The IT Nerd

A number of things bug me about Uber. And the more I write about them, the more it gets to me. So I’ve decided to take a few moments and vent about Uber and the reasons why the company bugs me.

The biggest reason is the fact that it thinks that rules and regulations don’t apply to them. That’s flawed logic as Uber is a car service and not a taxi service. At least taxi drivers and taxi companies have some sort rules and regulations wrapped around them. Car services do not. So, instead of trying to work with governments to wrap some rules around their service in a way where everyone is happy, Uber simply ignores whatever rules exist and is largely a rogue operation as a result. Then they try to get their users to advocate on their behalf. That doesn’t seem to be a legitimate business model to me.

On top of that, they deal with negative news in ways that would make PR experts cringe. Take these examples:

• A Los Angeles Uber driver held a woman’s phone hostage for a $500 ransom, after she left it in his car. Uber apologized, punted the driver and told the passenger to hope nothing goes wrong. Gee, what could possibly be wrong with that response?
• In San Francisco, a young girl crossing the street with her mother was killed by a motorist who told cops he was working for Uber. In turn Uber then released a statement saying he was not working for Uber. Then they released another statement clarifying that he was indeed logged on to the Uber app but not doing business for Uber at the time. In other words, not our problem despite the fact he was working for us.

Finally, there’s their terms of service which are truly cringe worthy. For example:

THE COMPANY MAY INTRODUCE YOU TO THIRD PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS FOR THE PURPOSES OF PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION. WE WILL NOT ASSESS THE SUITABILITY, LEGALITY OR ABILITY OF ANY THIRD PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS AND YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE AND RELEASE THE COMPANY FROM ANY AND ALL ANY LIABILITY, CLAIMS OR DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE THIRD PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDER.

And this example:

THE QUALITY OF THE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES SCHEDULED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR APPLICATION IS ENTIRELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE THIRD PARTY PROVIDER WHO ULTIMATELY PROVIDES SUCH TRANSPORTATION SERVICES TO YOU. YOU UNDERSTAND, THEREFORE, THAT BY USING THE APPLICATION AND THE SERVICE, YOU MAY BE EXPOSED TO TRANSPORTATION THAT IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS, OFFENSIVE, HARMFUL TO MINORS, UNSAFE OR OTHERWISE OBJECTIONABLE, AND THAT YOU USE THE APPLICATION AND THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

So, let me get this straight. I use Uber, but Uber isn’t responsible if things go sideways. It’s the problem of whomever you get despite the fact that Uber allegedly screens them (which as this example illustrates is questionable at best) and gives them access to a dispatch system via their app and they operate under the Uber banner. Seriously? That does not inspire confidence in Uber. I guess that I better pay the safe ride fee when I use them.

Wait. Now that I think about it, why should I have to pay extra to be safe? Isn’t safety assumed? I guess it isn’t with Uber. And even if you pay, you’re still subject to those craptastic terms of service. So how truly safe are you?

In my opinion, this company needs to evolve and embrace the fact that it needs to be a good corporate citizen in order to exist. If it can’t do that, then I am in favor of having them disappear forever. Now if you’ve handed over some VC money to them, I am sorry that you’re likely to lose it. But the fact is that Uber isn’t going to be a disruptive force to change the world. It’s simply a bad actor that like a cockroach, needs to be exterminated.

I fully expect to get some hate mail about this. But I am okay with that. Because sometimes you just have to say what needs to be said.

This entry was posted on December 18, 2014 at 7:47 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Uber. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.