# I thought I could come here and help...



## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.

I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.

So, why do I stay? I have personal reasons and looking for a new job right now won't work because I get to work from home right now.

The reason I'm writing this is in hopes that the next time you want to threaten a CSR, tell them they are worthless, tell them that you hope they get fired, or curse at them for following policy that you'll remember this. Hopefully you will remember that they are just like you, just trying to make ends meet without getting their contract terminated.

I know not all of you are mean to the CSRs, I've had some wonderful drivers that I help on a daily basis with ticket threads months long and I don't care because that's what I love. I also know that some CSRs are lazy and will give you a scripted answer every time and not really try to help and I'm sorry for that.

I guess today was just my breaking point because I wasn't allowed to help one of you and because of it I was told something very nasty. Just so you know, were never allowed to be nasty back to you. We can only ask you to be more professional or terminate the email thread.

With that being said, I'm still here to help. Or you can kick me off for not being a driver (I'm not eligible).


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Everyone. Just be nice for at least one page okay? Can you all do that?

Welcome. If you have the drivers' best interest at heart, you are very welcome. Actually if you hate us you're very welcome.

I myself would love it if you could start a special thread of the top 20 things jackass drivers do to CSR's. We all love the stories. Even the jackass drivers love the stories

Have you been following @thehappytypist ?


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## Rockwall (Oct 10, 2014)

welcome aboard Kane. Just be tick skinned as some folks may not be easy to deal with


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## Long time Nyc cab driver (Dec 12, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


Well that's Screwber, your job will be outsourced to India or the Philippines. Welcome to the new economy where nobody is an employee or gets benefits.
BTW, we know that you're not an employee of Uber and sit home in your underware.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

But for a little while, Kane gets to work while wearing PJs. That's pretty neat.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

Sacto Burbs said:


> Everyone. Just be nice for at least one page okay?


I'd say the odds are against it.


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

kane said:


> So, why do I stay? I have personal reasons


As do most drivers. Sure not the pay.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

Rockwall said:


> welcome aboard Kane. Just be tick skinned as some folks may not be easy to deal with


I think she already knows that; she deals with drivers probably every day.

I'm always initially very respectful when emailing CSRs. They decide how I continue, through their choice of copy & paste vs. actually answering the question; well considered response vs. gibberish etc.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

I feel the need to dispute the IC part. We're employees, just not Uber employees. Temporary ZeroChaos employees. They deduct taxes from our pay, have to offer benefits (even if those benefits suck donkey dick), but our jobs are not safe at any point in time. I'm not new to working from home so I've gotten used to shitty treatment, you just milk it while you can and thank god for unemployment.

As for your other thoughts, I agree. I work with some really nice, polite drivers who come back to me for their issues time and again. But when drivers get nasty, they are WAY nastier than riders are (albeit fewer legal threats). On the one hand, good for them, they don't have the protections of being an employee and if they don't fight for their pay, nobody will. On the other...please understand that most of us really want to help (there are jaded assholes in every customer-facing job). 

We hear you and we often agree with you when it comes to how Uber operates. You have no idea how much it makes our day when someone is polite. It's absolutely adorable when drivers call me "dear" and it makes me smile. Not so much when they don't like my response and send back a whole paragraph telling me how stupid I am. We have to read through ALL of it to see if it's just vitriol or if they have another question in there that needs an answer. If I refuse a request like an adjustment or adding a cancel fee, it's because I'm not allowed to do it. They know exactly who makes any changes to a fare, and management can see every single email we send out so it's either stick to the policies or get out. I will admit that when I first started doing driver support, I sent some really lame and boneheaded responses but I've gotten much better at it as I've learned the ins and outs. We do try.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


Welcome!!!


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


You are welcome here anytime. Thanks for the help and your great post dearie.

Now a question. Is management really as black-hearted as we suspect? I see no redeeming qualities whatsoever in the entire UBER enterprise (present company excluded.)

Honestly, Travis K. may actually be the devil. His mighty minions have infiltrated every corner of the earth. Are we witnessing the rise of the Antichrist?


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## Scenicruiser (Oct 17, 2014)

Does it matter to you, if we rate you guys? Does that ever get brought up by uber?


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, *I'm an Uber CSR*.
> -CSRs, *we're independent contractors*. * CSRs get no perks* from working for Uber, there are *no benefits*, there are *no special programs for us* *no Uber credits. Nothing*. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that *we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper* *I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.*


Interesting. And yeah, *that's Uber* alright.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Uber has setup this model so that it can hide behind CSRs. Uber creates the problems, but Uber doesn't have to be accountable for them... because the system is setup for the CSRs to take all the heat from drivers/riders. No heat is allowed between CSRs and Uber.

In the IT world, we call this a Firewall and DMZ design. Instead of doing it with digital packets on a network, Travis has setup the same using people and relationships.

This is why computer engineers should never be CEOs, especially of service based companies.


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

stuber said:


> You are welcome here anytime. Thanks for the help and your great post dearie.
> 
> Now a question. Is management really as black-hearted as we suspect? I see no redeeming qualities whatsoever in the entire UBER enterprise (present company excluded.)
> 
> Honestly, Travis K. may actually be the devil. His mighty minions have infiltrated every corner of the earth. Are we witnessing the rise of the Antichrist?


There are actually some managers that really want to help too. That's where I get my inspiration from, a great manager. But again, we're all at policy's mercy and the devil rarely hears our voice. : )


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

Scenicruiser said:


> Does it matter to you, if we rate you guys? Does that ever get brought up by uber?


It matters greatly. Part of how they determine if we stay is our Customer Satisfaction Rating which are the stars that you give us. But it also tells management who is not really helping out. If someone is really not helpful, rate them one star. If they did exactly as you asked or went above and beyond, rate them 4 or 5. Our system is pretty much like yours but we go off of a percentage instead of a number rate.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

stuber said:


> You are welcome here anytime. Thanks for the help and your great post dearie.
> 
> Now a question. Is management really as black-hearted as we suspect? I see no redeeming qualities whatsoever in the entire UBER enterprise (present company excluded.)
> 
> Honestly, Travis K. may actually be the devil. His mighty minions have infiltrated every corner of the earth. Are we witnessing the rise of the Antichrist?


95% of managers are very cool and nice to us CSRs, but we usually only interact with the bottom layer of management, the community and driver ops managers. There are others above them. As for their attitude towards drivers, I get mixed messages. They're all cheerleaders when it comes to policies and rates, I doubt we'd hear about it if they had doubts. They do want drivers to be treated fairly (as much as policy allows) and they actually did an additional mandatory training (in NYC at least) when it was noticed that some CSRs were copping major attitude with drivers.

I can't be sure what their actual opinions are because they're always chanting the company line and everything is so great. We can smell the bullshit and eventually we stopped questioning these changes and crap. They always say BUT IT'S GREEEEEEEEEAT.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

kane said:


> It matters greatly. Part of how they determine if we stay is our Customer Satisfaction Rating which are the stars that you give us. But it also tells management who is not really helping out. If someone is really not helpful, rate them one star. If they did exactly as you asked or went above and beyond, rate them 4 or 5. Our system is pretty much like yours but we go off of a percentage instead of a number rate.


I have noticed that if I low rate my CSR responses I seem to get another person more skilled in the art of Uber dodging direct questions and holding out promises of coming changes under consideration.


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## firstubergirl (Nov 4, 2014)

I have had 4 really tough questions handled professionally and thoroughly by 2 csr's, who got my questions randomly. In future issues, could I get either of them directly, by continuing those email threads with new questions?


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

I have completely abandoned the idea of trying to interact with UBER. I wonder how many other drivers have adopted this approach?


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

firstubergirl said:


> I have had 4 really tough questions handled professionally and thoroughly by 2 csr's, who got my questions randomly. In future issues, could I get either of them directly, by continuing those email threads with new questions?


If you reply to the same threads then you should be able to get them. But if a ticket is solved out and you have gotten the rating email then the email will go to the next random rep.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

stuber said:


> I have completely abandoned the idea of trying to interact with UBER. I wonder how many other drivers have adopted this approach?


Particularly so if trying to change their system. Entirely worthless to even try and it only serves to draw bad attention to yourself. On minor math adjustments or 'official' position clarifications I've usually had OK success with CSR's interactions. Except if you try to get clarifications on insurance. Then it's a dodgeball game.


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## Tony from New Jersey (Jan 21, 2015)

kane said:


> If you reply to the same threads then you should be able to get them. But if a ticket is solved out and you have gotten the rating email then the email will go to the next random rep.


Thanks for your participation on this forum.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Long time Nyc cab driver said:


> Well that's Screwber, your job will be outsourced to India or the Philippines. Welcome to the new economy where nobody is an employee or gets benefits.
> BTW, we know that you're not an employee of Uber and sit home in your underware.


As long as it's clean underwear, I don't mind.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

firstubergirl said:


> I have had 4 really tough questions handled professionally and thoroughly by 2 csr's, who got my questions randomly. In future issues, could I get either of them directly, by continuing those email threads with new questions?


I have done that. Seems to work. I feel bad for them though as I imagine other drivers ate doing the same.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

kane said:


> Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.


Thanks for joining and posting. Most drivers who've been Ubering for more than a month or two know your situation and empathize... but I'm very glad you posted this for new drivers to read and as a reminder for those who forget that you too are an independent contractor to Uber.


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## headtheball (Jan 26, 2015)

What do the more senior managers say about insurance? Do they laugh at how dumb we are? And at how low a value we place on our time and safety? What really happens when a driver has an accident. Do you have any such experience? 

Truthfully, have you ever given a completely wrong answer on purpose just to wind up a driver? Maybe place a little wager on it with a fellow CSR? As in, 50 bucks if I can get this driver to lose his shit in 2 paragraphs or less.


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## ubervictim (Feb 2, 2015)

this may be above your pay grade, but what is the reasoning behind paying drivers as little as possible, pissing them all off with lies and insulting guarantees, and also pissing off the riders. are these tactics really working to gain market share? i know that everyone, drivers and riders, were much happier when fares were reasonable and everyone enjoyed the platform. lets not forget that uber was making more money per fare back then too.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

headtheball said:


> What do the more senior managers say about insurance? Do they laugh at how dumb we are? And at how low a value we place on our time and safety? What really happens when a driver has an accident. Do you have any such experience?
> 
> Truthfully, have you ever given a completely wrong answer on purpose just to wind up a driver? Maybe place a little wager on it with a fellow CSR? As in, 50 bucks if I can get this driver to lose his shit in 2 paragraphs or less.


Senior management doesn't talk to us much. We aren't able to say a lot about insurance except send out the canned answer, for legal reasons. We don't hear much, if any, negativity towards drivers from management because that would set a very bad example. Anything like that is probably kept amongst the managers. Any accidents get sent to a special queue and it sends every single manager a text so that someone will come and get on it asap.

No. Just...no. For one, that means you now have a really pissed driver to deal with and you can't escalate it because it would reveal your ****ery. Two, ****ing with drivers and intentionally giving wrong answers where management can see it is a very bad idea. If I catch it, I get pissed and I report it to my manager. Don't shit in my sandbox.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

ubervictim said:


> this may be above your pay grade, but what is the reasoning behind paying drivers as little as possible, pissing them all off with lies and insulting guarantees, and also pissing off the riders. are these tactics really working to gain market share? i know that everyone, drivers and riders, were much happier when fares were reasonable and everyone enjoyed the platform. lets not forget that uber was making more money per fare back then too.


Tbh I don't know what they're thinking. At first they wanted to be all make it cheap, get them hooked, jack the prices. Obviously they decided to just skip that last step. Drivers are very unhappy, riders have definitely noticed the decrease in quality. I worry about the company if they don't back the **** up and reconsider their strategies.


