenient?"

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