
Uber's playbook for sabotaging Lyft (2014) - isomorph
http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/26/6067663/this-is-ubers-playbook-for-sabotaging-lyft
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eknkc
We don't have Uber here in my country.

But I find it interesting that almost everything I read about Uber's customer
experience is positive. People seem to like Uber rides. Meanwhile, every other
news about the company itself implies that it's a tasteless company with
shitty tactics. I wonder if it's the ultimate capitalist success path.

Just a complete outsiders observation. I don't personally have a single
experience with them.

~~~
SyneRyder
I think some of the genius of Uber was identifying an industry where the
quality was so incredibly low, and yet customers tolerated it anyway.

I used to catch taxis every week, and one taxi driver spent the trip
explaining to me why he believed Hitler had the right idea. Another taxi
driver lectured me on the religious immorality of nightclubs & drinking
alcohol before letting me out of his car. Another driver spent the trip
talking to his girlfriend on the phone, forbidding her to take a job she had
been offered because he believed a woman's place was in the home.

Uber is soooo much better, but the quality bar is so low that it isn't
difficult to be better. It's just that no-one had dared to compete before
(because government regulations prohibited anyone from doing so).

~~~
bunnymancer
There's something to be said about an industry where the bar for "good" is the
service employee just not talking to you at all for an extended period of
time.

~~~
wavefunction
I like to talk to my taxi drivers. They've mostly been immigrants and I ask
them about their home country, their family, what they think about America.

It's been great every time.

~~~
harlanlewis
In addition to the nice things you said, I've found out about lots of
incredible ethnic food I never would have heard about otherwise. A ride with a
Tajik driver led to an incredible Afghan restaurant (which is apparently as
close as the Bay Area gets to Tajikistan's cousine).

Drivers in general are in one of those very interesting roles that interacts
with a broad swatch of the population. Even aside from their own background,
they are one of the stirring sticks that mixes a place's cultures together.

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scalayer
I've used Uber much more than Lyft, but I've had almost entirely positive
experiences with both. Only one time did a Lyft driver cancel a trip on me
after I waited 15mins and almost missed a flight. I reported the incident
through the app and a $10 USD credit showed up instantly in my account with a
friendly note from the rep.

At an airport, an Uber driver picked up my fare and then immediately canceled
it which caused a $5 USD charge on my account. A quick report through the app
rectified the situation in < 24hrs.

The Uber experience is so seamless across time-zones, countries, etc and
directly integrates with Expensify. If Lyft expands more into Europe, I will
definitely use them as well. I tend to use Lyft more in big US cities. Hailo
is also quite popular in Europe. When traveling, I never take a regular taxi
if I can help it. The one exception to this is Dublin, Ireland. Taxis are so
ubiquitous and cheap that you can get one 24/7 from almost anywhere in city by
just walking outside and putting your hand out.

For the ultimate in customer service and luxury, Blacklane is better than
both. You pay a huge surcharge for it, but sometimes you need a pre-scheduled
ride that is 100% reliable.

~~~
SlashmanX
Hailo is immensely popular in Dublin, absolutely fantastic service. Sometimes
I take it for granted, then threads about Uber and Lyft come up and I realise
how amazing it is.

~~~
Snowdax
Dublin sure, but lot less decent down the country. Not nearly enough available
rides, if any at times.

~~~
SlashmanX
Yeah but I guess that's a drawback of relying on existing taxi's. It's
shocking trying to get a taxi down the country even without Hailo

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hybridsole
Lyft user here. I always ask the question "What do you like about Lyft
compared to driving for Uber"? The answer is that Lyft takes better care of
them with better pay incentives and less rigorous scheduling demands. If you
want more of your money to go to the driver instead of a central command, use
Lyft. I've never noticed a lack of drivers in most medium-to-large sized
cities that I'm.

~~~
Karunamon
Could you clarify what you mean by "scheduling demands"? As I understand it,
Uber is strictly work-when-you-want.

~~~
robbies
Not OP, but both Uber and Lyft tie bonuses to weekly/monthly acceptance rate
and rides completed. I can't recall numbers, and they have been tricky to find
on my phone. But I too can anecdotally confirm that Lyft drivers seem to enjoy
it more in the Bay Area, and one of the reasons I've heard is that the bonus
structure is a bit more liberal.

