I had the opportunity to speak with an Uber driver today who spoke with a gentle voice and was very pleasant. She didn't speak much and when she did, she was very agreeable. However, when the Uber topic came up, she was very vocal about how unhappy she was driving with Uber (She did not know about the recent Uber drama going on because she was so busy driving all the time).
She complained about Uber's frequently changing driver bonuses. Right when she figures out a routine that fits her schedules, Uber sweeps out the rug from under her and changes the payment structure.
Example: Previously you complete 125 rides / week and you will get a $500 bonus. This a significant number for her. Now, Uber split it up so you have to do 75 rides by Thursday to earn $250. Then do 65 rides on fri/sat/sun to earn the remainder $250. This is incredibly frustrating for her because on weekends she usually gets long rides (SF to San Jose). This immediately takes an hour off her day (for one ride) and she would have to work extra to meet her target.
Obviously, I asked her why she doesn't drive for Lyft. She used to, and Lyft did many things right. She loved it. However, Lyft decided to take away Lyft power driver bonus (similar to Uber's bonus) and that made a significant dent in her earning potential. She had to switch and drive for Uber to make ends meet. I'd imagine many Lyft drivers had a similar reaction, which is why I still find much more drivers on Uber than on Lyft despite the all the negative publicity. Here are some things that I think Lyft can improve on their business strategy:
1. Be willing to do what it takes to succeed. Uber has repeatedly shown their agility and versatility to adapt to changes around them. When they realized that Uber Black was not what the public wanted, they introduced UberX (which screwed over alot of their existing drivers) and lowered fares. It was harsh and unfair, but it had to be done.
If I was running Lyft and was low on cash and could not afford to continue driver bonuses, I would have laid off a chunk of the engineering team / staff to raise capital to retain the drivers from switching.
2. With all these #deleteUber hashtags, why haven't I heard any of my friends promoting Lyft? Now should be the perfect time to splurge on marketing and capture all the disgruntled uber drivers and passengers. Wait a month, most of the fire would have died.
As much as I love Lyft and the experience I have riding with Lyft, I prefer giving that up for a cheaper service. Most people I know would prefer to save money. I hope Lyft figures out an aggressive business strategy and become a viable Uber competitor.