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## Long time Nyc cab driver (Dec 12, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Tbh I don't know what they're thinking. At first they wanted to be all make it cheap, get them hooked, jack the prices. Obviously they decided to just skip that last step. Drivers are very unhappy, riders have definitely noticed the decrease in quality. I worry about the company if they don't back the **** up and reconsider their strategies.


Hey, you didn't answer my question, what's the craziest rant a driver went on ?


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> 95% of managers are very cool and nice to us CSRs, but we usually only interact with the bottom layer of management, the community and driver ops managers. There are others above them. As for their attitude towards drivers, I get mixed messages. They're all cheerleaders when it comes to policies and rates, I doubt we'd hear about it if they had doubts. They do want drivers to be treated fairly (as much as policy allows) and they actually did an additional mandatory training (in NYC at least) when it was noticed that some CSRs were copping major attitude with drivers.
> 
> I can't be sure what their actual opinions are because they're always chanting the company line and everything is so great. We can smell the bullshit and eventually we stopped questioning these changes and crap. They always say BUT IT'S GREEEEEEEEEAT.


With all the people at Uber here in Toronto I have interacted it has been the same thing. Uber is amazing and they are doing good in the world. Then you ask them a serious question about insurance or pay. Then you get the answer on the website.

The very concept of expenses for drivers is foreign to them. They feel its all covered.

They are all very nice people and they have their own corporate ladders to climb. But I do feel like they are numb to their environment. And when something goes wrong they throw up their hands and say "What happened". Instead of trying to fix the problems or even report it.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Uber has setup this model so that it can hide behind CSRs. Uber creates the problems, but Uber doesn't have to be accountable for them... because the system is setup for the CSRs to take all the heat from drivers/riders. No heat is allowed between CSRs and Uber.
> 
> In the IT world, we call this a Firewall and DMZ design. Instead of doing it with digital packets on a network, *Travis has setup the same using people and relationships*.
> 
> This is why computer engineers should never be CEOs, especially of service based companies.


_That_ is the reason Travis talk about driverless cars is total hot air. Why remove drivers working at 10/hr at best and take down the one barrier shielding your company from liability?

Am digressing I know...


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

headtheball said:


> What do the more senior managers say about insurance? Do they laugh at how dumb we are? And at how low a value we place on our time and safety? What really happens when a driver has an accident. Do you have any such experience?
> 
> Truthfully, have you ever given a completely wrong answer on purpose just to wind up a driver? Maybe place a little wager on it with a fellow CSR? As in, 50 bucks if I can get this driver to lose his shit in 2 paragraphs or less.


I've never even talked to anyone in senior management. I don't think they want to be reminded that we're real people.

As far as winding drivers up, when someone is really trying to take it out of me, I'll be as sweet as apple pie. They honestly hate that more than being yelled at in return. : )


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I feel the need to dispute the IC part. We're employees, just not Uber employees. Temporary ZeroChaos employees. They deduct taxes from our pay, have to offer benefits (even if those benefits suck donkey dick), but our jobs are not safe at any point in time. I'm not new to working from home so I've gotten used to shitty treatment, you just milk it while you can and thank god for unemployment.
> 
> As for your other thoughts, I agree. I work with some really nice, polite drivers who come back to me for their issues time and again. But when drivers get nasty, they are WAY nastier than riders are (albeit fewer legal threats). On the one hand, good for them, they don't have the protections of being an employee and if they don't fight for their pay, nobody will. On the other...please understand that most of us really want to help (there are jaded assholes in every customer-facing job).
> 
> We hear you and we often agree with you when it comes to how Uber operates. You have no idea how much it makes our day when someone is polite. It's absolutely adorable when drivers call me "dear" and it makes me smile. Not so much when they don't like my response and send back a whole paragraph telling me how stupid I am. We have to read through ALL of it to see if it's just vitriol or if they have another question in there that needs an answer. If I refuse a request like an adjustment or adding a cancel fee, it's because I'm not allowed to do it. They know exactly who makes any changes to a fare, and management can see every single email we send out so it's either stick to the policies or get out. I will admit that when I first started doing driver support, I sent some really lame and boneheaded responses but I've gotten much better at it as I've learned the ins and outs. We do try.


What's the deal with the CSRs' rating system? Does it actually mean anything?


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

elelegido said:


> What's the deal with the CSRs' rating system? Does it actually mean anything?


I'm the wrong person to ask for this one. NYC has never really paid attention to ratings, I don't know why. @kane would know more than I do.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Long time Nyc cab driver said:


> Hey, you didn't answer my question, what's the craziest rant a driver went on ?


I can't even remember what the subject was but the one who sent back a whole paragraph about how stupid I am and how I'm going to be fired. I tend not to dwell on it, really. It just makes you bitter.


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## Long time Nyc cab driver (Dec 12, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I can't even remember what the subject was but the one who sent back a whole paragraph about how stupid I am and how I'm going to be fired. I tend not to dwell on it, really. It just makes you bitter.


I rarely contacted Uber because I knew better, but when I did I kept it business like and to the point.
Or I would ask gotcha questions.


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

elelegido said:


> What's the deal with the CSRs' rating system? Does it actually mean anything?


I posted an answer to this earlier but I can answer again. : )

The ratings that you give us go toward our Customer Satisfaction score. If it doesn't stay high enough then we're let go. If someone goes above and beyond, please give them a 5 or 4. If they were really horrible, give them a 1 so that it can be addressed. It's really important when you do that so we can get the ones that aren't helping either coached or... other. If you give no stars, it does nothing so rating someone really helps. Also, you're rating the interaction with the rep and not the policy. So if they really can't help you but they tried, rate them based on their work and not the company policy. In the west coast, we really rely on our statistics.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Long time Nyc cab driver said:


> I rarely contacted Uber because I knew better, but when I did I kept it business like and to the point.
> Or I would ask gotcha questions.


We love business-like communication.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> We love business-like communication.


As long as it's not about profit.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> As long as it's not about profit.


That's why we have the canned answers for those. Otherwise we'd be like durrrrr on that subject cause we don't know anything lol


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> That's why we have the canned answers for those. Otherwise we'd be like durrrrr on that subject cause we don't know anything lol


It's impossible to know what CSRs know, because Uber ties their tongues.


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


POST #1 /@ kane : Hello and Welcome
to 
UP.Net Forums. Happy St. Patrick'sDay.

Sure, you MAY and CAN help! Just look
at @thehappytypist 's Stats. Thank you
for venturing into the Danger Zone.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Tbh I don't know what they're thinking. At first they wanted to be all make it cheap, get them hooked, jack the prices. Obviously they decided to just skip that last step. Drivers are very unhappy, riders have definitely noticed the decrease in quality. I worry about the company if they don't back the **** up and reconsider their strategies.


Wow! That's some statement. Uber's advantage in the marketplace was that it was really quick on its feet able to Implement change and keep one step ahead of both reglatory bodies and competition.

To think that now they are suffering from and inertia built up by its own bureaucracy is quite ironic. Like you suggest they simply need to back up and turn the other direction in some of the policy directions that have been taken


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

kane said:


> I posted an answer to this earlier but I can answer again. : )
> 
> The ratings that you give us go toward our Customer Satisfaction score. If it doesn't stay high enough then we're let go. If someone goes above and beyond, please give them a 5 or 4. If they were really horrible, give them a 1 so that it can be addressed. It's really important when you do that so we can get the ones that aren't helping either coached or... other. If you give no stars, it does nothing so rating someone really helps. Also, you're rating the interaction with the rep and not the policy. So if they really can't help you but they tried, rate them based on their work and not the company policy. In the west coast, we really rely on our statistics.


This may be funny.

So we know that riders are increasingly pissed off with the falling standards of UBER drivers. Down-rating them which ultimately sees them pushed out the door.

Drivers are increasingly pissed off with riders and down-rating them.

Drivers getting pissed off with Uber policies and taking it out by down rating CSRs that are then booted out.

Uber and their wonderful rating system which is based on so much prejudice, bad feelings, megalomania and spite could ultimately leave them with nothing.

Ahh! If there are robot cars, doing robot consistent pickups, BANG! There goes 2 sources of ratings. No rider ratings, as they are basically told "this is your UBERX service, be ready when it turns up, get in, shut up and thank you". If riders don't like it - stuff cheese!

Fewer interactions/ complaints = fewer CSRs.

We are all bound for the chopping block!


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## newsboy559 (Oct 14, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I work with some really nice, polite drivers who come back to me for their issues time and again.


From the way you said this, it sounds like it is possible to email a CSR directly. Is this the case? And if so, how is it done. The only email I've ever known for driver issues is the [email protected] address. And of course, every time you email, you get a response from someone else.

You said you deal with some nice drivers. Likewise, I've dealt with some nice CSR's. Granted, the majority just plain suck. They clearly don't even read the email past the first five words and respond with a canned response they think best suits the topic.

At any rate, I'd like to be able to email directly with a couple CSR's that I've actually had a very nice experience with. It would be much easier than having to deal with trying to get someone understand what I'm trying to say in nine emails or less.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

newsboy559 said:


> From the way you said this, it sounds like it is possible to email a CSR directly. Is this the case? And if so, how is it done. The only email I've ever known for driver issues is the [email protected] address. And of course, every time you email, you get a response from someone else.
> 
> You said you deal with some nice drivers. Likewise, I've dealt with some nice CSR's. Granted, the majority just plain suck. They clearly don't even read the email past the first five words and respond with a canned response they think best suits the topic.
> 
> At any rate, I'd like to be able to email directly with a couple CSR's that I've actually had a very nice experience with. It would be much easier than having to deal with trying to get someone understand what I'm trying to say in nine emails or less.


Emailing support puts your message in a general queue that CSRs are working in. The ones who come back, they just reply to a previous email chain with that CSR. If it hasn't been TOO long, you'll get the same CSR. If it's been too long, it goes into the queue for anyone. Note - some areas enforce the rule about 1 issue per email and you'll be asked to write a new message. So it's kind of a toss-up whether you'll get the result you want.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Wow! That's some statement. Uber's advantage in the marketplace was that it was really quick on its feet able to Implement change and keep one step ahead of both reglatory bodies and competition.
> 
> To think that now they are suffering from and inertia built up by its own bureaucracy is quite ironic. Like you suggest they simply need to back up and turn the other direction in some of the policy directions that have been taken


I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing. I know that riders won't mind paying a little more if it means better quality, because I'm the cheapest of the cheapskates and I'll pay more for quality. The rates are pushing out the experienced drivers who know what they're doing and the amateurs who don't know any better are all that's left.


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## newsboy559 (Oct 14, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing. I know that riders won't mind paying a little more if it means better quality, because I'm the cheapest of the cheapskates and I'll pay more for quality. The rates are pushing out the experienced drivers who know what they're doing and the amateurs who don't know any better are all that's left.


Travis has said in the past that he wants to get the price of UberX cheaper than a bus fare. Well, if you lower your price to that of a bus fare, you're going to compete with bus fare quality passengers... and the same quality drivers.


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Wow! That's some statement. Uber's advantage in the marketplace was that it was really quick on its feet able to Implement change and keep one step ahead of both reglatory bodies and competition.
> 
> To think that now they are suffering from and inertia built up by its own bureaucracy is quite ironic. Like you suggest they simply need to back up and turn the other direction in some of the policy directions that have been taken


This is a common issue with companies who explode overnight. The situation here is I think most at Uber have never worked in a company where sustainable growth was the strategy. Just pure growth without consequence. 2015 will be a turning point year for Uber. If they don't start looking at the quality of their product and the satisfaction of drivers as part of the strategy you will see that negative impact on their bottom line.

