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The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

theguardian.com

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Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#21

Post by mulmen »

abirch wrote: post #11
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

I'm old enough to remember calling a taxi company the day before a flight to arrange a pickup at my place for 5:30. Then calling them again 5:00 the day of the flight and them telling me that the one guy didn't come in so now they couldn't pick me up until 7 -- My flight departure time! Then me frantically calling other taxi companies. I had to skip my shower. They seemed to hate their customers

Uber did exactly this to a friend of mine just a couple months ago. Except they didn't even offer the 7am pickup. They just cancelled the ride 15 minutes before the pickup.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#22

Post by bearjaws »

nostromo wrote: post #14
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

It's funny though: cabs have gotten better and Uber has gotten worse. I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport. Ubers are slower (cabs are sitting there just waiting) and much, much expensive now (like 2x the cost of a cab). The product isn't any better anymore. The cars are rundown and often smelly. It is nice to be able to put in an address and not deal with a credit card payment at the destination -- but…

> I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport.

Yup cabs are way better experience at the airport and the same price or cheaper. I haven't tried using our local cab app, but its been on my mind.

Meanwhile Uber drivers still haven't figured out where to park, or stop in the middle and wave you to run out to their car... while everyone honks at them.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#23

Post by CobrastanJorji »

> "How can you have a clear conscience if you don’t stand up and own your contribution to how people are being treated today?”

What a laudable moral pivot! Good for him, finding a path to redemption. I guess he was just haunted by all of his sins and felt a need to make things rights with the world.

> MacGann is understood to have recently reached an out-of-court settlement with Uber after a legal dispute relating to his remuneration. He...acknowledged he had had personal grievances with the company.

Ah, there it is.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#24

Post by floren »

nostromo wrote: post #14
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

It's funny though: cabs have gotten better and Uber has gotten worse. I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport. Ubers are slower (cabs are sitting there just waiting) and much, much expensive now (like 2x the cost of a cab). The product isn't any better anymore. The cars are rundown and often smelly. It is nice to be able to put in an address and not deal with a credit card payment at the destination -- but…

> The cars are rundown and often smelly.

I don't take Uber/Lyft often but yes, it seems like at least 25% of the time it's obvious that the driver smokes in the car when not driving customers. I've also been in a lot of vehicles which very clearly had blown shocks (based on the noises I heard when we went over even mildly rough road)

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#25

Post by cmccart »

nostromo wrote: post #14
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

It's funny though: cabs have gotten better and Uber has gotten worse. I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport. Ubers are slower (cabs are sitting there just waiting) and much, much expensive now (like 2x the cost of a cab). The product isn't any better anymore. The cars are rundown and often smelly. It is nice to be able to put in an address and not deal with a credit card payment at the destination -- but…

Depending on where you are, you can use Curb or something similar to pair with your ride and let the app handle payment. I use it (or just hailing cabs) almost exclusively over Uber/Lyft these days, typically 1/2 the price and the drivers don’t get lost in the city either.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#26

Post by boeingUH60 »

_ktx2 wrote: post #5

> They include Travis Kalanick, Uber’s combative co-founder and then chief executive, David Plouffe, a former Barack Obama campaign aide who became a senior vice-president at Uber, and Rachel Whetstone, a British PR executive who has also held senior roles at Google, Facebook and now Netflix. Why is this so common and acceptable? You have these towering technological firms who already possess vast amounts of power wh…

It's also interesting that Tony West, Uber's current Chief Legal Officer, is the brother-in-law of US VP Kamala Harris. The political connections of this company are something to behold.

That said, I consider ridesharing apps better than traditional taxis.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tony-west-life-career-uber-m...

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#27

Post by germandiago »

nostromo wrote: post #14
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

It's funny though: cabs have gotten better and Uber has gotten worse. I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport. Ubers are slower (cabs are sitting there just waiting) and much, much expensive now (like 2x the cost of a cab). The product isn't any better anymore. The cars are rundown and often smelly. It is nice to be able to put in an address and not deal with a credit card payment at the destination -- but…

I would be interested in why Uber got so bad compared to traditional cabs.

In Spain they forbid all this stuff because they sold cab licenses, but the prices are abusive.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#28

Post by ciguy »

gernb wrote: post #17
ciguy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken cabs all over the world in the pre Uber days (Literally, like 60+ countries on 5 continents). I can count the number of normal or pleasant experiences I had in a cab on one hand, out of HUNDREDS of rides. Not all cab drivers are/were asshole scammers but I have a decent sample size and can confidently say at least 95% or more were. I have zero sympathy for any of them. The cab industry as it was pre Uber n…

I've had zero trouble with taxis in Japan and Singapore. In Singapore they even had hailing apps long before Uber and they worked just fine. I believe London taxis also have a good rep but haven't use them. On the other hand I've had criminal experiences in Istanbul and Rome and non-pleasent experiences in LA and SF.

Some of my very few pleasant experiences were in Japan. I don't doubt that Singapore would be fine too but public transit was generally faster there so I never took a cab.

London definitely has a better standard of cars and service, but they will still try to take longer routes and play games with you if you're obviously a tourist. Definitely better than most places though, their standards for cabbie training are very high.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#29

Post by lsllc »

nostromo wrote: post #14
yupper32 wrote: post #6

It's also important to realize that the reason Uber and Lyft were able to crush the taxi industry is in part because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible to consumers. The simple act of being able to know what I'm going to be charged beforehand, and know that the driver has little ability to scam me out of as much money as they can extract from me at my destination made Uber and Lyft SO much better. That should…

It's funny though: cabs have gotten better and Uber has gotten worse. I've switched back to taking cabs from the airport. Ubers are slower (cabs are sitting there just waiting) and much, much expensive now (like 2x the cost of a cab). The product isn't any better anymore. The cars are rundown and often smelly. It is nice to be able to put in an address and not deal with a credit card payment at the destination -- but…

Agreed -- the last couple of times flying home I've found very few, or no Ubers or Lyfts available near the airport (particularly later at night) but plenty of clean, new-ish cabs (mostly hybrid vehicles) waiting with modern payment systems and yes, cheaper! I had also noticed a significant decline in the quality of the Lyft/Uber cars and actually I haven't used a Lyft or Uber in probably a year now.

Re: The Uber whistleblower: I’m exposing a system that sold people a lie

#30

Post by mulmen »

treis wrote: post #3

I don't think this guy deserves the title whistleblower. A whistleblower leaks the crimes as they're happening in order to stop them. Not 6 years after participating in the crimes to settle a grudge.

It's on brand for Uber. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons in the worst way. Really pushing the limits of the ends justifying the means.
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