~~~
haldean
A Lyft driver told me the other day that it was something like a 30% bonus on
whatever you had earned that week when you hit 80 rides in a calendar week.

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pcrh
To me, the need to resort to such tactics indicates that Uber doesn't have a
very big advantage over its competitors.

The usual reason passengers seem to prefer Uber is their easier availability
and greater reliability. Others will catch on to this soon enough.

It is also notable that in places with a better reputation for taxi services,
such as in London, Uber's inroads have not been as great as they have been in
SF or NY.

~~~
eertami
>better reputation for taxi services, such as in London, Uber's inroads have
not been as great as they have been in SF or NY.

Odd, my personal experience has been the exact opposite. I can't remember any
of my friends (aged in their 20s) ever getting a taxi in London but catching
Uber's is a weekly occurrence.

~~~
Wintamute
Same. London black cabs are fairly expensive, and at busy times (like just
after pubs and bars close at night) you can have a really hard time trying to
find one. I don't know what the deal is with the non-black cabs in London ...
but they seem more shady, it's much harder to tell if the driver is registered
or just some dude with a car, so I just avoid them. Uber solves both these
problems. I and my friends are in our 30s, and we nearly all have been using
Uber exclusively since it arrived.

~~~
throwaway049
If you're flagging down anything but a black taxi in central London then it's
just some dude with a car: Official minicabs have to be booked by phone or
from their offices.

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chinathrow
Tons of people here on HN use Uber - yet most of them know about those shady
tactics used by Uber against Lyft.

Genuine question: Why would you want to support such a company by being a
customer?

~~~
SyneRyder
I've put my answer a bit higher in the thread: because the competition and
customer experience are currently so much worse. (Lyft hasn't arrived in my
city yet.) Some of the competitors here have used shady tactics against Uber
as well, I've had taxi drivers pull up pretending to be my Uber driver.

If a competitor can match or exceed Uber's service, I'd consider switching.
The convenience of travelling interstate / overseas & using the same service I
use at home is quite compelling though.

~~~
DavidHm
Taxi drivers pretend to be your Uber driver? How on earth do they expect to
get paid?

~~~
SyneRyder
I did wonder that. Perhaps he would have threatened to call it in to police as
a customer refusing to pay. Maybe he just wanted to torch the ratings of Uber
customers, by having them no-show for the Uber they actually ordered.

The whole thing just felt very unsafe. This happened in the early hours of the
morning as well. I was very glad when he finally drove off.

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Nursie
Uber just came to my town. I won't be using it.

We have had a thriving taxi ecosystem here forever, and the money stays
locally. I don't want the new worldwide taxi monopoly moving, thanks.

~~~
humbleMouse
I felt the same way until I realized you can literally hit a couple buttons on
your phone and have a car pick you up almost instantaneously and I don't have
to deal with thinking about payment at all...

~~~
Nursie
Can do that with the local cab apps too...

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blabla_blublu
I try to use Lyft as often as I can, they seem to genuinely care for their
employees(drivers). Uber is quite ruthless when it comes to pricing. Simple
features such as tipping is not present.

It is my part-time hobby of sorts to interview drivers who drive for both and
inevitably (27 - 1) they prefer driving for Lyft. The one case where the
driver said she prefers Uber was that the #rides were more (Bay area).

I think voting with your wallet is a powerful concept and in some cases, it is
the only thing we can do.

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brudgers
Original discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8229081](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8229081)

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ape4
Looks like Nenshi was right. (Recently in Boston the Mayor of Calgary said
Uber were "Dicks")

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Odenwaelder
Capitalism. I laughed hard when Uber left Germany because they were clashing
with regalatians.

~~~
tim333
Uber are still in Berlin and Munich.

~~~
germanier
It's not the same service as elsewhere. They either arrange a regular taxi
(Berlin) or use licensed limousine companies (Munich).