If they don't start to look at a direction change they won't make it to an IPO as they will find themselves half the value they are today. Then the next people who will turn on it's creators who's compensation packages are tied to the companies success.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing. I know that riders won't mind paying a little more if it means better quality, because I'm the cheapest of the cheapskates and I'll pay more for quality. The rates are pushing out the experienced drivers who know what they're doing and the amateurs who don't know any better are all that's left.


Who's left driving figured out a way to survive driving for less than real fare money by Uber paying hourly guarantees and those who are Santander captive drivers who have a lease bill to pay, who would likely quickly go broke without the hourly guarantees. Probably true everywhere except NYC.


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## The Kid (Dec 10, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> ... suck donkey dick...


Reminds me of a show I saw in Tijuana Mexico in the 80's.


----------



## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing. I know that riders won't mind paying a little more if it means better quality, because I'm the cheapest of the cheapskates and I'll pay more for quality. The rates are pushing out the experienced drivers who know what they're doing and the amateurs who don't know any better are all that's left.


Maybe it's Ubers intention to get rid of the smart drivers. Usually smart people become leaders. Uber doesn't like leaders, unless you are part of Uber corporate.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing.


To understand what a company is doing, you have to try to think like the CEO thinks.

The guy is highly intelligent, but has pissed people off left and right throughout his career. Imagine Dr. Gregory House from the TV show "House" being the CEO of a service company. It would operate like Uber.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

newsboy559 said:


> Travis has said in the past that he wants to get the price of UberX cheaper than a bus fare. Well, if you lower your price to that of a bus fare, you're going to compete with bus fare quality passengers... and the same quality drivers.


Well that's great when you're transporting passengers in bulk. It's like having a nice four seat restaurant and then selling the food at McDonalds prices. I don't know why the fancypants CEO doesn't understand this concept.


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## jackstraww (Jan 20, 2015)

3 pages of niceness to you guys- - See what happens with honesty- -
So much better hearing verbiage from Support that doesn't sound company line robotic . I like that you cop to being one of us...
I dont even like to admit that Im one of us...


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Actionjax said:


> This is a common issue with companies who explode overnight. The situation here is I think most at Uber have never worked in a company where sustainable growth was the strategy. Just pure growth without consequence. 2015 will be a turning point year for Uber. If they don't start looking at the quality of their product and the satisfaction of drivers as part of the strategy you will see that negative impact on their bottom line.
> 
> If they don't start to look at a direction change they won't make it to an IPO as they will find themselves half the value they are today. Then the next people who will turn on it's creators who's compensation packages are tied to the companies success.


Breaking news: Uber is losing money.. When your drop your prices by 40% in markets you will lose money. Uber does not have a massive product line to offset their cuts which time & time again shown in markets never works.


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## uberguy_in_ct (Dec 29, 2014)

Txchick said:


> Breaking news: Uber is losing money.. When your drop your prices by 40% in markets you will lose money. Uber does not have a massive product line to offset their cuts which time & time again shown in markets never works.


Between the rate cuts, guarantees, lawsuits and all the promo codes they should be hemorrhaging money. Most of the promo code users I've picked up will be back on the bus after they use up their promo money. The brand is definitely going downhill fast with disgruntled drivers who aren't making enough to give a shit. Who wants to give 5* service at a 1* price. Good drivers are smart enough to quit after realizing they are going broke and playing Russian Roulette with insurance issues. I stopped driving last week until I can be assured that I won't lose everything in an accident.


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## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

I am often amazed at the number of pax I have that are on promos. I give my rider promo instead of the driver one. Screw $5. I go for the $20 ride. So that's $30 they pay out for a first time rider. I had one guy tell me he never has paid for Uber. He has like 5 e mail accounts and he promos himself free rides. So he has gotten 10 free rides alone.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Uberdawg said:


> I am often amazed at the number of pax I have that are on promos. I give my rider promo instead of the driver one. Screw $5. I go for the $20 ride. So that's $30 they pay out for a first time rider. I had one guy tell me he never has paid for Uber. He has like 5 e mail accounts and he promos himself free rides. So he has gotten 10 free rides alone.


He shows up as five users to the investors.

I can't wait until the investors wake up to the bullshit they're being fed.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Uberdawg said:


> I am often amazed at the number of pax I have that are on promos. I give my rider promo instead of the driver one. Screw $5. I go for the $20 ride. So that's $30 they pay out for a first time rider. I had one guy tell me he never has paid for Uber. He has like 5 e mail accounts and he promos himself free rides. So he has gotten 10 free rides alone.


If you want a rider like that to have a bad day, report them for promo fraud.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I just have a hard time wrapping my head around what they're doing. I know that riders won't mind paying a little more if it means better quality, because I'm the cheapest of the cheapskates and I'll pay more for quality. The rates are pushing out the experienced drivers who know what they're doing and the amateurs who don't know any better are all that's left.


As a CSR How do you know driver quality is going down?


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Sacto Burbs said:


> As a CSR How do you know driver quality is going down?


There's been a large increase in the number of complaints from riders saying that the quality is going down. That was something I very rarely ran across when I started last year. If it were just a few emails here and there I wouldn't think much about it but it's become a daily thing. We all look for trends in the queues so we can spot any possible technical glitches/outages and report them, so we happen to notice other trends as well.


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## Long time Nyc cab driver (Dec 12, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> There's been a large increase in the number of complaints from riders saying that the quality is going down.


Who do the riders what driving them 17 year old supermodels who are mensa members ?? Lol.
Entitled pricks.


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## Rubyson&sme (Dec 1, 2014)

I don't have any questions, I'm a Lyft driver. I'm just here for the free brownies...oh and those great little free water bottles.

Oh wait! I do have a question? Boxer or briefs?


----------



## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Txchick said:


> Breaking news: Uber is losing money.. When your drop your prices by 40% in markets you will lose money. Uber does not have a massive product line to offset their cuts which time & time again shown in markets never works.


You or I don't know that for sure. I think profitability is measured per market. On the whole I would guess they are break even at this point. No one will know for sure. Uber has very low cost overhead for a company that has an international reach. And right now most expenses are funneled to lawyers or lobbyists. As they win each market they can move their resources elsewhere.

To be honest I just don't know. But acquisition of customers in any business always has a price. And I know people around here say that taking Uber is so cheap they use it more than they should. In many cases they have expanded to people who never would take a taxi to and from work.


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## McGillicutty (Jan 12, 2015)

Actionjax said:


> You or I don't know that for sure. I think profitability is measured per market. On the whole I would guess they are break even at this point. No one will know for sure. Uber has very low cost overhead for a company that has an international reach. And right now most expenses are funneled to lawyers or lobbyists. As they win each market they can move their resources elsewhere.
> 
> To be honest I just don't know. But acquisition of customers in any business always has a price. And I know people around here say that taking Uber is so cheap they use it more than they should. *In many cases they have expanded to people who never would take a taxi to and from work*.


It went past being a taxi alternative months ago. More and more pax are using Uber/Lyft, etc because their car is in the shop or it was totalled, stolen, etc. These are people that would've rented, hassled their friends/family/neighbors, or taken a bus. They were not people that used taxis on a regular basis.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> *There's been a large increase in the number of complaints from riders saying that the quality is going down. *That was something I very rarely ran across when I started last year. If it were just a few emails here and there I wouldn't think much about it but it's become a daily thing. We all look for trends in the queues so we can spot any possible technical glitches/outages and report them, so we happen to notice other trends as well.


I can only imagine how far driver/vehicle quality has deteriorated in other markets than NYC after all the rate slashing. The only drivers remaining are quantifiable math idiots. Certainly would reflect through everything such an idiot would do. The no credit, previously unemployable Santandered debt slave living in mommy's basement wearing a #3 Dale Sr. Nascar baseball cap, jeans and a t-shirt driver working on establishing their beer belly, now with a full time yob Ubering.


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> I can only imagine how far driver/vehicle quality has deteriorated in other markets than NYC after all the rate slashing. The only drivers remaining are quantifiable math idiots. Certainly would reflect through everything such an idiot would do. The no credit, previously unemployable Santandered debt slave living in mommy's basement wearing a #3 Dale Sr. Nascar baseball cap, jeans and a t-shirt driver working on establishing their beer belly, now with a full time yob Ubering.


Don't worry they supplement the Uber driving with making moonshine. Also cuts down on vehicle costs because you can use it as an alternative fuel.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Long time Nyc cab driver said:


> Who do the riders what driving them 17 year old supermodels who are mensa members ?? Lol.
> Entitled pricks.


Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

omg


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## Long time Nyc cab driver (Dec 12, 2014)

Pee Wee Herman? ?


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## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


The next e mail we get from Uber will add carrying condoms to insure a 5* experience.


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


Wow...funniest story of the year by far.


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## uberguy_in_ct (Dec 29, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


Intead of telling someone to 'get a room' just tell them to 'get an uber'. After where his hands were I don't think I'd complain about no tip.


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

I have a question for the drivers here. I see a lot of drivers working on the weekend which I'm sure is great for money but there are so many vomit and cleaning tickets that come in. Do you keep sick bags in the car? If not, why not?


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

kane said:


> I have a question for the drivers here. I see a lot of drivers working on the weekend which I'm sure is great for money but there are so many vomit and cleaning tickets that come in. Do you keep sick bags in the car? If not, why not?


Because the cleaning fee for some are better than what they would have been paid for the night.

But to be serious sometimes it's already too late. Drunks can't even get their heads out the window never mind hit a small bag. And I wouldn't want to promote "I have a bag so I'm ok to puke in the car" I can pull over and they can go outside of the car.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

kane said:


> I have a question for the drivers here. I see a lot of drivers working on the weekend which I'm sure is great for money but there are so many vomit and cleaning tickets that come in. Do you keep sick bags in the car? If not, why not?


Bags are fine as long as you have a sober enough co-pax to tie it around their necks.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Uberdawg said:


> The next e mail we get from Uber will add carrying condoms to insure a 5* experience.


Don't say that too loud, they might hear you. Months ago we had another ticket, one of those that everyone just HAD to see. A couple got it on in the back seat and the driver took pictures so he could provide proof when he put in his complaint. Luckily they were a fan of doing it cowgirl style. You just saw a clothed back, bare cheeks and two hands lol That one is famous.


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## Rubyson&sme (Dec 1, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Don't say that too loud, they might hear you. Months ago we had another ticket, one of those that everyone just HAD to see. A couple got it on in the back seat and the driver took pictures so he could provide proof when he put in his complaint. Luckily they were a fan of doing it cowgirl style. You just saw a clothed back, bare cheeks and two hands lol That one is famous.


I was gonna *"like"* this, but, that doesn't seem to be the correct descriptive word...maybe more appropriate would be, *"Ewwww!!!!"*.....*Not in my car!!*


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## Yankee (Feb 22, 2015)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


I really appreciate this note, CSR. I didn't know these things, and it helps me to understand. I've had very inconsistent experiences with Uber CSR. Some are awesome, some just suck, and some clearly don't give a shit about my issue. In person I've never met one that wasn't flat out awesome. I think the way Uber treats its people will be its undoing. Thank you for your piece here, and for the effort you put in trying to help us.


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## kane (Feb 28, 2015)

Yankee said:


> I really appreciate this note, CSR. I didn't know these things, and it helps me to understand. I've had very inconsistent experiences with Uber CSR. Some are awesome, some just suck, and some clearly don't give a shit about my issue. In person I've never met one that wasn't flat out awesome. I think the way Uber treats its people will be its undoing. Thank you for your piece here, and for the effort you put in trying to help us.


I'm glad to help. I don't care what religion or lack thereof someone is, most teach a form of 'treat others like you would want to be treated'. I try to do that as much as possible. Even on days when nothing goes right and everyone is yelling for something. : )


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

Long time Nyc cab driver said:


> Well that's Screwber, your job will be outsourced to India or the Philippines. Welcome to the new economy where nobody is an employee or gets benefits.
> BTW, we know that you're not an employee of Uber and sit home in your underware.


