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Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

nytimes.com

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Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#31

Post by will_brown »

Z1nfandel wrote: post #15
askafriend wrote: post #2

Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Valley. Normal people want to get from point A to point B in the most comfortable, efficient, cheap way possible. If that means Uber then so be it. If that means Taxis then so be it. If that means Didi Chuxing then so be it. It just turns out that Uber is well pos…

So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines callin…

>For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient."

I guess there is actually an 11th person saying, awesome I can financially support this evil company in the short term and make a quick buck.

I've been talking a lot about boycotts lately on HN to curb unwanted corporate behavior, in particular as it relates to a lot of the recent 1st Amendment issues and concerns (because 1st amendment is a limit on governmental power, not private entities).

No doubt boycotts are hard, and I'm not sure there was ever a time in history where anyone ever felt real change was easy, or ever a time where the people seeking change felt others/the world cared.

From MLK's quote "all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing". To Gandhi's, "be the change you wish to see it this world." Maybe above all people just need to be inspired, and some historical perspective of what people can accomplish working together.

And as disheartening as a comment likes yours is, it's truthful, and I personally find it motivating and inspiring. I guess it's sort of like telling someone something can't be done and that being the catalyst for action. I'm pretty motivated at this time to create an organizational platform for boycotts in a crowdsourcing-esq style without need for funding.

If you don't mind, I guess like a sort of prelaunch feedback, what would it take for someone like you, willing to profit on bad corporate behavior, to instead become a leader for change?

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#32

Post by wccrawford »

bantunes wrote: post #4

In Victorian times, people didn't mind paying more for a shirt if it meant it was child labor free. These days, nobody cares if a company is a hotbed of discrimination and shitty practices if it means cheaper rides and an easy to use app. Same goes for Facebook, Google, Amazon - nobody cares.

There were plenty of people who minded then, and there are plenty of people who don't mind now.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#33

Post by jessaustin »

synaesthesisx wrote: post #19
dopeboy wrote: post #3

Here in the east bay, I've gotten 50% off in the past two weeks in Uber. So hell yeah take my business. Thanks VCs!

Yup - they've been heavily subsidizing rides recently (even more so than usual) to pull booking numbers up!

Suddenly the headline seems less amazing...

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#34

Post by saberworks »

VikingCoder wrote: post #18

Dear Lyft, you're screwing up your chance. When Uber started to have a bunch of scandal, I tried to switch to Lyft. I really did. But, stuck at a hospital after an emergency room visit, trying to get home at 10pm, I sat there for 45 minutes, watching a driver go from 4 minutes away to 5 minutes away to 8 minutes away, then no driver, then a new driver is 4 minutes away, then 4 minutes away, then 5 minutes away, then…

Lyft is screwing up in more ways than one. I only use these services when I'm out traveling. I switched to Lyft because a couple of drivers in Honolulu mentioned that they liked Lyft better. Fine, didn't matter to me. Until months later when the Lyft app started spamming me with notifications of ride credits and it wouldn't stop. Looking at their support information, the only way to get these spam notifications to stop is to completely block notifications for that app. But of course, if I do that, the notifications for actual ride information will be blocked, too. Deleted the app, will use Uber instead.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#35

Post by BadassFractal »

askafriend wrote: post #2

Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Valley. Normal people want to get from point A to point B in the most comfortable, efficient, cheap way possible. If that means Uber then so be it. If that means Taxis then so be it. If that means Didi Chuxing then so be it. It just turns out that Uber is well pos…

Also not to downplay the issues with sexism in tech, but the level of uproar is somewhat reminiscent of the Ellen Pao situation and how much Twitter/HN/SF exist in an echo chamber.

I'm sorry I don't want to march on the streets because a group of billionaires are acting like total assholes towards an aspiring billionaire trying to play the game of thrones with that court. The rest of us have-nots have real problems to worry about. Cry me a fucking river.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#37

Post by vermontdevil »

Z1nfandel wrote: post #15
askafriend wrote: post #2

Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Valley. Normal people want to get from point A to point B in the most comfortable, efficient, cheap way possible. If that means Uber then so be it. If that means Taxis then so be it. If that means Didi Chuxing then so be it. It just turns out that Uber is well pos…

So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines callin…

Remember the movement to get out of big banks and move to credit unions.

Same thing - all the furor died down over time. Doubt there was a seismic shift.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#38

Post by djcapelis »

will_brown wrote: post #31
Z1nfandel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines callin…

>For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient." I guess there is actually an 11th person saying, awesome I can financially support this evil company in the short term and make a quick buck. I've been talking a lot about boycotts lately on HN to curb unwanted corporate behavior, in particular as it relates to a lot of the recent 1st Amendment issues an…

I created my HN account 2884 days ago and this comment is the first time in a long time I’ve felt this forum has had some serious conversations about the conflicts between ethics and profits. I am so glad to see people questioning the means leading to financial ends. Thank you for directly bringing the dynamics of how financial incentives are impacting the reality we live in into the conversation. I sorely hope the person you responded to manages not to feel too attacked and gives a frank and truthful answer on where their line is with respect to not wanting to profit off a corporate scandal. It is going to be important to understand. Activism is going to have a tough road of making an impact on corporations if there’s no market response or impact to help dissuade when companies engage in immoral, unethical or downright bad dealings.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#39

Post by fusiongyro »

askafriend wrote: post #2

Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Valley. Normal people want to get from point A to point B in the most comfortable, efficient, cheap way possible. If that means Uber then so be it. If that means Taxis then so be it. If that means Didi Chuxing then so be it. It just turns out that Uber is well pos…

They actually made a joke to this effect about Uber and Lyft on the last episode of Difficult People.

Re: Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings

#40

Post by cookiecaper »

will_brown wrote: post #31
Z1nfandel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines callin…

>For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient." I guess there is actually an 11th person saying, awesome I can financially support this evil company in the short term and make a quick buck. I've been talking a lot about boycotts lately on HN to curb unwanted corporate behavior, in particular as it relates to a lot of the recent 1st Amendment issues an…

It's important to recognize that that perspective is the default and it won't be changed. People assume that as long as you're on the market, it's fair and valid to do business with you. This is ultimately for the best; we shouldn't be raking people over the coals for every perceived moral or political slight. That's not a meritocracy.

What it does mean is that if you want to activate change, you must comply with the unaccommodating defaults, which are, broadly generalized, "no one cares". The people who accept this and work with it are successful. The people who don't aren't.

The difference in agility between insisting that everyone else should conform to your thought pattern as compared to learning to accommodate multiple styles so that your goal/cause/product meets a critical mass of demand is huge.

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