4 ms·

I'm not personally on any mission to "convert" anyone. If you don't care about an insider's perspective as a data point for informing your opinions, that's tota

by lhorie 5y ago

I'm not personally on any mission to "convert" anyone. If you don't care about an insider's perspective as a data point for informing your opinions, that's totally up to you. I'm merely pointing out the irony of people on a forum full of programmers talking about Uber as if changes to complex systems with live SLOs can magically be done with a snap of fingers.

hotpotamus 5y ago
It doesn't seem that hard to show drivers the expected payout for a ride. They hide that information for a reason, but of course they don't say the reason is "fuck you, pay me" - they'll find a way to justify it as good for the stakeholders.
- fastball 5y ago
  GC literally gave you a reason for that which isn't "fuck you, pay me" – if you just want to ignore that then fair but... ok?
  - hotpotamus 5y ago
    You know, I suppose I was a bit overly reductive. Would it be more accurate to say no one wants to pay the market rate for this ride, not the rider, and not us, so we'll just lie to you through omission? If your employer didn't tell you how much they paid out for your work, would you think of them as an honest company?
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    How was the statement not "fuck you, pay me"?
  - Step888 5y ago
    He did give us a reason, and I'm sure he's correct to a degree, but as a former Uber driver, I don't want you to completely discount the "fuck you, pay me" attitude of Uber's management either. For instance, collecting a "$1 safe ride fee" per passenger was a very big fuck you to the drivers. We didn't see a penny of that fee. And it wasn't even counted in the calculation of our commission structure, which they bragged about constantly. The same goes with many of the other payments it collected from passengers. Eventually, after Uber lost a court case, Uber made every driver sign an agreement that the commission structure had nothing to do with the payments given by passengers.
    - lhorie 5y ago
      I can't comment on the safe ride fee as it predates my tenure at Uber (i.e. we're talking about stuff from 5+ years ago), but from what I'm gathering, it does appear to have been a BS fee. I'll acknowledge that there was a wide perception of leadership not giving two fucks under Travis. I heard many people internally were unhappy about many things, hence him being ousted. Anyways, just to give some context: When I talk about efforts to improve things for drivers, I'm talking about things I've heard about very recently (like within the last six months). Many aren't live yet. Prior to it, I'd say other aspects received a lot more attention, for example the safety center on the rider app was a big big focus at one point. The shift of focus to drivers only really became visible to me within the last year or so. My two cents is this focus is happening as part of the effort to attract drivers back after their exodus due to the pandemic. Regardless of the motivation, I'm glad the company is at least trying to listen to drivers. Cynicism aside, I personally think drivers should be treated well, period.

by lhorie 5y ago

hotpotamus 5y ago

It doesn't seem that hard to show drivers the expected payout for a ride. They hide that information for a reason, but of course they don't say the reason is "fuck you, pay me" - they'll find a way to justify it as good for the stakeholders.

fastball 5y ago
GC literally gave you a reason for that which isn't "fuck you, pay me" – if you just want to ignore that then fair but... ok?
- hotpotamus 5y ago
  You know, I suppose I was a bit overly reductive. Would it be more accurate to say no one wants to pay the market rate for this ride, not the rider, and not us, so we'll just lie to you through omission? If your employer didn't tell you how much they paid out for your work, would you think of them as an honest company?
- HWR_14 5y ago
  How was the statement not "fuck you, pay me"?
- Step888 5y ago
  He did give us a reason, and I'm sure he's correct to a degree, but as a former Uber driver, I don't want you to completely discount the "fuck you, pay me" attitude of Uber's management either. For instance, collecting a "$1 safe ride fee" per passenger was a very big fuck you to the drivers. We didn't see a penny of that fee. And it wasn't even counted in the calculation of our commission structure, which they bragged about constantly. The same goes with many of the other payments it collected from passengers. Eventually, after Uber lost a court case, Uber made every driver sign an agreement that the commission structure had nothing to do with the payments given by passengers.
  - lhorie 5y ago
    I can't comment on the safe ride fee as it predates my tenure at Uber (i.e. we're talking about stuff from 5+ years ago), but from what I'm gathering, it does appear to have been a BS fee. I'll acknowledge that there was a wide perception of leadership not giving two fucks under Travis. I heard many people internally were unhappy about many things, hence him being ousted. Anyways, just to give some context: When I talk about efforts to improve things for drivers, I'm talking about things I've heard about very recently (like within the last six months). Many aren't live yet. Prior to it, I'd say other aspects received a lot more attention, for example the safety center on the rider app was a big big focus at one point. The shift of focus to drivers only really became visible to me within the last year or so. My two cents is this focus is happening as part of the effort to attract drivers back after their exodus due to the pandemic. Regardless of the motivation, I'm glad the company is at least trying to listen to drivers. Cynicism aside, I personally think drivers should be treated well, period.