There's nothing wrong with sitting at home in front of your computer in your underware NYC!! ....LOL
(least you're not losing money at .90/mile while you're at home)


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

brikosig said:


> There's nothing wrong with sitting at home in front of your computer in your underware NYC!! ....LOL
> (least you're not losing money at .90/mile while you're at home)


And you can make good money doing it if you have a webcam.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

brikosig said:


> There's nothing wrong with sitting at home in front of your computer in your underware NYC!! ....LOL
> (least you're not losing money at .90/mile while you're at home)


I work from home. Never done the underwear thing. But pajama pants and t-shirt are quite common. And sometimes I don't shower until the afternoon, because I slept until 8.58 AM and only woke up for a 9:00 AM meeting.


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> I work from home. Never done the underwear thing. But pajama pants and t-shirt are quite common. And sometimes I don't shower until the afternoon, because I slept until 8.58 AM and only woke up for a 9:00 AM meeting.


What's a shower??? (...when I'm working in my studio during the day)


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Yep same here. Working from home all bets are off on appearance and hygiene. Mind you lately working from home has been few and far between. Way to many face to face meetings. And I think they put something addictive in our new coffee machine.


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## eaglesfansurfin88 (Mar 19, 2015)

From what I understand, 99% of the drivers on Uber are not covered by their Insurance for "service for hire" driving. Frankly, we are all rolling the dice hoping not to get in an accident. Are there any plans that you are aware of to change this?


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

3 Suggestions for Uber

1/ Make Airplane-Style- Sick-bags available for free pickup at ye Local Uber office

2/


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


LMFAO!! Briklliant!!......Kinda puts sitting home in front of your computer in your underware into perspective ...eh??


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Casuale Haberdasher said:


> POST #1 /@ kane : Hello and Welcome
> to
> UP.Net Forums. Happy St. Patrick'sDay.
> 
> ...


Ah, our CSRs have received their
"blessing" from the Outer Limits. 
Happy and be. Pharell says it
best. You're welcome!!!


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

First... Thx to Typist + Kane for helping out.

Question....
I've sent pax complaints to csr's a few times.... knowing that those pax dinged me with a low rating. I politely asked the csr to remove whatever rating they gave me but all they answer with is, "i'll see what I can do". Do you/does Uber remove bad ratings when it's obviously a pax who's been a jerk. I have near 1K drives and a consistent 4.85/4.86 rating so it's not like I get many low ratings. Sometimes small "shit" like that does a lot to positively impact an employees attitude about the company they work for.


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

Do csr's keep track of who the PIA drivers are and who the nice drivers are, those who you exchange emails with. ...and if so, how much does that impact your attitude toward them?


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

brikosig said:


> First... Thx to Typist + Kane for helping out.
> 
> Question....
> I've sent pax complaints to csr's a few times.... knowing that those pax dinged me with a low rating. I politely asked the csr to remove whatever rating they gave me but all they answer with is, "i'll see what I can do". Do you/does Uber remove bad ratings when it's obviously a pax who's been a jerk. I have near 1K drives and a consistent 4.85/4.86 rating so it's not like I get many low ratings. Sometimes small "shit" like that does a lot to positively impact an employees attitude about the company they work for.


Nope, never. It can't be done, we quit trying. "I'll see what I can do" is what we say when we feel bad and don't want to flat out say no.


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## Goober (Oct 16, 2014)

I only use CSR interactions to report serious passenger behavior issues.

If pax are reported by a driver for being malicious/vulgar/rude, door slamming etc. does CSR reach out to the passenger or do they just let the one-star stand?

What's the so called "appropriate action" you're taking with these pax?


----------



## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

How do you two like this job description for Director of (Uber) Corporation Societal Responsibility?

_*Job description -*At Uber, we care about the communities that we serve and are excited to build programs to continue to serve them better. There are endless ways we can build on the work we are currently doing to use our technology to creatively support and foster communities, and we're looking for a leader to drive these initiatives and turn ideas into a reality._

_*WHAT YOU'LL DO*

Define and implement CSR programs for charitable giving, volunteerism and community development.
Develop and manage regional community affairs efforts to ensure that the global program is consistent and represents the Uber mission.
Develop the CSR playbook for Uber and roll the program out globally.
Manage Uber Foundation grants, governance, budget and activities.
Will assure CSR activities, products and services are known and understood in a way that reaches our users and promotes Uber's corporate culture
_https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/26939733


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

brikosig said:


> Do csr's keep track of who the PIA drivers are and who the nice drivers are, those who you exchange emails with. ...and if so, how much does that impact your attitude toward them?


Well, we don't really have to keep track. The system does it for us, letting us view all their past tickets. This doesn't come into play much unless it's an iffy situation where you things could go either way. If the driver is higher rated, has done a lot of trips, we err on the side of giving them the benefit of the doubt in whatever situation it is.

One example - A driver wrote in for a cleaning fee, they were given the appropriate amount based on the pictures, he writes back saying it cost him $300 just for cleaning alone. Now in a situation like this we would ask for a receipt but of course he doesn't have one. So look at his past tickets - turns out he's asked for very high cleaning fees before and was quite rude about it when he was told no, to the point the CSR was totally done and sent it to their manager to deal with. We might have considered it because of the magnitude of the mess (and he would have gotten it with a legit receipt) but without the receipt for proof, it's up to our discretion. Because he pulled something similar before, he got what we originally gave him and not a penny more.

Moral of the story: CSRs can see every email you've ever sent in.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Goober said:


> I only use CSR interactions to report serious passenger behavior issues.
> 
> If pax are reported by a driver for being malicious/vulgar/rude, door slamming etc. does CSR reach out to the passenger or do they just let the one-star stand?
> 
> What's the so called "appropriate action" you're taking with these pax?


If the passenger was just difficult and the behavior wasn't all that bad, we just solve out. If it's bad enough, the rider will get a letter from management asking them to kindly knock it off. If it's really bad, instant ban and no message to the rider at all. If they write in, management lets them know why they're banned but that's pretty much the end of it. This is all done by managers, we have no part in the decision making process whether it's a letter or a ban.

We're never directly told what happens, we just see it in past tickets.


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

SCdave said:


> How do you two like this job description for Director of (Uber) Corporation Societal Responsibility?
> 
> _*Job description -*At Uber, we care about the communities that we serve and are excited to build programs to continue to serve them better. There are endless ways we can build on the work we are currently doing to use our technology to creatively support and foster communities, and we're looking for a leader to drive these initiatives and turn ideas into a reality._
> 
> ...


POST # 97 /@SCdave : "Outer Limits" Bison
here
thanking you for the "Like out of the
blue"and Posting the DCSR/Linked In
description. Funny, no mention of Butt
Piracy or CircleJerking on FrattyBoi 
Fridays that are apparently Esteemed 
Aspects of this Corporation's Culchah.


----------



## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

thehappyypist said:


> Nope, never. It can't be done, we quit trying. "I'll see what I can do" is what we say when we feel bad and don't want to flat out say no.


Thought so.... Thx Typist
But it's just a simple "click" for csr's to take away that $8 no show fee from us drivers, (not blaming you). That's such F'n bullshit.


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Well, we don't really have to keep track. The system does it for us, letting us view all their past tickets. This doesn't come into play much unless it's an iffy situation where you things could go either way. If the driver is higher rated, has done a lot of trips, we err on the side of giving them the benefit of the doubt in whatever situation it is.
> 
> One example - A driver wrote in for a cleaning fee, they were given the appropriate amount based on the pictures, he writes back saying it cost him $300 just for cleaning alone. Now in a situation like this we would ask for a receipt but of course he doesn't have one. So look at his past tickets - turns out he's asked for very high cleaning fees before and was quite rude about it when he was told no, to the point the CSR was totally done and sent it to their manager to deal with. We might have considered it because of the magnitude of the mess (and he would have gotten it with a legit receipt) but without the receipt for proof, it's up to our discretion. Because he pulled something similar before, he got what we originally gave him and not a penny more.
> 
> Moral of the story: CSRs can see every email you've ever sent in.


Got it..... that makes sense. As a person who's been respectful to the csr's in the past and who's got a decent drive record I was actually hoping that would be your answer. Thx Again.


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## brikosig (Dec 16, 2014)

I know you have no control over the insurance situation..... BUT THEY MUST FIX THAT SITUATION.... we're screwed if we get in an accident.

Do the bosses realize how much of a problem this is for the drivers... with our necks hanging out there??


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## UberFizzle (Sep 16, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> If the passenger was just difficult and the behavior wasn't all that bad, we just solve out. If it's bad enough, the rider will get a letter from management asking them to kindly knock it off. If it's really bad, instant ban and no message to the rider at all. If they write in, management lets them know why they're banned but that's pretty much the end of it. This is all done by managers, we have no part in the decision making process whether it's a letter or a ban.
> 
> We're never directly told what happens, we just see it in past tickets.


Recently, I had a passenger who told me about the time when he murdered someone. A shot to the head, I believe was what he said. He then continued to pull up the news stories on his phone to show me the proof (while I'm driving with the sun directly in my eyes, because clearly, his story of how he murdered someone was more important than me driving us safely). I told Uber to never match me with him again. I've barely gone back online after that incident. What would Uber do (if anything) in that type of situation?

I while ago (on super bowl Sunday), I had a passenger yell, curse me out, and then slam my door forcefully because I wouldn't take 5 in my car. I reported it to Uber. They said they'd take appropriate action. What do you think they'd do in that type of situation?

I asked a manager if Uber is going to do anything to retain their top drivers. No answer yet.

I'm much happier driving on Postmates' platform. I'd rather work 10 hours with Postmates than 5 hours with Uber for the same pay. I've done pretty well on Uber's platform (ratings, feedback, and everything), so it's saddening to know that my decrease in driving hours doesn't bother them (that I know of).


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

UberFizzle said:


> Recently, I had a passenger who told me about the time when he murdered someone. A shot to the head, I believe was what he said. He then continued to pull up the news stories on his phone to show me the proof (while I'm driving with the sun directly in my eyes, because clearly, his story of how he murdered someone was more important than me driving us safely). I told Uber to never match me with him again. I've barely gone back online after that incident. What would Uber do (if anything) in that type of situation?
> 
> I while ago (on super bowl Sunday), I had a passenger yell, curse me out, and then slam my door forcefully because I wouldn't take 5 in my car. I reported it to Uber. They said they'd take appropriate action. What do you think they'd do in that type of situation?
> 
> ...


Wow that first scenario is a tough one. If you genuinely felt threatened, it may get him a ban, but it's really hard to say. I don't think they'll ban just because of some news articles, I think it would take actual behavior towards a driver.

Yelling and slamming the door, probably not a ban, unless is was some hella nasty verbal abuse (racist slurs etc).

I would be highly surprised if you did get a response about retaining drivers. If you do, it'll be full of rah-rah junk.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Thanks for joining and posting. Most drivers who've been Ubering for more than a month or two know your situation and empathize... but I'm very glad you posted this for new drivers to read and as a reminder for those who forget that you too are an independent contractor to Uber.


Im confused. @thehappytypist says that they're not ICs, but rather Temps with some benefits, and the OP thinks s/he's an IC with no benefits. Who's right?


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Im confused. @thehappytypist says that they're not ICs, but rather Temps with some benefits, and the OP thinks s/he's an IC with no benefits. Who's right?


A lot of temp companies provide services by IC's, so they may be both. The temp companies are not the employers of the temps/IC's they provide in most cases.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Im confused. @thehappytypist says that they're not ICs, but rather Temps with some benefits, and the OP thinks s/he's an IC with no benefits. Who's right?


