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Uber controversies

I feel Uber deserves their own thread. Since they screw up so much, here's a place for all their legal blunders.

The company's license to operate in California has been suspended due to them withholding data from the Public Utilities Commission. They've also been fined for $7.3 million.

It also turns out that last month, they've been treating their employees as "independent contractors," and thus not paying them properly according to labor laws.
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Comments

  • The Independent Contractors thing is BS, and they should go down hard over that alone.

    I'm tired of workers being re-classified or denied hours just to avoid having to pay their benefits.
  • This is why I have my own fleet of cars.
  • I sorta agree that the drivers should be independent contractors, but then Uber shouldn't have as much control over the service and instead make it more adaptable to driver competition as far as rates.
  • vulture.com/2015/08/mad-max-ubers-seattle.html?mid=facebook_nymag

    Here's something they are doing that's kind of neat. I'd totally ride in a Mad Max vehicle.

    Sadly, I know a lot of my online content creating friends who have to double as Uber drivers for the extra income. There's also starting to do a lot more "register a friend up with Uber and earn an extra 500 dollars!"
  • I'd love to know what that kind of post would look like if you had a national taxi company. How many NYC cab drivers are charged with a crime each year (crime committed while working)?


  • edited September 2015
    AaronC said:

    I'd love to know what that kind of post would look like if you had a national taxi company. How many NYC cab drivers are charged with a crime each year (crime committed while working)?

    The first wouldn't exist - because Cab drivers are generally employees of someone, or self employed. Some states (And other countries) do use an independent contractor system, but there tends to be established laws regarding such activities that make the current complaints about uber's "Independent contractor" system an impossibility at best, or a non-issue at worst.

    The last three wouldn't exist, because the issue was Uber's background checks being fucking awful, in the third case missing records that the legal standard for background checks on hack tickets would have caught, the two before it occurring because uber deliberately skirted the rules that require drivers in texas to show state approval(which include the same checks as taxi drivers, which they wouldn't have passed), which of course, uber is meant to verify.

    The dude selling drugs as an uber driver may not have happened, if he had a prior conviction, which so far I can't find enough hard evidence of to be sure. But again, if he had priors, no dice.

    And curiously, there are Uber services that have never had a single incident(that I can find currently) - their black cars and SUVs, for example, which are manged by... Taxi and Limousine companies, whose drivers must pass appropriate saftey checks through those companies that meet applicable state standards, rather than Uber.

    It's hard to find hard statistics as to crimes committed by Taxi drivers - the best I can find indicate that you're more likely to have a crime (particularly violent crime) committed against you while driving a taxi than riding in one. At least in the US - I don't have statistics available locally, since uber doesn't operate legally here(not to say, of course, that they don't operate anyway), making it a lot harder to shake out the details without some dedicated research.

    This seems to be the reverse with Uber drivers, however in fairness, there's far less available data for attacks on Uber drivers compared to both attacks on Taxi drivers, and attacks on Uber passengers by drivers, to the point where I'd call that a useless statistic without further evidence.

    As far as I can find for New York, the rate seems to be lower for Taxi drivers committing violent offenses Vs Uber drivers, but those are quick and dirty statistics. Take that with a grain of salt, as rough guide at absolute best unless I wanted to spend a few hours sifting and refining. Which I don't particularly, to be honest, because that's unlikely to pay at all.

    It also showed that there are roughly 51,000 medallion drivers in New York, compared to roughly 15,000 Uber drivers in the same area.

    Edit - and of course, the big difference being that in almost all cases, if a Taxi driver attacks a passenger, the Taxi company is also accountable. Uber, at least according to Uber, is not.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • They didn't have the best Mad Max car. It probably isn't street legal, but still, disappoint.
    image
  • They should do the Max Max Uber in Detroit, but for realz.
  • Pegu said:

    They didn't have the best Mad Max car. It probably isn't street legal, but still, disappoint.

    That would destroy the roads.
  • Pegu said:

    They didn't have the best Mad Max car. It probably isn't street legal, but still, disappoint.

    That would destroy the roads.
    Naw. They also have rubber treads they can put on, as you can see in a lot of the EV2 promo shots. Apparently, driving on hard surfaces like concrete without them is like driving on ice, because ripsaw is relatively light.
  • Uber CEO "interviewed" (read: confronted) by Stephen Colbert.



    If it's region-locked, let me know and I'll provide a download.
  • Doesn't appear to be region-locked. At least not in Canada.
  • Yep, good as gold here.
  • Bringing Churba's post here:
    Churba said:

    So Uber, with their previous attempt having failed miserably (and putting them on the reciving end of an investigation for handing out sub-prime loans - not joking) Have now launched a program where for a cool $840 bucks a month plus expenses, you can work for them.

