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It seems to me that this article is conflating two issues that aren't necessarily related in a kind of strange way: First, the understandable misfortune of the

It seems to me that this article is conflating two issues that aren't necessarily related in a kind of strange way: First, the understandable misfortune of the naming conflict, which appears to go beyond just the calling issue (for example the listed suing of the wrong party). Second, it uses this as a strange segue way to criticize Uber for not having phone support. Now if you believe that Uber should have phone support that's fine -- but its kind of unrelated to this person's troubles. By that I mean, had she happened to not name her company uber, then this wouldn't all of a sudden make their lack of phone support OK right? So if what you want to do is say Uber should have phone support, then this seems like a really strange primary point. As an aside -- their email support has always been stellar to me, and I actually have the opposite complaint of other companies: I'd PAY to be able to get a prompt < 1 hour email reply from comcast vs. the "intimate interaction" of wanting to break my table when I'm on the phone with a real life person from their team.

geofft 12y ago
If she hadn't named her company über, then we wouldn't have the convenient source of data about people who want to call. Since that data exists, it seems reasonable to write an article about it, and briefly explain at the top how it came to be that we have so many people trying to reach Uber instead reaching the same phone.
- tolmasky 12y ago
  But this data is actually useless without context. I actually have no clue if 500 calls since August is a lot -- to be honest my first reaction was that it sounded low compared to my (completely possibly incorrect) notion of how many uber rides must be taking place in New York (Uber's biggest market?). It would have been nice for him to have done some analysis with this supposedly indicative number, for example saying how that represents x% of all rides or something. Instead he focuses on really strange parts of this story. I suppose its an op ed so excusable, but I think there was an insightful possibility here that instead just comes off as some guy who's kind of angry and snarky.
  - viscanti 12y ago
    Especially since it sounds like most of the calls were for people who didn't understand how uber works and wanted to pre-book a ride. I'm not sure that it would ever be worth having a listed phone number just so someone could answer and say "actually you can't pre-book, you'll have to buy a smartphone and download the app".
    - geofft 12y ago
      You could set up an automated phone tree for this. I've seen multiple large organizations have phone trees where several paths down the tree leads to an automated answer at the leaf (sometimes you can't even get to a representative once you reach some leaves).
      - viscanti 12y ago
        Sure. You could. But there's a big step between it being possible, and being (what the author implies) a moral obligation. In fact, there's probably a big step between it being possible and it being worth it. If Uber actually got big enough that it became one of the only transportation options, then they might have some kind of moral obligation to setup a phone tree to help people who don't have any other options. But I don't think they're anywhere close to that.
devinmontgomery 12y ago
I don't think this is meant to be a piece of persuasive writing - he's not trying to form an argument. It compares two companies of different eras with the same name, who ran into their doppelgängers because companies founded 15 years ago had telephone numbers and companies founded 6 years ago don't. I think it's gorgeous.
- tolmasky 12y ago
  The article is clearly critical of uber and even ends by explicitly saying they should get phone support. It sounds a lot like a piece that is trying to argue for them getting phone support.
  - jsprogrammer 12y ago
    Why should über have to bear the costs of Uber's 'business model'? Clearly some of Uber's customers (and want-to-be customers) want to contact Uber this way. Instead, Uber enjoys having them deflected to some other business to deal with and rationalizes it as 'not in our business model'. Obviously this is not surprising given the other parts of Uber's 'business model', whereby they attempt to absolve themselves of all kinds of liability by 'contracting' with their workforce (I mean employees) [I mean drivers]. I don't know if Uber has published its 'business model', but I wouldn't be surprised if it was short and to the point: 'Externalize all costs. Internalize all profits.'
    - curun1r 12y ago
      über should contact Lyft and ask for a number that they can give callers. If Uber is unwilling to step up and service these customers/providers, then the customers/providers should be sent to someone who will. If Uber objects, über can just say, "It's not our business model to act as your free phone support."
      - jsprogrammer 12y ago
        über likely also has a legal claim against Uber for infringing on their rights and marks. Clearly Uber has confused the market if this smaller business is having to handle hundreds of callers trying to reach Uber. Massive infringement lawsuit with actual + punitive damages is probably in order. Would likely be poetic justice, at least.
lpolovets 12y ago
I agree with you. I also find it a weak argument because companies aren't obligated to provide great (phone) customer service. I wish everyone had great customer service, but market forces make that a secondary or tertiary priority for many companies. For Uber, I bet they're growing at 10x/year while losing maybe 1% of customers to weak customer service. Why spend resources trying to shrink the 1% to .5% when you can instead try to grow the 10x to 12x? A tangent: I think you meant "segue" instead of "segue way". I just learned that a few weeks ago.
kendallpark 12y ago
I agree, the focus of the article seemed to shift halfway through from "man, what an unfortunate name collision" to "uber needs a phone line." I do appreciate companies that take a stand for "their way" of doing things, especially when it narrows their focus. You don't have to do everything conventional in order to be successful.