I believe you are correct...
I shouldn't have said CSRs are IC's -
just at the same risk level of losing their livelihood as ICs.
But I am not certain... I've heard some CSRs say they are IC's - and others say they are temps with NO benefits (no free rides, no PTO, no healthcare, etc).
<shrug>


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Im confused. @thehappytypist says that they're not ICs, but rather Temps with some benefits, and the OP thinks s/he's an IC with no benefits. Who's right?





scrurbscrud said:


> A lot of temp companies provide services by IC's, so they may be both. The temp companies are not the employers of the temps/IC's they provide in most cases.





Michael - Cleveland said:


> I believe you are correct...
> I shouldn't have said CSRs are IC's -
> just at the same risk level of losing their livelihood as ICs.
> But I am not certain... I've heard some CSRs say they are IC's - and others say they are temps with NO benefits (no free rides, no PTO, no healthcare, etc).
> <shrug>


CSRs are temporary employees. We filled out W4's, they deduct all the taxes from our pay, health benefits are offered, it's been confirmed that some who have been let go are drawing unemployment (they apparently don't put up a fight).

This is a model that's incredibly common with at home jobs, only about 2% (wild guess) hire at home employees directly. Basically they get a contract from the client. They get the training materials, management is trained, the client tells them what they want (tons of stuff involved). From there, the company is in charge of basically everything, including hiring and firing. This is why a lot of at home jobs don't pay well - the company needs to be competitive when it comes to costs so they get more clients. They can fire you at the drop of a hat because these places usually hire only in at will employment states. If the client decides to terminate the contract with the company, every single person assigned to that client lose their jobs. It's rare that they get to move to another project, they don't usually have room.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> There's been a large increase in the number of complaints from riders saying that the quality is going down. That was something I very rarely ran across when I started last year. If it were just a few emails here and there I wouldn't think much about it but it's become a daily thing. We all look for trends in the queues so we can spot any possible technical glitches/outages and report them, so we happen to notice other trends as well.


Um, Yeah! I'm telling you, I have cancelled nearly every UberX ride I've requested in the past 3 months due to things like 4.4 ratings, or drugged-out-lookin profile pics.... What is Uber thinking? I still can't wrap my mind around it.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> To understand what a company is doing, you have to try to think like the CEO thinks.
> 
> The guy is highly intelligent, but has pissed people off left and right throughout his career. Imagine Dr. Gregory House from the TV show "House" being the CEO of a service company. It would operate like Uber.


Let's talk about his history a little more. Smart he may be, but that alone doesn't award you success. The brand is definitely taking a hit, and many great minds have failed miserably, as have many great ideas. Don't you read Malcolm Gladwell books?


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Well that's great when you're transporting passengers in bulk. It's like having a nice four seat restaurant and then selling the food at McDonalds prices. I don't know why the fancypants CEO doesn't understand this concept.


I think he (as well as all the other recently graduated millennial MBAs who work as managers) understands this just fine. He's just hoping to prey upon desperate and/or delusional drivers.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Let's talk about his history a little more. Smart he may be, but that alone doesn't award you success. The brand is definitely taking a hit, and many great minds have failed miserably, as have many great ideas. Don't you read Malcolm Gladwell books?


Here is a good deep dive into his history: http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-travis-kalanick-bio-2014-1

This part from his RedSwoosh days is very consistent with how he operates at Uber today:

**********
Kalanick's colleagues also grew tired of his tendency to spin every situation in his favor.

"If somebody chooses to disassociate themselves from Travis, I don't think it's because he's a bad guy," a former friend says. "I think it's because they see what he's doing, all the selling, and they don't want to deal with that anymore."

Meanwhile, all but one of the company's engineers, Evan Tsang, departed. Many left angry, partly because they had gone various lengths of time without being paid, and partly over disputes involving stock options.

"Some sort of recapitalization was attempted at one point," a former RedSwoosh employee says. "People got different option grants, where the amount of shares ballooned. There was a lot of confusion as to what stock options were worth and how people should exercise them...and a lot of people ended up feeling cheated."

Eventually, Tsang, too, walked out, moving over to Google, where Todd was then employed.

**********


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


Pepper spray hammer time


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

kane said:


> I'm glad to help.


Uber CSR trademark language


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Here is a good deep dive into his history: http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-travis-kalanick-bio-2014-1


yeah, but you gotta hand it to him:
_"There is absolutely no way this business would have gotten where it is without Travis and his arrogance," says an acquaintance of Kalanick's. "Not without him being like, 'I'm going to take over the world.' He has the Steve Jobs mentality that 'It's my way or the highway.'"_​Still, it just sucks what they've done this past year with fares.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> yeah, but you gotta hand it to him:
> _"There is absolutely no way this business would have gotten where it is without Travis and his arrogance," says an acquaintance of Kalanick's. "Not without him being like, 'I'm going to take over the world.' He has the Steve Jobs mentality that 'It's my way or the highway.'"_​Still, it just sucks what they've done this past year with fares.


That's great when the work is to move digital packets around with servers. The packets and servers just do what they're told to do.

But when the work is to move people around with drivers, it's going to unfold quite differently.


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Pepper spray hammer time


Or just have a cold shower installed


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> That's great when the work is to move digital packets around with servers. The packets and servers just do what they're told to do. But when the work is to move people around with drivers, it's going to unfold quite differently.


BTW... thank-you big time for the link to the Business Insider article.

Simply unbelievable reading that article, a year after-the-fact, and seeing the author note how amazing the "$3.14 Billion" valuation was... considering it is now more than 10 times that just 12 months later.

This is the stuff of which Harvard Business courses are made.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> BTW... thank-you big time for the link to the Business Insider article.
> 
> Simply unbelievable reading that article, a year after-the-fact, and seeing the author note how amazing the "$3.14 Billion" valuation was... considering it is now more than 10 times that just 12 months later.
> 
> This is the stuff of which Harvard Business courses are made.


The guy is a genius with technology. With people however, he's a moron.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> Um, Yeah! I'm telling you, I have cancelled nearly every UberX ride I've requested in the past 3 months due to things like 4.4 ratings, or drugged-out-lookin profile pics.... What is Uber thinking? I still can't wrap my mind around it.


Random onboarding every unemployed or under paid lame brain with a car and extra time on their hands is NOT good biz.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> The guy is a genius with technology. With people however, he's a moron.


hehe... except 'dumb' people generally want to get smarter. I get the distinct impression that Mr. K is perfectly comfortable with who he is. Based on that article, it seems there's little doubt he sees the [unprecedented] success of Uber as vindication for all of the decisions, attitude and actions he made in his early years.

Sounds exactly like Steve Jobs.
And people forget what a jerk Bill Gates was in his younger years.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> hehe... except 'dumb' people generally want to get smarter. I get the distinct impression that Mr. K is perfectly comfortable with who he is. Based on that article, it seems there's little doubt he sees the [unprecedented] success of Uber as vindication for all of the decisions, attitude and actions he made in his early years.
> 
> Sounds exactly like Steve Jobs.
> And people forget what a jerk Bill Gates was in his younger years.


The significant difference between Jobs and Kalanick is that Jobs wanted the customer to receive the epitome of quality. He wouldn't settle for anything the customer could complain about. Complaints were eliminated by perfecting the product. Kalanick on the other hand has setup a system that isolates him from the complaints. The customer is now getting shit for quality. Jobs would have never allowed that.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> The significant difference between Jobs and Kalanick is that Jobs wanted the customer to receive the epitome of quality. He wouldn't settle for anything the customer could complain about. Complaints were eliminated by perfecting the product. Kalanick on the other hand has setup a system that isolates him from the complaints. The customer is now getting shit for quality. Jobs would have never allowed that.


Well, we'll have to disagree on that one. While Jobs vision was for perfection in design, apple has always had its own product quality problems - and for decades, Apple was 'the other' player in its industry. Uber, on the other hand, is the market leader and is focused on establishing market conditions that will make it impossible for anyone to encroach on Uber's market share of the industry it basically created.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Well, we'll have to disagree on that one. While Jobs vision was for perfection in design, apple has always had its own product quality problems - and for decades, Apple was 'the other' player in its industry. Uber, on the other hand, is the market leader and is focused on establishing market conditions that will make it impossible for anyone to encroach on Uber's market share of the industry it basically created.


Apple's product quality problems began when John Scully replaced Jobs as CEO. Jobs was restricted to work only on the Macintosh, which of course led to IBM and clones beating out the next generations of the Apple II in the commercial sales. The Jobs led Macintosh however was loved by consumers because of its quality. Jobs was so keen on the mistakes they were making in quality on the commercial products that he rocked the boat trying to get them to listen to him... so much so that he was asked to leave. He said he was fired.

Jobs was eventually brought back, which led to the creation of iTunes, then the iPod, then the iPhone and then the iPad... all market leading products at least for a time after they were introduced. Had the company not made the Scully route mistake, Apple would have had an entirely different history.

Uber is the market leader, but it has become what it is despite itself. It's very similar to Blackberry. And unless they start focusing on what consumers want (a mistake Blackberry learned the hard way), they will lose the market share that they have. Blackberry just a few years ago had 70% of the market and was worth $80 billion.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> ...unless they start focusing on what consumers want ...they will lose the market share that they have.


And that's where I think you may be mistaking driver dissatisfaction (a short term problem, easily addressed in flash) with the consuming public's overall incredible satisfaction with the product offerings. X, LUX, XL, Black... soon, deliveries. Just because we're here airing our complaints and misgivings doesn't mean that the majority of consumers do not like the product. In my small and anecdotal observations of comments from PAX in the rides I have given, 100% believe the service to be 'un-freaking believable'. Not ONE pax who used to use taxis service has said they prefer taxi service. 100% satisfaction - that's unheard of in any industry. Ben & Jerry's can't launch a new ice-cream flavor without having some percentage of customers say it sucks.

As a driver, I do not like the 'here and now' of the current state-of-affairs for drivers... but I do understand the strategy and the tactics employed to affect that strategy. I'm an arrogant sort of guy and even I could not do what Mr. K is doing...
but that's what's making him so successful with Uber:
He's willing to do what most people are not.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

besides, as far as comparisons go, we're talking Apples and Ubers here. <ducking>


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> And that's where I think you may be mistaking driver dissatisfaction (a short term problem, easily addressed in flash) with the consuming public's overall incredible satisfaction with the product offerings. X, LUX, XL, Black... soon, deliveries. Just because we're here airing our complaints and misgivings doesn't mean that the majority of consumers do not like the product. In my small and anecdotal observations of comments from PAX in the rides I have given, 100% believe the service to be 'un-freaking believable'. Not ONE pax who used to use taxis service has said they prefer taxi service. 100% satisfaction - that's unheard of in any industry. Ben & Jerry's can't launch a new ice-cream flavor without having some percentage of customers say it sucks.
> 
> As a driver, I do not like the 'here and now' of the current state-of-affairs for drivers... but I do understand the strategy and the tactics employed to affect that strategy. I'm an arrogant sort of guy and even I could not do what Mr. K is doing...
> but that's what's making him so successful with Uber:
> He's willing to do what most people are not.


I don't equate Uber's quality problem to driver dissatisfaction. It's simply a matter of cost and time. The quality that built Uber into what it is today isn't maintainable at these rates.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> I don't equate Uber's quality problem to driver dissatisfaction. It's simply a matter of cost and time. The quality that built Uber into what it is today isn't maintainable at these rates.


 Amen.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> I don't equate Uber's quality problem to driver dissatisfaction. It's simply a matter of cost and time. The quality that built Uber into what it is today isn't maintainable at these rates.


I agree completely. And it may just be the optimist in me, but I also believe it is not Uber's intention to keep rates below the profitable level for drivers any longer than necessary to eliminate competition. I don't think Uber sees 'rates' as anything more than a tool to get people to use the system and crush the competition. While I'm sure they are aware of the impact on driver's, that's not there concern (as long as they can keep attracting drivers).

