
Uber’s Worst Screw-Ups - nilmonibasak
http://techcrunch.com/gallery/ubers-worst-screw-ups/
======
netcan
Uber's a super aggressive company. They need to be in order to (A) expand a
non trivially scalable business model this fast and (B) Confront the legal
barriers, ambiguities and opposing interests in so many different
jurisdictions. Hyper aggression is almost certainly (in my eyes) a
prerequisite here.

But building up such an aggressive culture can have side effects. They could
get blinded to the fact that some laws and regulations _are_ appropriate and
blindly fight instead of complying with good laws. They can develop an asshole
culture internally where smashing through barriers evolves into smashing
through people.

I think this kind of aggression is culturally dangerous.

~~~
userbinator
I think it comes from the fact that they want to be seen as "disruptive" and
cause massive, revolutionary changes. In itself that is not a bad thing, but I
think some more careful deliberation would've been better.

 _Uber 's a super aggressive company._

You could even say that they are _uber_ aggressive.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
> _I think it comes from the fact that they want to be seen as "disruptive"_

I think it comes from the fact that they _need_ to be fast-moving. Uber is a
global first-mover in a market largely defined by local network effects and
economics. Not moving quickly risks being boxed in by a global proliferation
of me-toos.

The requisite freewheeling aggression reminds me of my prior work environment,
the trading floor. Both are high-power, high-pressure worlds. The steam they
each produce is hot, and effective. But someone needs to keep a constant eye
on keeping the lid from blowing off.

Uber seems to still be evolving this risk-management function. Their long-run
success may come down to whether Kalanick can devolve a critical amount of
power to someone who can say "no" to him when absolutely necessary, but no so
frequently that it prematurely bleeds them into a shop of suits.

~~~
netcan
Does that strengthen my original point? Trading floors are also known to
produce the occasional asshole.

I'm not trying to be snide. Is the asshole stereotype founded? Do you the
think it's a consequence of (necessary) aggression?

~~~
mcguire
Cough, cough: [http://www.nature.com/news/banking-culture-primes-people-
to-...](http://www.nature.com/news/banking-culture-primes-people-to-
cheat-1.16380)

------
hoopism
Techcrunches worst screw-ups:

1) Slideshows 2) Scrollbars on slideshows 3) Link baiting as a business

~~~
abandonliberty
Thanks for the warning. I hoped the deslider would work. Unfortunately:

>Sorry, the deslider doesn't know how to parse slideshows from that site (A
parser has yet to be written or assigned to deal with sites hosted on
"techcrunch.com")

[http://deslide.clusterfake.net/](http://deslide.clusterfake.net/)

------
uptown
Benedict Evans's weekly newsletter had a pretty concise synopsis of Uber's
approach to business:

"Uber raised another $1.2bn at a $40bn valuation, wrote a contrite blog post
saying it had to become more humble, and (following the standard go-to-market
strategy) launched in Portland in breach of the law."

------
unfletch
Didn't make the cut:

• Customer data protection issues (internal "god view", etc.):
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-
switch/wp/2014/12/01...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-
switch/wp/2014/12/01/is-ubers-rider-database-a-sitting-duck-for-hackers/)

• Travis Kalanick (Uber CEO) drawing parallels between his company's drivers
and the people of Ferguson, Mo.: [http://pando.com/2014/11/20/on-stage-at-
goldman-sachs-event-...](http://pando.com/2014/11/20/on-stage-at-goldman-
sachs-event-travis-kalanick-compared-his-companys-woes-to-ferguson/)

Wikipedia's obligatory "Controversy" section has more links:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_(company)#Controversy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_\(company\)#Controversy)

------
gatsby
Any time you're hiring an army of contractors across the world, you're
guaranteed to have some problems.

I'm impressed that after six years in business, tens of thousands of drivers,
and a $40b valuation that one of the top-10 worst things about Uber is that
they refunded money to some people as they were figuring out their pricing
model.

I'm amazed that this is all TC could dig up.

Edit: I really don't see how all of this paints the picture that Uber = evil.
Sure, some of their management and some of their drivers may not be great
people, and like any company with massive growth, they've had their share of
horrific issues and accidents. I just don't see that the company is going out
of its way to screw people over. Remember that the alternative is getting in a
Yellow Cab.

~~~
dreamweapon
_One of the top-10 worst things about Uber is that they refunded money to some
people as they were figuring out their pricing model._

The screw-up wasn't in "refunding money to people." The screw-up was in
picking one of the most festive, care-free nights of the year to drop the eye-
popping fares (sometimes as high as $400, according to reports and tweets) on
people's heads in the first place.

