This one is for you #Uber

This one is for you Uber .

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There are companies that disrupt. During the course of doing business, there comes a stage when your model is taken for granted and the ‘Wow’ factor disappears slowly - only because the company is doing just what is expected by the Customer. (I agree there are a plethora of companies that don’t quite live up to this basic principle to keep existing ….). To deliver just what the Customer expects in certain times/segments can become boring for the Customer even while the business is on the treadmill gasping for breath.

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Some companies build into their DNA what can make them survive in the hardest of times – which in turn makes them thrive when the sun starts to shine again. In my opinion, Uber fits this very well.

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Uber is not about the exceptional algorithm that they created years ago. And surely they seem to be on that treadmill. They have taken a beating in various markets and at different periods of time. Yet they seem determined to want to overcome. They seem to want to respond to what they feel the Customer is telling them.

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Over the last few months, I began to experience a certain practice by the drivers which I had not encountered previously (such things do happen from time to time). It was a bother. I noticed, it had become a pattern. I did think of writing about it but then as I planned to do so, Uber had already made some of those changes eg. “Did you cancel because the Driver asked you to use another form of payment” ?(something to that effect). They did not seem to just listen to such feedback that Customers would have given, they even built it into their App to get more focused on the practice. Far from ignoring a bad practice/feedback, they seem to want more data to help them do what they should do.

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Given such an impression of Uber here are a couple of things that you may want to consider :

1)Tips : Since the last couple of years I try to tip (via the App). The reasons why I started off differs from why I tip now. Ranging from tipping when the driver was good, to tipping just because he wasn’t as bad as the recent drivers.

However, there is one thing that runs counter to the kind of logic/rationale that you seem to convey as a company and that is., why would I want to tip someone if I have rated a driver ‘2’ on your scale of 5 ?!

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Since I usually tend to tip, a default amount seems to be fed in. In my almost 9 yrs of using Uber in various cities across India, I may have rated a driver 3 or less just a handful of times I guess. In my mind a ‘2’ is terrible. And after that, Why would I want to tip him ?! I encountered one such driver a couple of months ago where the driver was insisting, I cancel the trip and pay him off the App. I refused, as this time I had time on hand and did not approve on his insistence. This was not a short conversation at all. He kept on insisting. I asked him to cancel the trip so that I could book another Uber. He would not. I got out but could not book another Uber because there was already an open trip in my name. When I tried to cancel the trip, I was told that I would be charged some Rs.42/- for cancellation. Since he had not taken the Starting OTP, his trip had not yet started as per Uber and it would have still showed that he was probably on his way (my guess)! It was beginning to get messy now.

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I tried to make a call but the call was getting directed to the same Uber driver who was parked right in front of me (and not to the Helpline). He finally agreed to the Uber payment via the App (probably because the call was being recorded) ! Well even after several mins of driving he was going on and on. Since I was not happy with the way all this went, I rated the rare ‘2’ after the trip. Then the strange thing happened – the default tip amount that I tend to pay the Uber drivers got activated. I was having to tip the driver after all this. I did not approve that part of the transaction. However, till today, the unpaid tip amount still reflects in my account and prompts me to pay this to the driver every single time that I use an Uber. There seems no way to delete that.

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So, just like your App does not allow a tip higher than Rs.100/- for a trip, there should be an option to cancel a tip (yes I understand it goes directly to the driver…..but it is via your App). A logic could be built in that if the rating is 3 or below, a tip is not allowed (just like a year end performance bonus in the corp world ?). If a tip is still to be made, via an exception perhaps ? Also, do check why I would be debited an amount when I was wanting to cancel because the driver wanted to be paid off the APP ?

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2) Recordings :

I know there was a recent announcement on recordings within the Uber. That is a great move ! Don’t hold me to it but I believe it gets activated only if the driver activates it. I, as the customer, would want it to automatically video record the moment the Uber driver accepts the OTP. It should be made available to all 3 – Uber, the driver and the customer. I would have asked Uber to take a look at another such video recording when some months ago I saw a marked change in the driver behaviour (the first time I ever agreed to a trip cancellation and direct pay to the driver). To me it did not matter from a pricing perspective. However, the driver became ‘someone else’ altogether – not just speaking ill of Uber but the manner of speaking and tone changed almost immediately. The two of us in the Uber realised it is best to keep quite and we waited anxiously to get the trip done with.? Such video recordings would help Uber come to the assistance of drivers too when a customer goes out of hand. In my opinion, it should be mandatory – of course covering all the Data privacy angles that come with it (I am not getting into that and for Uber to solve).

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Why have I written on this forum ?

a) Well I cannot seem to find an email ID that could have accepted the length/details of such a message.

b) Needed Uber’s attention as the issue/s being raised is not a one time Transaction that an associate can resolve over an email. It requires intervention of a different level to discuss and/or implement such a change.

c) I do believe Uber has it in them to take actionable steps – does not matter if the above is actioned or not. I know it will be discussed threadbare and logical steps taken.

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And Uber Shikara ? It’s the kind of stuff that make up the Uber DNA. Well I missed it by a few months…

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Best

Joby

Disclaimer : Neither do I or my family own any stocks of Uber nor do any of them work at Uber.

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