Time will tell.

The second most irritating thing to me about the lowered fares themselves, is it all coming form drivers, when, in my opinion, Uber should participate in the fare cuts with some level of *fee cuts* to drivers.

One of the brilliant strategic stratgies Mr. K made was to divide countries into regions, and regions into markets with operating autonomy. The effect being that this huge gorilla in the room can move with the agility of a jaguar.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I agree completely. And it may just be the optimist in me, but I also believe it is not Uber's intention to keep rates below the profitable level for drivers any longer than necessary to eliminate competition. I don't think Uber sees 'rates' as anything more than a tool to get people to use the system and crush the competition. While I'm sure they are aware of the impact on driver's, that's not there concern (as long as they can keep attracting drivers).
> 
> Time will tell.
> 
> ...


Lowering rates & experienced drivers leaving markets better be a focus for Uber. It's there brand & experienced drivers are the face of Uber, not Uber. When I quit driving in Jan 2015 due to rate cuts I heard over & over again from pax what happened to the good Uber drivers?? Do you think I am as a outside sales rep in my full time job the first look a potential client see's? Yes I am! Our CEO trusts me to make it the best impression it can be.


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> And that's where I think you may be mistaking driver dissatisfaction (a short term problem, easily addressed in flash) with the consuming public's overall incredible satisfaction with the product offerings. X, LUX, XL, Black... soon, deliveries. Just because we're here airing our complaints and misgivings doesn't mean that the majority of consumers do not like the product. In my small and anecdotal observations of comments from PAX in the rides I have given, 100% believe the service to be 'un-freaking believable'. Not ONE pax who used to use taxis service has said they prefer taxi service. 100% satisfaction - that's unheard of in any industry. Ben & Jerry's can't launch a new ice-cream flavor without having some percentage of customers say it sucks.
> 
> As a driver, I do not like the 'here and now' of the current state-of-affairs for drivers... but I do understand the strategy and the tactics employed to affect that strategy. I'm an arrogant sort of guy and even I could not do what Mr. K is doing...
> but that's what's making him so successful with Uber:
> He's willing to do what most people are not.


Kalanick will never be a Jobs...

Not only did Jobs value quality, his goal was never "sell as many as we can", his goal was to make the absolute best products, products they wanted to use themselves, and let people buy them or not. Here's where Uber ****ed up. They're trying to push people into Select and Black car and people don't ****ing want it. They're great services but it's just a ride! From A to B! Most of the world doesn't want to be chauffeured.

Uber views rides as a product and not a service. Nobody gives a **** if a ride is 20% cheaper. Rides are not iPhones. I cannot wait until legislation settles and real competition comes along. The brand will be completely ruined and investors in the secondary market will be shakin their heads like "where did we go wrong"


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

getFubered said:


> Kalanick will never be a Jobs...
> 
> Not only did Jobs value quality, his goal was never "sell as many as we can", his goal was to make the absolute best products, products they wanted to use themselves, and let people buy them or not. Here's where Uber ****ed up. They're trying to push people into Select and Black car and people don't ****ing want it. They're great services but it's just a ride! From A to B! Most of the world doesn't want to be chauffeured.
> 
> Uber views rides as a product and not a service. Nobody gives a **** if a ride is 20% cheaper. Rides are not iPhones. I cannot wait until legislation settles and real competition comes along. The brand will be completely ruined and investors in the secondary market will be shakin their heads like "where did we go wrong"


'You sir, are no Steve Jobs'

Trivia Question: what US presidident won a debate with a similar line?


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

I've only been alive for 4 presidents, though it was prob one of them. I'll say Clinton.


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

getFubered said:


> I've only been alive for 4 presidents, though it was prob one of them. I'll say Clinton.


Close, no cigar...


----------



## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

Uber Brain Fog... Wasn't a President, but Lloyd Bentsen vs Dan Quayle

<In the vice-presidential debate that year, Bentsen hammered Republican Sen. Dan Quayle, with an artful putdown that found its way into everyday speech.

When his younger opponent compared himself to President John F. Kennedy, Bentsen, his voice dripping with disdain, retorted: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy>


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Here is a good deep dive into his history: http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-travis-kalanick-bio-2014-1
> 
> This part from his RedSwoosh days is very consistent with how he operates at Uber today:
> 
> ...


sounds like he just keeps telling people all is fine right until it goes under. See below:

As lawsuits piled up, Scour's failure grew imminent. The final days were emotionally grueling for Kalanick. But the salesman in him was indomitable, ceaselessly working the phones to make his pitch, ever hopeful of scaring up new business.

"I was getting on the phone every day still trying to make revenues because we had millions of people coming to our site," Kalanick told a group of entrepreneurs at the 2011 Failcon conference, a forum in which founders offer hard-won lessons from their business failures. "I was telling our partners [that working with us was] a strategic move. The longer I had to make that 'strategic move' pitch, the harder it was to get up in the morning."

By the time Scour finally failed, Kalanick could barely face the workday, often spending 14 hours at a time lying in bed.

"I was doing the game, fake-it-til-you-make-it, or fighting reality," he told the Failcon 2011 audience. "When you're in that failure state, it will eventually crush you."

Finally, Scour filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The assets were divvied up in a 20-minute court session.


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## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

Uberamstel said:


> 'You sir, are no Steve Jobs'
> 
> Trivia Question: what US presidident won a debate with a similar line?


Ronald Reagan

Edit: It was Bentson,. Reagan made the same quip about knowing Thomas Jefferson during '92 race between 41 and Clinton.


----------



## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

Uberamstel said:


> Close, no cigar...


Clinton. Cigar. Nuff said.


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## ubermylie (Feb 13, 2015)

You sound very nice, you are very welcome here.


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## OCBob (Jan 20, 2015)

Uberdawg said:


> Ronald Reagan
> 
> Edit: It was Bentson,. Reagan made the same quip about knowing Thomas Jefferson during '92 race between 41 and Clinton.


It was the vice president debate against Dan Quail.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

getFubered said:


> The brand will be completely ruined and investors in the secondary market will be shakin their heads like "where did we go wrong"


Uber, in 4 short years, has become not a brand, but a verb.
I hear it all the time...
"... be there in ten minutes, hun - I'm 'Ubering' to the restaurant right now".

As I noted earlier, comparing comparing Jobs to Kalanick is not the same thing as comparing Apples to Ubers.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Txchick said:


> Lowering rates & experienced drivers leaving markets better be a focus for Uber. It's there brand & experienced drivers are the face of Uber, not Uber. When I quit driving in Jan 2015 due to rate cuts I heard over & over again from pax what happened to the good Uber drivers?? Do you think I am as a outside sales rep in my full time job the first look a potential client see's? Yes I am! Our CEO trusts me to make it the best impression it can be.


I think that's short-sighted, though you may be right.
But in my opinion, there's a reason behind everything Uber does, whether you or I or anyone else agrees with it or not.

These are very smart people - the best money can buy at this point,
making decisions and testing in sand-boxes all over the world.

Remember, Uber was originally a black-car only service.
When they saw how well it worked for people with money to burn, UberX was created to serve the mass market (and bring on board drivers with the wherewithal to have a clean driving record and get their hands on a decent 4 door sedan).

Then, to boost 'customer acquisitions' in order to wow both investors and the world, Uber flooded the markets with couponing and free rides through referrals to drive up the number of customers and rides...
while at the same time rolling out UberSELECT/LUX/PLUS so that those with a bit more to spend can get the quality they want - at the same price as before the UberX fare-cuts.
Don't like the quality of Uberx cars or drivers? Call for an UberLUX.

If riders don't think it's worth the coin, UberX is available - and you still get more than what you paid for - all while Uber shuts out the competition.

This is Mr. K's 'trickle down. It's top to bottom marketing (and not surprisingly, Uber is finding it far more profitable and less costly to go to the mass-market than to chase the 1%ers with Uber-black - after all, there are only so many 1%ers and they can only be in one black-car at a time).

We can hate it all we want...
but it's working, it's successful and its growing, not slowing.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> Random onboarding every unemployed or under paid lame brain with a car and extra time on their hands is NOT good biz.


It is when your customer base is growing larger, exponentially in terms of bodies - and in depth, as far as 'reach' to include wider and wider segments of larger and larger demographic sectors.

*You can't look at the 'lower quality' of UberX without also acknowledging the introduction of UberLUX/PLUS/SELECT which is designed to serve those who want a more experienced/professional-style driver and a nicer car.
*
UberX is there to shut-out Lyft.
Uber SELECT is there for people who are concerned about the brakes on the car, the attitude of the driver and who was last sitting in the back seat.


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

Gotta hand it to 'trickle-down Ronnie', he could work a crowd


----------



## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

I believe that what is really unique about Uber is that they are not searching for the best business model but that they are skillful at changing strategies at the blink of an eye and in real-time.

Remember that Travis Kalanick was once the nr2 worldwide Wii tennis player.

Uber is not LIKE a game, Uber IS a Game.

And guess what, Drivers are not Players.

In my sandbox Uber dropped guarantees and now offers flat-rate time-slot bonuses to push supply.

Also been hearing from pax that the Driver/car quality 'ain't what it used to be'

Like wayyyy back 3 months ago..

Driver uncertainty is an inherent part of the Game, we mean as much to the Players as the little Wii playdolls do.

All of us Interchangeable, expendable, pixels on a screen..

The distance created between the Players and the Drivers is there for a reason, perceiving us as Human is not in the best interest of the Players.

I sat in my car last night, Uber-ready, waited for the Ping, read this thread, logged out and unplugged my devices maybe for the last time

Exactly 1200 rides without damage, injury, getting taxi-bashed.

Going to make some insurance-calls to become clear on the risk/reward balance sheet.

The info/thoughts/insights from you all have helped evaporate the last drops of the Uber Kool Aid left in my system..



Thanks


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## ARG28 (Mar 18, 2015)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


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## ARG28 (Mar 18, 2015)

So the moral of your story that I'm drawing (based also on my experience as a driver) is the Uber is run by greedy, uncaring, cowardly sociopaths who couldn't give a sh*t about anyone involved in their billion dollar enterprise except those at the corporate level. So what can we do about this? Seriously, they need to be stopped. Lyft's business model is far superior and FAR more humane to everyone involved. I just started with Lyft after a fair amount of time, basically losing money, driving for Uber. They need to be taken down. They represent everything that's wrong with the modern business climate....


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

ARG28 said:


> So the moral of your story that I'm drawing (based also on my experience as a driver) is the Uber is run by greedy, uncaring, cowardly sociopaths who couldn't give a sh*t about anyone involved in their billion dollar enterprise except those at the corporate level. So what can we do about this? Seriously, they need to be stopped. Lyft's business model is far superior and FAR more humane to everyone involved. I just started with Lyft after a fair amount of time, basically losing money, driving for Uber. They need to be taken down. They represent everything that's wrong with the modern business climate....


Bring Lyft to Amsterdam, respect the drivers, fix the insurance gap, work with the non-corrupt local public transport regulators and I will go with Lyft.

I have spoken to forward-thinking entrepreneurs in the leasing business, already working with Tesla and other e-car manufacturers and they would jump at the opportunity to go Lyft.

Uber blitzkrieged the market here paving the way for an ethical peer-to-peer transportation solution, Uber made the public aware and ready for change.

Just do it

Asap


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## Brett in NYC (Mar 15, 2015)

I guess for many Uber drivers, it's their first job in the industry. There's has always been too many drivers and a high turnover. Why? For all the talk about Uber being a Tech company, it's not. It's a car service with a new twist. Driving for a car service is a low skill, low barrier to entry job, and, as a result, being a car service driver has never been a way to make big money, but to grind out a living. A soon-to-be public company getting involved isn't going to change this reality.