geofft 12y ago

If she hadn't named her company über, then we wouldn't have the convenient source of data about people who want to call. Since that data exists, it seems reasonable to write an article about it, and briefly explain at the top how it came to be that we have so many people trying to reach Uber instead reaching the same phone.

tolmasky 12y ago
But this data is actually useless without context. I actually have no clue if 500 calls since August is a lot -- to be honest my first reaction was that it sounded low compared to my (completely possibly incorrect) notion of how many uber rides must be taking place in New York (Uber's biggest market?). It would have been nice for him to have done some analysis with this supposedly indicative number, for example saying how that represents x% of all rides or something. Instead he focuses on really strange parts of this story. I suppose its an op ed so excusable, but I think there was an insightful possibility here that instead just comes off as some guy who's kind of angry and snarky.
- viscanti 12y ago
  Especially since it sounds like most of the calls were for people who didn't understand how uber works and wanted to pre-book a ride. I'm not sure that it would ever be worth having a listed phone number just so someone could answer and say "actually you can't pre-book, you'll have to buy a smartphone and download the app".
  - geofft 12y ago
    You could set up an automated phone tree for this. I've seen multiple large organizations have phone trees where several paths down the tree leads to an automated answer at the leaf (sometimes you can't even get to a representative once you reach some leaves).
    - viscanti 12y ago
      Sure. You could. But there's a big step between it being possible, and being (what the author implies) a moral obligation. In fact, there's probably a big step between it being possible and it being worth it. If Uber actually got big enough that it became one of the only transportation options, then they might have some kind of moral obligation to setup a phone tree to help people who don't have any other options. But I don't think they're anywhere close to that.

devinmontgomery 12y ago

I don't think this is meant to be a piece of persuasive writing - he's not trying to form an argument. It compares two companies of different eras with the same name, who ran into their doppelgängers because companies founded 15 years ago had telephone numbers and companies founded 6 years ago don't. I think it's gorgeous.

tolmasky 12y ago
The article is clearly critical of uber and even ends by explicitly saying they should get phone support. It sounds a lot like a piece that is trying to argue for them getting phone support.
- jsprogrammer 12y ago
  Why should über have to bear the costs of Uber's 'business model'? Clearly some of Uber's customers (and want-to-be customers) want to contact Uber this way. Instead, Uber enjoys having them deflected to some other business to deal with and rationalizes it as 'not in our business model'. Obviously this is not surprising given the other parts of Uber's 'business model', whereby they attempt to absolve themselves of all kinds of liability by 'contracting' with their workforce (I mean employees) [I mean drivers]. I don't know if Uber has published its 'business model', but I wouldn't be surprised if it was short and to the point: 'Externalize all costs. Internalize all profits.'
  - curun1r 12y ago
    über should contact Lyft and ask for a number that they can give callers. If Uber is unwilling to step up and service these customers/providers, then the customers/providers should be sent to someone who will. If Uber objects, über can just say, "It's not our business model to act as your free phone support."
    - jsprogrammer 12y ago
      über likely also has a legal claim against Uber for infringing on their rights and marks. Clearly Uber has confused the market if this smaller business is having to handle hundreds of callers trying to reach Uber. Massive infringement lawsuit with actual + punitive damages is probably in order. Would likely be poetic justice, at least.

lpolovets 12y ago

I agree with you. I also find it a weak argument because companies aren't obligated to provide great (phone) customer service. I wish everyone had great customer service, but market forces make that a secondary or tertiary priority for many companies. For Uber, I bet they're growing at 10x/year while losing maybe 1% of customers to weak customer service. Why spend resources trying to shrink the 1% to .5% when you can instead try to grow the 10x to 12x? A tangent: I think you meant "segue" instead of "segue way". I just learned that a few weeks ago.

kendallpark 12y ago

I agree, the focus of the article seemed to shift halfway through from "man, what an unfortunate name collision" to "uber needs a phone line." I do appreciate companies that take a stand for "their way" of doing things, especially when it narrows their focus. You don't have to do everything conventional in order to be successful.