If Gett isn't taking legal action against Uber, then this just sounds like a good marketing ploy to get attention.
Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
81–90 of 218 posts
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#82One man's dirty tricks is another man's free market - http://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ Who needs pesky Taxi and Limousine Commission busybodies to ensure people aren't arbitrarily blacklisted from being able to call a cab?
You're egregiously misunderstanding your opponents' viewpoints. I'm one of them. Probably on your ideological antipode even. I support (!) regulation prohibiting retaliatory blacklists. I support criminal prosecution of fraud, like the accusation of Uber's fake orders to rivals. I support background inspections for taxi drivers. I support regulation that demands a high level of driving skill from taxi drivers. And an…
I agree with all your statements. I don't have any opponents in the sense of people I oppose. There are some people who think any regulation is defacto bad and a 'free' market will solve anything, and I think they are misguided. In particular, they forget that 'free' markets are complex institutions and standards and conventions and rules about things like what constitutes fraud that have evolved over centuries.
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had not heard of Gett before this story.
Right? This is the best part of the story...that their actions were what made me aware of their competitor.
> "... their actions were what made me aware ..."
Point of pedantry: You're aware because someone wrote an article and someone else posted it here. I wonder how many other locations have tried similar tactics but not been widely exposed.
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#84What a dirty act. It's unfortunate that these type of tactics likely do succeed and furthermore go unpunished. But that's the cutthroat nature of business in today's world.
So I guess I say this with a disgusted sense of admiration - kudos to them for figuring out a new way to beat the competition.
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#85That is not only morally wrong but it is flat out stupid. Uber is the leading firm in a growing market with network effects. They should be worried about growing as fast as possible first and above all and not about competition. The network effects will take care of the competition. The worst thing a company in a leadership position like Uber can do is take actions that acknowledge their competition. Even if they are…
I had not heard of Gett before this story.
Do you live in NYC
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#86[deleted]
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#87It's interesting that all these ride services are so aggressive about recruiting drivers. I looked into driving for them to make a few extra bucks and the one thing they could do to get a leg up on their competition is clarify the insurance situation. They all essentially claim that a driver's personal auto insurance is good enough and combined with the companies umbrella policy provides sufficient coverage. But then…
Maybe this will be resolved in a court of law. Just in the past few weeks... "Uber Driver Arrested in San Francisco Crash That Killed Girl" http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Uber-Driver-Arrested-in... "Lyft Driver Hits Elderly Woman in San Francisco Crosswalk" http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Lyft-Driver-Hits-Elderl...
Both links are the same story.
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#88Just this morning there was a story on NPR about how Uber has price-gouging built into their system: during a snowstorm you may pay something like 5x the normal fare.
If you're going to call it "price-gouging", let's at least admit it's a natural part of business. Take a look at hotel rates when there's a near-by convention, air-line ticket prices over the Christmas holidays or even the prices quoted by corporate sales at businesses like Cisco, Oracle, etc. There's not a law that says you have to charge everyone the same rate - just that you can't base it on certain types of discr…
It's not my term, it's defined by the statutes of many states, including NY:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/GBS/26/396-r
The idea is that jacking up prices to take advantage of adverse conditions or emergencies is not the same as normal supply-and-demand based pricing in response to seasonal variations, etc. I don't know if Uber's practice fits the definition in the statute or if they're being investigated for it.
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#89Wow. This is low. The statement is absolute bullshit too: "In this instance, the New York City team was a bit too ambitious and we'll make sure they tone down their sales tactics." No, this is unacceptable. This sort of fraudulent behavior deserves consequences larger than "hey, stop that". I live in NYC. The Uber app has now been banished from my phone. It's too bad the Gett app is kind of an unpolished turd.
> No, this is unacceptable. This sort of fraudulent behavior deserves consequences larger than "hey, stop that".
If you're suggesting that they should be prosecuted, then we can argue that, but Uber is not able to prosecute members of its team. What do you expect Uber to do, other than to stop the behavior?
Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics
#90It's interesting that all these ride services are so aggressive about recruiting drivers. I looked into driving for them to make a few extra bucks and the one thing they could do to get a leg up on their competition is clarify the insurance situation. They all essentially claim that a driver's personal auto insurance is good enough and combined with the companies umbrella policy provides sufficient coverage. But then…
I would make a 99% bet that your personal auto insurance explicitly denies covering you if you are driving a vehicle for money.
I'll raise it to 100%. When I used to deliver pizzas as a teenager the company made me take out insurance, which they never paid for.