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## ARG28 (Mar 18, 2015)

Brett in NYC said:


> I guess for many Uber drivers, it's their first job in the industry. There's has always been too many drivers and a high turnover. Why? For all the talk about Uber being a Tech company, it's not. It's a car service with a new twist. Driving for a car service is a low skill, low barrier to entry job, and, as a result, being a car service driver has never been a way to make big money, but to grind out a living. A soon-to-be public company getting involved isn't going to change this reality.


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## ARG28 (Mar 18, 2015)

How's making 3X the rates in a city half the size with literally 10x as many people going for you Brett in NYC? Sounds like a real grind....


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## Brett in NYC (Mar 15, 2015)

ARG28 said:


> How's making 3X the rates in a city half the size with literally 10x as many people going for you Brett in NYC? Sounds like a real grind....


Drive around in Mnahattan traffic all day and get back to me.

I hear where you're coming from. Again, the reality is that Uber doesn't work in every market, as there's just not enough volume. In NYC, lots of people with money don't own cars because it's not practical, and even those that do, don't drive them around town because of the lack of parking. It's a unique environment. IMO, Uber wouldn't work in upstate NY because there's parking everywhere and the only people who don't have cars are those who can't afford them.


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## ARG28 (Mar 18, 2015)

Brett in NYC said:


> Drive around in Mnahattan traffic all day and get back to me.
> 
> I hear where you're coming from. Again, the reality is that Uber doesn't work in every market, as there's just not enough volume. In NYC, lots of people with money don't own cars because it's not practical, and even those that do, don't drive them around town because of the lack of parking. It's a unique environment. IMO, Uber wouldn't work in upstate NY because there's parking everywhere and the only people who don't have cars are those who can't afford them.


I lived in Boston for 27 years and frequently took the 4 mile drive over to the big city so, in getting back to you....you burn a sh*t ton less gas in Manhattan gridlock than on a 25 mile freeway. But putting the attitude on hold for a minute, Uber does work in Jacksonville in a sense, but it won't in the long term because drivers literally can't afford it and there's only so much turnover that can happen until either policies change or they get sunk by competitors with a less ruthless, longer-term outlook....One man's opinion.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Uberamstel said:


> I believe that what is really unique about Uber is that they are not searching for the best business model but that they are skillful at changing strategies at the blink of an eye and in real-time... The info/thoughts/insights from you all have helped evaporate the last drops of the Uber Kool Aid left in my system..


Very - Smart - Post


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

ARG28 said:


> I lived in Boston for 27 years and frequently took the 4 mile drive over to the big city so, in getting back to you....you burn a sh*t ton less gas in Manhattan gridlock than on a 25 mile freeway. But putting the attitude on hold for a minute, Uber does work in Jacksonville in a sense, but it won't in the long term because drivers literally can't afford it and there's only so much turnover that can happen until either policies change or they get sunk by competitors with a less ruthless, longer-term outlook....One man's opinion.


As much as I appreciate Lyft they'd have to kiss my ass @ $1.10 a mile. But when you're looking at 75 cents a mile with Uber that $1.10 has to look quite golden by comparison.

Bet if Uber was at $1.50 a paid mile you'd be back happy Ubering.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

ARG28 said:


> So the moral of your story that I'm drawing (based also on my experience as a driver) is the Uber is run by greedy, uncaring, cowardly sociopaths who couldn't give a sh*t about anyone involved in their billion dollar enterprise except those at the corporate level. So what can we do about this? Seriously, they need to be stopped. Lyft's business model is far superior and FAR more humane to everyone involved. I just started with Lyft after a fair amount of time, basically losing money, driving for Uber. They need to be taken down. They represent everything that's wrong with the modern business climate....


At this stage, Uber & Lyft are mirror images of each other:
Uber has the best technology and CSRs systems available (I've never waited more than 4 hours for a CSR reply to an inquiry - and riders tell me the same thing.) But ownership is only numbers driven, distant and unfair to drivers.

While Lyft has the nicest ownership and senior management - caring people who want to build a win-win-win business.
But their customer service is horrible, the CSRs have no idea what their doing and their systems appear to me to be on the brink of collapsing.

When you compare the two, at least in my market, the bottom line is that Uber provides 5 times as many (at least) 'pings' as Lyft.

Pings mean rides - and rides means money.

And that's why Uber's pricing strategy is winning.

When I was driving both Lyft and Uber, the pings from Lyft were fewer - and further away. At times I thought I was the only Lyft driver on the road for Lyft in my market. And Lyft actually threatened me when I told them I would NEVER pick-up a ride-request from 20 miles away - under any circumstances.


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Uber, in 4 short years, has become not a brand, but a verb.
> I hear it all the time...
> "... be there in ten minutes, hun - I'm 'Ubering' to the restaurant right now".
> 
> As I noted earlier, comparing comparing Jobs to Kalanick is not the same thing as comparing Apples to Ubers.


They've grown so fast because they've offered something that previously hadn't been available. Their model is not by any means difficult to replicate. Entrepreneurs are and should be reluctant to try and compete because no one can really know with great confidence the future of "ridesharing" from a legal standpoint. Uber has been unnecessarily sloppy as a result of their arrogance.

If you're buying into uber on the secondary market when they're valued at 41 billion, you're an idiot.

In response to what you've said about uberselect etc., I agree that they had hoped to create a better alternative to X. Fact is most people don't want a dirt ride, nor do they want a luxury ride. No one at uber gets this because a lot of other cities they operate in besides NY and LA are not big transport cities. The vehicle list on select, while great for consumers, is absurd. Besides a few exceptions, no one wants to drive BMWs and Mercedes, underinsured for no tip. Consumers don't know or care to compare rates between the services or cabs. All they are coming to know is that Select is too expensive and X is becoming former cab drivers now in their own car


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

I just love it when we as individuals with varying degrees of experience, various backgrounds, (but all here because we're driving Uber) portend to know what this multi-national company with some of the brightest business minds in the country should be doing differently.


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

Businesses with smart people fail every day. They run this from behind a computer and don't have a clue what's going on.


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## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I just love it when we as individuals with varying degrees of experience, various backgrounds, (but all here because we're driving Uber) portend to know what this multi-national company with some of the brightest business minds in the country should be doing differently.


Not only can we run Uber better than Travis&co but we

can fix the Middle East

can reverse Climate Change

know better than the coach what Player should have been put in to win the Big Game

In other words, we are UberMen!


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

getFubered said:


> Businesses with smart people fail every day.


Yes, they do. So?



> They run this from behind a computer and don't have a clue what's going on.


That's your opinion.
And it's a pretty silly one, in my opinion.
They have a lot more than just a clue... in my opinion.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I just love it when we as individuals with varying degrees of experience, various backgrounds, (but all here because we're driving Uber) portend to know what this multi-national company with some of the brightest business minds in the country should be doing differently.


I ONLY give a damn about what is available for me. I could care less what Uber's games are. They gamed themselves out of my driving for them and that's all their games did.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> I ONLY give a damn about what is available for me. I could care less what Uber's games are. They gamed themselves out of my driving for them and that's all their games did.


I hope that things change to make it worth your time to driver again.

But that does beg the question...
Why are you even wasting your time here in the forums if you're not driving? (or do you drive Lyft?)


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I hope that things change to make it worth your time to driver again.
> 
> But that does beg the question...
> Why are you even wasting your time here in the forums if you're not driving? (or do you drive Lyft?)


I drive, usually full time, for Lyft. And I actually like Lyft because the pay is acceptable for my situation.

The LAST thing on my list is to even **** with Uber other than to assist others in saying **** UBER.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> I drive, usually full time, for Lyft. And I actually like Lyft because the pay is acceptable for my situation.
> 
> The LAST thing on my list is to even **** with Uber other than to assist others in saying **** UBER.


I understand.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> Speaking of entitled pricks... Ran across a rider account banned for masturbating in the back of a driver's car and they're writing in saying "Why is my account disabled!?" I wonder if he even remembers it, also was a cleaning fee necessary? lol


What evidence did the driver present?


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> What evidence did the driver present?


Nothing really lol They took his word for it.


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Yes, they do. So?
> 
> So I'm saying your argument about it being ran by smart people does not mean it will survive or is being ran well. Hate to break it to you but the "smart" people aren't majoring in business.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Uber, in 4 short years, has become not a brand, but a verb.
> I hear it all the time...
> "... be there in ten minutes, hun - I'm 'Ubering' to the restaurant right now".
> 
> As I noted earlier, comparing comparing Jobs to Kalanick is not the same thing as comparing Apples to Ubers.


When the iPhone first came out a lot of people called it a Blackberry... because any phone that could get email was called a Blackberry by a lot of people.

Every copier also used be called a Xerox machine, regardless of the company that made it.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I just love it when we as individuals with varying degrees of experience, various backgrounds, (but all here because we're driving Uber) portend to know what this multi-national company with some of the brightest business minds in the country should be doing differently.


Given drivers are far closer to the customers than Uber is, I'd say drivers are in a better position to know than Uber is.


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## Guest (Mar 25, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I understand.


Your condescending prick.


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## getFubered (Feb 18, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Given drivers are far closer to the customers than Uber is, I'd say drivers are in a better position to know than Uber is.


In one sentence, yes that's what I was trying to say.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

mike888 said:


> Your condescending prick.


Keep talking... just in case everyone here doesn't already know what kind of person you are.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Given drivers are far closer to the customers than Uber is, I'd say drivers are in a better position to know than Uber is.


Can't agree.
A driver has interaction with a few thousand riders, in a very specific market.
Uber has interaction with hundreds of thousands of riders about millions of rides all over the world.

I CAN agree that drivers know what's best for themselves, individually.

I may not like what Uber does, but they know exactly what they are doing.
And Uber doesn't exist to make everyone happy all the time in every circumstance (though we all wish it could be that way, it never can be). Uber exists to make money for it's investors. The strategies and tactics it employs are all designed to affect that one goal. This ain't no public service organization.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

mike888 said:


> Your condescending prick.


Can his prick be condescending?


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Given drivers are far closer to the customers than Uber is, I'd say drivers are in a better position to know than Uber is.


I would say that's not always the case. It was many drivers that drove the customer straight into the arms of Uber. Unfortunately those who were good drivers got lumped in with the bad.

You only need to read some of the posts on here to get an idea of that.

Uber puts the customer first. Not the driver.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Can't agree.
> A driver has interaction with a few thousand riders, in a very specific market.
> Uber has interaction with hundreds of thousands of riders about millions of rides all over the world.


Uber isolates itself from riders just as much as it isolates itself from drivers. A rider can't call and have a conversation with Uber anymore than drivers can.

The CSRs are not Uber employees. They are contracted temp agency employees. So even emails between CSRs and riders (and drivers) are not an interaction with Uber. Everything Uber gets from riders (and drivers) is second hand information at best.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Uber isolates itself from riders just as much as it isolates itself from drivers. A rider can't call and have a conversation with Uber anymore than drivers can.
> 
> The CSRs are not Uber employees. They are contracted temp agency employees. So even emails between CSRs and riders (and drivers) are not an interaction with Uber. Everything Uber gets from riders (and drivers) is second hand information at best.


Ruled and managed by irrelevant cut and paste spams put out by temps/IC's. It's funny how you can work with a company and never actually speak to any direct employee of said company.


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## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

I think it is clear, in just about everything they do, that Uber values the customer over the driver. That doesn't mean their decisions are always right. They have smart people in the room but smart people do stupid things. Uber is like any other business, sometimes things look real good on paper or on a graph in a meeting and they turn out to be a really bad idea.