    Oh, sorry, I wasn't specific - You're the one paying the $840 a month. You pay them, and they loan you a car with a strict rental agreement, and inadequate insurance. Oh, and that's plus a $500 Deposit with strict terms, a $40 sign-up fee, and if you drive more than 90 miles a day - as uber drivers commonly do - you get a 25c per mile surcharge.

    I'm told by a mate in Colorado - but haven't verified yet - that they don't pay you, either. What you make comes off what you owe, until you cross the weekly payment, at which point they pay you the regular uber rate. Minus the mileage charges of course.

    And finally - because Uber literally cannot even order lunch without behaving like mustache-twirling cartoon villains - they're trying to sell it as a progressive effort to help the poor, and are apparently trying to target low-income people with this new service.

    They're literally charging you to work for them, and doing it in such a way that if it's a slow week, or you don't hit your minimums, you can end up owing hundreds of dollars a month. And then targeting the whole thing at the poor.

  • So, is Uber turning into Amway?
  • edited December 2015
    chaosof99 said:

    So, is Uber turning into Amway?

    Oh god no. Uber is basically trying to take the idea of a company town circa the 1880s, except cutting out all the expenses of having to provide their workers things like housing, stores, transport, and the trouble of printing their own scrip to pay them with.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • The way the poor are exploited in America is sickening -- it's some 19th century novel fucked up shit. Uber's whitewashing is just an extra gut punch.
  • Renting out spare rooms in your home to make ends meet? Welcome to a Dickens novel. Or AirBnB. Giving people a lift in your car in exchange for mone? Welcome to Depression Era America. Or Uber.
  • edited December 2015
    Or how about unpayable bail, court "fees", mandatory utilities, and 30% interest loans on repo'd cars in collection.. definitely Dickens. Maybe Hugo? Ok, maybe not the car bit.
    Post edited by no fun girl on
  • Taxi companies are shit-tier services in almost all of America. They're scary, dangerous, corrupt, expensive, and shitty. In New York, they're ultra corrupt, and they drive around all day waiting for you to wave your arms.

    The UX of Uber is what all taxis should be.

    But that UX hides from the users that behind the scenes they're more corrupt, and now deeply exploitative, in order to meet their profit and price targets.

    If something like Uber existed, but it paid real employees real wages and cost as much as regular cabs do now, I think most people would use it instead of traditional cabs.
  • In Berlin, Uber is just an app that taxi drivers use. So the prices are the same as taxi prices, but the experience is just way better. So yeah, exactly as you say.
  • edited December 2015
    Rym said:

    Taxi companies are shit-tier services in almost all of America. They're scary, dangerous, corrupt, expensive, and shitty. In New York, they're ultra corrupt, and they drive around all day waiting for you to wave your arms.

    The UX of Uber is what all taxis should be.

    But that UX hides from the users that behind the scenes they're more corrupt, and now deeply exploitative, in order to meet their profit and price targets.

    If something like Uber existed, but it paid real employees real wages and cost as much as regular cabs do now, I think most people would use it instead of traditional cabs.

    If something like that existed, I'd be on board in flat second. Ridesharing is a bloody good idea, and Taxis need to catch up with the times - seriously, what's the newest innovation in Taxis since maybe electronic meters?

    The problem is not with the concept, it's that Uber is a shitty company, run by the worst of Silicon valley libertarian tech-bros. If it were run by someone who wasn't cartoonishly evil, it would be absolutely great!

    In Berlin, Uber is just an app that taxi drivers use. So the prices are the same as taxi prices, but the experience is just way better. So yeah, exactly as you say.

    It's a lot cheaper here. Taxi drivers individually are usually pretty good, the cars clean, and the service usually good enough - unless you're one of those "Ugh, why can't they just get some local taxi drivers?" types, in which case your problems aren't with taxis. But the Taxi Comission, which is the taxi companies regulating themselves(to stretch the term "regulating" to it's limit)? No, they're corrupt as fuck, taxi licences are priced to keep any competition out of the market, and drivers get fucked almost as bad as uber drivers do.

    The cherry on top is that with no competition, they're all crazy expensive. A one-way trip to the airport, from my place, is maybe a 15 minute trip at most in clear traffic. You take a taxi from the middle of the city, which is roughly halfway between? 50 bucks. For comparison, in melbourne where there's far greater oversight over the taxi operators - even if it's still lacking somewhat - a longer trip would cost about 17-20 bucks, depending on the time of day.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • RymRym
    edited December 2015
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Rym said:
    It appears you need to work for fixflyer to view this link...
  • ""The cops kind of scolded us for using Uber," Cori said. "They were like, 'you know you guys shouldn't be using Uber. They've been molesting a lot of women lately and robbing houses.' They were like, you shouldn't use Uber anymore. You should use taxis."

    The driver, meanwhile, expressed concern about his rating. "He turned to us and was like, 'Hey please don't write a bad review for me.'"

    Wow
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