If there were any doubt remaining that Uber is a flash-in-the-pan cash-grab startup rather than a significant player in the transportation sector, 1 require only scope the name of the company’s new initiative: SLOG. An acronym for “Supplying Extended-term Operations Growth,” SLOG suggests that the firm extremely much sees itself in the ride-sharing game for the foreseeable future.
The San Francisco–based dispatch/logistics company has recently been involved in higher-profile battles in international cities, as effectively as in its residence state, fending off blows from the entrenched taxi and livery industries and governmental regulators.
The newest kerfuffle sprang up when it came to light that Uber recruiters had been ordering and canceling rides from competitor Lyft’s drivers in New York City. According to data compiled by Lyft, given that October of last year, Uber contractors booked and canceled 5650 pink-mustache rides.
Uber disputes the allegation but admits that it has been deploying recruiters (who have allegedly been provided burner phones and credit cards to use) to take rides in Lyft cars with the intent of bringing the drivers more than to their side. Uber has taken to its personal weblog in an try to clarify issues, explaining the function of the “brand ambassadors” who hailed and then canceled the rides. Their statement reads in portion, “We cannot successfully recruit drivers without speaking to them—and that signifies taking a ride. We’re all about much more and better financial opportunity for drivers. We never use advertising tactics that avoid a driver from making their living—and that consists of never ever intentionally canceling rides.”
A Toyota Prius displays Lyft’s renowned pink mustache as it picks up a passenger in San Francisco.
A story posted this week at The Verge suggests that Uber is spinning the story quite hard, quoting an anonymous Uber contractor, who maintains, “What’s simply untrue is that not only does Uber know about this, they’re actively encouraging these actions day-to-day and, in carrying out so, are flat-out lying both to their buyers, the media, and their investors.”
For its portion, Uber accuses Lyft of fibbing, offering a statement to The New York Occasions asserting that “Lyft’s claims against Uber are baseless and basically untrue. Additionally, Lyft’s own drivers and employees, which includes one of Lyft’s founders, have canceled 12,900 trips on Uber . . . These attacks from Lyft are unfortunate but somewhat expected. A quantity of Lyft investors have not too long ago been pushing Uber to obtain Lyft. A single of their largest shareholders not too long ago warned that Lyft would ‘go nuclear’ if we do not acquire them. We can only assume that the current Lyft attacks are part of that strategy.”
The truth, as it so typically does, probably lies somewhere in the middle. Ride-sharing is a hot frontier in both tech and transportation. It only tends to make sense that the game’s gonna get a bit dirty before the complete thing shakes out.
Begun the SLOG Wars Have: Uber Announces New Driver-Recruitment Initiative, Lyft Displeased
