Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#231

Post by marssaxman » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 7:55 PM UTC

taude wrote: post #29

CydeWeys wrote: post #8

Uber doesn't have a prayer of rehabilitation until Kalanick himself goes. The rot goes straight up to him. Jeff Jones was a much more recent acquisition who came from staid corporate America (Target) -- I don't think he was the problem.

I agree. There's enough social awareness that people don't want to support a company run by jerks like Travis Kalanick. In an era with socially conscious consumers, integrity of leadership matters. It is easy enough to switch to Lyft (I live in major metropolitan area) without any inconvenience. And the Lyft driver's I've talked with about all the controversy say they make more $$$ and are happier driving for Lyft.

That's been my experience too - drivers like Lyft better, and Lyft doesn't seem to be run by assholes. I never actually deleted my Uber account, but I didn't bother to install the app when I bought a new phone; I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#232

Post by fredophile » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 8:31 PM UTC

sebleon wrote: post #225

fredophile wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess that a large fraction of people that deleted the Uber app and installed a competitor have not reinstalled. Once you've gone through that there isn't much point in reinstalling Uber. However, I don't know how many people did this vs just uninstalling Uber without a replacement or leaving it installed but not using the app. Those two groups probably had higher rates of people going back to Uber.

I disagree - I've had Uber and Lyft for years, and I check both to compare prices and ETA. For the past 6 months, I've noticed that Uber can be 40-60% cheaper than Lyft. I doubt former Uber users will forget what prices are like.

Uninstalling provides an additional barrier to returning. I mentioned that I expect users that didn't uninstall to return at a higher rate than users that did.

It's also not just about the price. A new benefit to having an Amex platinum card is $200 per year in Uber ride credits. I do not plan to return to Uber to use the credits. In fact, this is making me seriously consider not renewing that card when the annual fee comes up in a few months. I don't want Uber getting money from me, even indirectly.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#233

Post by sebleon » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 9:12 PM UTC

marssaxman wrote: post #230

sebleon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - I've had Uber and Lyft for years, and I check both to compare prices and ETA. For the past 6 months, I've noticed that Uber can be 40-60% cheaper than Lyft. I doubt former Uber users will forget what prices are like.

How exactly do you perform this price comparison? In my experience you only find out what the ride cost after it's over. Or do you regularly travel the same routes often enough that you can run a personal A/B test?

UberPool and LyftLine tell you prices up front, before requesting the ride!

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#234

Post by sebleon » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 9:14 PM UTC

fredophile wrote: post #232

sebleon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - I've had Uber and Lyft for years, and I check both to compare prices and ETA. For the past 6 months, I've noticed that Uber can be 40-60% cheaper than Lyft. I doubt former Uber users will forget what prices are like.

Uninstalling provides an additional barrier to returning. I mentioned that I expect users that didn't uninstall to return at a higher rate than users that did. It's also not just about the price. A new benefit to having an Amex platinum card is $200 per year in Uber ride credits. I do not plan to return to Uber to use the credits. In fact, this is making me seriously consider not renewing that card when the annual fe…

That's a noble decision!

Call me a cynic, but I think you're in the minority, I doubt most people have the moral fortitude to forego $200 in free Uber credits...

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#235

Post by marssaxman » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 9:15 PM UTC

sebleon wrote: post #233

marssaxman wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How exactly do you perform this price comparison? In my experience you only find out what the ride cost after it's over. Or do you regularly travel the same routes often enough that you can run a personal A/B test?

UberPool and LyftLine tell you prices up front, before requesting the ride!

Ah, I see - I've never tried those services. Not even sure whether they exist in Seattle.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#236

Post by notyourwork » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 10:48 PM UTC

hyperbovine wrote: post #229

Kinnard wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without the context?

If the summary is truly eyebrow-raising then yes, I'd move the little pointer to the top of the screen and click the link. Whatever point you are trying to make here seems way overblown.

The reason I commented was the part he quoted could have been the title for the submission. It wasn't adding value to any discussion so I felt it wasn't needed.

You and some others disagree with my point of view but judging by the amount of discussion on this post, I suspect majority agrees with me. And by that I mean pasting a quote without any additional context or comments isn't adding valuable discussion to hackernews threads. I come here for the discussion so the OP was off putting to me.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#237

Post by ddog78 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 5:49 AM UTC

sebleon wrote: post #226

adviceadam wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case though, there's a competitor that does exactly the same thing for similar prices.

> Similar prices Not true, Uber can be 40-60% cheaper. I've stopped taking public transit in the Bay Area because of Uber, I don't think I could do that with Lyft alone. Is there another competitor with cheaper pricing?

I don't know about the US, but in India, Ola offers cheaper prices than Uber (about 30 - 60%) and people are switching to it. Uber hasn't been deleted, but it's losing customers (at least the ones using cab services regularly) to Ola.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#238

Post by 794CD01 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:07 PM UTC

andrewprock wrote: post #151

794CD01 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best for who? It's better for riders if rates stay unsustainably low and they can get discounted rides at the expense of VCs.

"better for riders if rates stay unsustainably low" Rates that are unsustainably low cannot be sustained, by definition.

Not without outside pressure, which in this case exists. I've been using Uber for 5 years.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#239

Post by 794CD01 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:08 PM UTC

a3n wrote: post #143

794CD01 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best for who? It's better for riders if rates stay unsustainably low and they can get discounted rides at the expense of VCs.

Best for people who want these new services to continue.

It doesn't really matter whether they continue as long as something else takes their place afterwards.

Re: Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting

#240

Post by sebleon » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 5:18 PM UTC

ddog78 wrote: post #237

sebleon wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar prices Not true, Uber can be 40-60% cheaper. I've stopped taking public transit in the Bay Area because of Uber, I don't think I could do that with Lyft alone. Is there another competitor with cheaper pricing?

I don't know about the US, but in India, Ola offers cheaper prices than Uber (about 30 - 60%) and people are switching to it. Uber hasn't been deleted, but it's losing customers (at least the ones using cab services regularly) to Ola.

I had no idea, that's awesome (for consumers, not uber haha)