~~~
res0nat0r
None of the surge pricing is ever "dropped" on anyone. You are notified it is
in effect and even have to verify the current multiplier on your phone to
ensure you know what you are committing to. Most people complaining are just
upset they had to pay as much as they did, but none of it was done without
their knowledge.

~~~
mikeash
I don't think it was nearly clear enough. Here's an article discussing the
design of the notification:

[http://startingup.me/post/15141134089/redesigning-the-
uber-s...](http://startingup.me/post/15141134089/redesigning-the-uber-surge-
pricing-screen)

It might be acceptable if this screen showed up every time and allowed you to
get used to it, but when you use the app for months without it and suddenly
there's an extra step, it's going to be way too easy to tap "Ok" without
seeing the relatively small "6.25x" up above, especially if you've had a few
too many because it's New Year's Eve.

When you're suddenly charging people almost an order of magnitude more than
usual, you need to make it more clear than that.

Not that I think this is particularly terrible. They screwed up, but it was
not a big deal and I imagine they've improved the notification since. But I
don't think it was completely fine.

~~~
res0nat0r
Those notification screens can't be any clearer. This is just complaining
because no one likes to pay 6.25x their normal fare for a cab, but it can't be
any more obvious than what those screens showed. Now you have to even manually
type the multiplier out to let them know you are _really_ sure.

~~~
mikeash
How can you say the screens can't be any clearer, and then _immediately_ give
an example of how they were subsequently made clearer? I mean, come _on_.

~~~
res0nat0r
Since so many people have complained just for complaining sake that they are
pissed their cab ride was expensive (that they already acknowledged they
understood), Uber added another option to keep the minority of people who
would complain anyway from using it as another reason to gripe?

If a huge screen telling you your cab is going to be 6.25x more expensive than
normal and you don't understand how that works, there is no other excuse other
than your own stupidity.

------
reggieband
It's starting to feel like the animosity towards Uber is somehow coordinated.
I get that a bad joke (with the sinister undertone of being not so much a
joke) from a C-level hit home with journalists. But there is supposed to be a
standard of no-bias from journalists and that should extend to matters that
include journalism. Where is his side of the story? Acting like he doesn't
have one is part of the problem.

Every article on Uber that I can remember reading feels like a negative hit
piece. It's like Uber isn't greasing the right palms or something. It is scary
annoying that who you know and how effectively you stroke the egos of
journalists still accounts for more than the quality of your service and the
soundness of your business.

I just get the feeling someone is trying to send Uber a message. Something
like: "pay-up or the hits will keep coming".

~~~
rsobers
I think there's some truth in what you say about stroking journalists egos,
but remember, nobody is forcing Uber to play so aggressively; they're doing it
for the sake of growth.

Revolutionary, fast-growing, successful companies are going to be scrutinized
no matter what. It's up to the Uber exec and PR teams to decide when to put on
the brakes--at the expense of growth--to avoid it.

Certainly there are other groundbreaking companies (e.g., SpaceX) that haven't
found themselves in Uber's position, and it's likely due to their leadership,
not their ability or willingness to pay off journalists.

------
wiremine
Not trying to defend Uber, but I can't remember any positive PR about them,
apart from raising a huge amount of cash. So, honest question: any good
stories about them?

~~~
personZ
There was a time, not too long ago, when Uber was held high here on HN and
most tech sites: Uber represented the democratic, egalitarian alternative to
the evil taxi empire. Out with the old king...

As an aside, quite some time ago I canvased a number of taxi companies in the
Toronto area to gauge their interest in creating essentially an open platform
Uber -- a product that would offer a rich user experience similar to Uber (not
_copying_ Uber, but naturally the functionality will converge), but integrated
with their dispatch systems and so on. Running a contract development shop, I
was essentially pitching a researched, well considered solution to the Uber
threat. There were no biters (even though those same companies seem to have
endless time to petition in the media and government), and it remains a silo'd
world of terrible apps, and still a fertile ground for disruption.

~~~
Spooky23
Not sure how the market works in Toronto, but in many US cities, the taxi
business pays the bills with direct government support (Medicaid taxi) and
makes money off of drunks and business travelers whose circumstances prevent
rental of a car or use of a hotel shuttle.

It's also a cash business that doesn't benefit from a clear audit trail of
work activity.

------
ccvannorman
Yes! After the negative Uber story yesterday I asked if there was a compiled
list of their wrongdoings. Apparently, TechCrunch was listening. :P

~~~
crdoconnor
>Apparently, TechCrunch was listening

...to Lyft's PR team.

Not that that invalidates the story - but they're clearly making full use of
it this week.

------
pearjuice
The days that I respected TC as a tech blog with authority are long over.
These days they will do everything for the party waving with the biggest ads-
pay check. Just looking at their website, Ghostery was signaling double digits
of trackers getting blocked, I decided to turn off AdBlock. That is something
you do 1) when you want to support a site with ad displays or 2) if you want
to check how bad a website has spiralled out of control.

It is a mess. The worst part is that right know I don't know whether this is
journalism or a PR-piece by an Uber competitor. An advertorial, maybe? I don't
know.

------
theg2
It's like someone issued a command from on high to write story after story
about how bad Uber is. They've made a lot of missteps but I'm starting to
wonder if all these articles are justified.