I think Uber thinks it is making smart business decisions and they may be. Time will tell. I just know from experience in a service business, and Uber is a service business, that customer service and satisfaction has to always be the primary goal or you fail. A key component of customer satisfaction are the employees (partners, associates, whatever) the customer interacts with. Happy employees make happy customers. I think this is where the UberLogic fails. Drivers are the face of Uber. Customers don't think of the guys behind the computer screens when they think of Uber, they think of the driver.


----------



## Guest (Mar 25, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Keep talking... just in case everyone here doesn't already know what kind of person you are.


Who cares.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Uber isolates itself from riders just as much as it isolates itself from drivers. A rider can't call and have a conversation with Uber anymore than drivers can.
> 
> The CSRs are not Uber employees. They are contracted temp agency employees. So even emails between CSRs and riders (and drivers) are not an interaction with Uber. Everything Uber gets from riders (and drivers) is second hand information at best.


Understood.
And the CSRs millions of interactions with drivers and riders are summarized, categorized and turned into data on which the regional operating company and corporate offices can make decisions - but you know that.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> Ruled and managed by irrelevant cut and paste spams put out by temps/IC's. It's funny how you can work with a company and never actually speak to any direct employee of said company.


I do the drop-in office hours every now and then.
The folks there are employees of Uber.
They're a bit green, but they're also good people (even if they are promoting the company line - hey, that's THEIR job).
I talk openly about my concerns - and they respond appropriately with as little 'kool-aid -speak' as possible.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> Can his prick be condescending?


If it can be intimidating, surely it can be condescending.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Uberdawg said:


> Happy employees make happy customers. I think this is where the UberLogic fails. Drivers are the face of Uber. Customers don't think of the guys behind the computer screens when they think of Uber, they think of the driver.


Consider Uber's possible perspective:

1. Driver are replaceable (so far, that's proven to be true)
2. New drivers are enthusiastic and eager to please riders, even if they may be inexperienced.
3. Experienced Uber ride-share drivers (especially those who have lived through rate-cuts) are a pain-in-the-ass to Uber.
4. New Uber ride-share drivers are far more likely to accept all pings, speak highly of Uber to the pax, open doors, provide ride goodies, etc.​
I don't doubt that Uber would love to have a very high driver retention rate -
but I also suspect they don't cry much when an unhappy, disgruntled and disillusioned driver signs-out of the Uber Partner app for the last time.


----------



## Uberamstel (Jul 30, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Consider Uber's possible perspective:
> 
> 1. Driver are replaceable (so far, that's proven to be true)
> 2. New drivers are enthusiastic and eager to please riders, even if they may be inexperienced.
> ...


Ouch

verum nocet


----------



## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Consider Uber's possible perspective:
> 
> 1. Driver are replaceable (so far, that's proven to be true)
> 2. New drivers are enthusiastic and eager to please riders, even if they may be inexperienced.
> ...


And here I thought I was the only one here who had that logic worked out.


----------



## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Understood.
> And the CSRs millions of interactions with drivers and riders are summarized, categorized and turned into data on which the regional operating company and corporate offices can make decisions - but you know that.


There is a huge difference between getting a summary of customer issues and communicating with customers about their issues. Again, this is why I believe drivers have a better pulse of what is going on. The drivers are getting first hand information. Uber is getting nothing by summaries.


----------



## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Consider Uber's possible perspective:
> 
> 1. Driver are replaceable (so far, that's proven to be true)
> 2. New drivers are enthusiastic and eager to please riders, even if they may be inexperienced.
> ...


1. Correct, that so far has proven to be true. I contend that there is not a limitless supply of people willing to drive for Uber that have the ability to provide Uber with a decent vehicle. 
Anyone notice how little Santander shit you see anymore. I think folks caught on pretty quick that deal sucked.

2. New drivers are usually very enthusiastic. Takes a couple of months for them to lose that enthusiasm when they realize what they actually are making (in some markets). But they have been through many of the 
better people with better cars already. Not sure about you, but I used to never get complaints about Uber from Pax. Now, I probably get as many complaining about drivers, cars being crappy, no shows, etc..., stuff
I never used to hear, as I get people talking about how great Uber is. I think a lot of pax (here anyway) got spoiled initially with the quality of drivers and cars that hit the streets when they opened in July.

3. No doubt this is true.

4. Answer to Number 2 fits here as well.

It's not that I don't understand their strategy, I just happen to think it is seriously flawed. They may not cry now when those experienced, English speaking, disgruntled, disillusioned drivers take their cars and go home.
I just think they will. Sooner than they think.


----------



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Uberdawg said:


> It's not that I don't understand their strategy, I just happen to think it is seriously flawed. They may not cry now when those experienced, English speaking, disgruntled, disillusioned drivers take their cars and go home. I just think they will. Sooner than they think.


It's a race to the bottom, no doubt...
but keep in mind that Uber has one objective right now, and only one objective: the valuation of the company prior to going public.

If we get lucky, after an IPO Mr. K will buy an island or three and disappear from the company allowing it to mature into a great service managed by professionals who care about all facets. At that point, the company will be held accountable for its business practices by the shareholders. And even though that sounds like a big 'dis' to Kanalick, it's not. He's a start-up guy. Has been his entire career. Folks who know how to bully a start-up to IPO are rarely the ones who can run an on-going public concern.


----------



## YurFriendlyPirate (Mar 30, 2015)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


Just don't pretend to be Randy Shears and you'll be fine.


----------



## YurFriendlyPirate (Mar 30, 2015)

Lidman said:


> Amen.


Amen to what?


----------



## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> I drive, usually full time, for Lyft. And I actually like Lyft because the pay is acceptable for my situation.
> 
> The LAST thing on my list is to even **** with Uber other than to assist others in saying **** UBER.


One of my favorite posts by the "scrubber"


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## Toby (Dec 16, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> It's a race to the bottom, no doubt...
> but keep in mind that Uber has one objective right now, and only one objective: the valuation of the company prior to going public.
> 
> If we get lucky, after an IPO Mr. K will buy an island or three and disappear from the company allowing it to mature into a great service managed by professionals who care about all facets. At that point, the company will be held accountable for its business practices by the shareholders. And even though that sounds like a big 'dis' to Kanalick, it's not. He's a start-up guy. Has been his entire career. Folks who know how to bully a start-up to IPO are rarely the ones who can run an on-going public concern.


I'm gonna sell that stock short when uber goes ipo, no way this business model holds up.


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## FAS (Aug 15, 2014)

kane said:


> I'll admit it, I'm an Uber CSR. I found this site by chance. I thought I could watch the posts and *really* help drivers without having to quote policy or reply with wording that legal made for us. I've been in customer service for a long time, not because I have nothing better to do but because it's the only way I know how to help people.
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Uber CSRs are not Uber CSRs, we're independent contractors. Only the higher ups like managers and above are actual employees. CSRs get no perks from working for Uber, there are no benefits, there are no special programs for us offering discounts, there are no Uber credits. Nothing. The don't offer us promotions and we were told in a company wide meeting that we will never get a raise. We live in fear every shift of being terminated on a whim and having our job given to someone in another country because it's cheaper to hire them. Our contract states that it can be terminated at any time without notice. We have watched so many people go. I've never been scared at a job before. We're treated like dirt.
> 
> ...


Hi Kane,

I have a UberBlack account in the SF market. Can you please help me with problem I am having adding drivers?

I have emailed Uber Support several times and they just respond with useless scripted email which doesn't address my concerns


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

FAS said:


> Hi Kane,
> 
> I have a UberBlack account in the SF market. Can you please help me with problem I am having adding drivers?
> 
> I have emailed Uber Support several times and they just respond with useless scripted email which doesn't address my concerns


I'm not sure how often kane checks the board but you can post the problem you're having and I might be able to help too.


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## FAS (Aug 15, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> I'm not sure how often kane checks the board but you can post the problem you're having and I might be able to help too.


Thanks for offering to help!

Will it be possible to talk in private chat or email because in order to get your assistance I need to give you the drivers personal info, such as, email and phone number.

Basically, whenever drivers I add to my Uberblack account. The background check never initiates. At this point, every driver I add it takes nearly 2 months to get them activated.

I emailed uber support about this problem many times, but as I said, they respond with a scripted email without addressing the issue.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

FAS said:


> Will it be possible to talk in private chat or email


Click on your profile and then click on CONVERSATIONS to start a private conversation...
just make note of the username(s) you want to include in the conversation.

https://uberpeople.net/conversations/add


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

FAS said:


> Thanks for offering to help!
> 
> Will it be possible to talk in private chat or email because in order to get your assistance I need to give you the drivers personal info, such as, email and phone number.
> 
> ...


You can send me a private message and I'll see if I can figure out what's up. I can't actually take action since I'm not working the ticket but I can take a look.


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## ATX 22 (Jun 17, 2015)

Uberamstel said:


> 'You sir, are no Steve Jobs'
> 
> Trivia Question: what US presidident won a debate with a similar line?


Lloyd Bentsen (Vice Presidential candidate )


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

Great thread, very informative.

To the attention *****s who muddied up the thread with your ramblings.. most of us skipped over your posts and just read the CSR posts.

Thanks thehappytypist I learn something new from every post you write. I feel like I owe you an ice cream.


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

Simon said:


> Great thread, very informative.
> 
> To the attention *****s who muddied up the thread with your ramblings.. most of us skipped over your posts and just read the CSR posts.
> 
> Thanks thehappytypist I learn something new from every post you write. I feel like I owe you an ice cream.


You're very welcome! <3


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

thehappytypist said:


> You're very welcome! <3


What type of quality complaints come in?

How come my 2 door accord was approved? (Lol) I use it rarely.. but I do use it.


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## tb1984 (Jul 24, 2015)

thehappytypist said:


> You're very welcome! <3


I have couple questions about deactivation that I hope you could please answer:

1) Who makes the decision to deactivate a driver? A manager or the system?

2) Could ratings of under 4.6(after 500 trips) be the only factor to deactivate drivers?

Thank you


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## thehappytypist (Oct 9, 2014)

tb1984 said:


> I have couple questions about deactivation that I hope you could please answer:
> 
> 1) Who makes the decision to deactivate a driver? A manager or the system?
> 
> ...


1. Depends. I know that the system can automatically waitlist an account if it detects that a document has expired. That's the only instance I know of where the system would do it. It can't be trusted. If the system were a human, it wouldn't be allowed out of the house alone. Otherwise it's either a high level agent with additional training or management/driver operations.

2. Yes, definitely.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

thehappytypist said:


> 1. Depends. I know that the system can automatically waitlist an account if it detects that a document has expired. That's the only instance I know of where the system would do it. It can't be trusted. If the system were a human, it wouldn't be allowed out of the house alone. Otherwise it's either a high level agent with additional training or management/driver operations.
> 
> 2. Yes, definitely.


"The system" deactivated me for the third time this month because it didn't like my documents. Sometimes it says my drivers license has expired (x2), or the photo of my back seat is missing (???) (x1), or my vehicle inspection certificate, insurance and registration are missing (x4). Seven deactivations and counting.

Why is it that "system errors" only negatively affect drivers? Deactivations, bonus pay calculation "errors", missing pay, cancellation fees not paid etc etc. Why are there never any errors which benefit the driver? "Oops, we paid you $500 too much last week". Why not?


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## eltakasaaiya (Jul 15, 2015)

As soon as the ber ber CSR jobs are sent to India. This entire ber ber will come down crashing..... My origins are from India but, I get ripped off one way or the other on every trip. I finally stopped going there. The last time I went there was for my mother's funeral in 2006. Upon reaching the municipality to claim a death certificate, I was asked to bribe them Rs 10,000 equivalent to $156.25 the clerk said he bribed someone to get the job so he needs to recover. I refused and left. It has been 9 years I still haven't seen the death certificate. Watch the videos below of some of the Indian Call Center scammers below.


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## eltakasaaiya (Jul 15, 2015)

So far my interactions with all the CSR's have been pleasant.


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