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Uber Free Rides During the Sydney Siege

5 points by jweir 12y ago

mhomde 12y ago
Quick nice reaction from Uber, the PR was really starting to turn against them with surge pricing making it cost 100 AUS to get the hell out of dodge BTW,seeing the situation unfold is Sydney is insane. Been at that café and have friends working a block away
greenyoda 12y ago
Apparently, their surge pricing, as reported earlier, was generating too much bad PR for them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8750431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8750431
chetanahuja 12y ago
The original surge pricing was the latest piece of evidence that there's probably no adult human making the calls at the top. The rightful horror expressed in the initial media coverage would have been obvious to almost any actual adult participating in normal human society on a day-to-day basis.
- walterbell 12y ago
  High prices (algo or otherwise) have the side effect of generating at least two surges of news articles - one for the price surge and one for the human intervention to reduce pricing. By now, this must be a well-honed skill.
  - chetanahuja 12y ago
    You seem to be implying that Uber wants news coverage of it's surge pricing during every humanitarian crisis. To me it sounds like a surefire way for activists to push for laws banning the practice of surge pricing (more normally known as profiteering or price-gouging in a crisis).
    - walterbell 12y ago
      Have activists been successful in changing Uber policies? Activists and irate taxi drivers generate even more news stories, i.e. more free coverage and watercooler talk for each Uber launch.
      - chetanahuja 12y ago
        Perhaps you've not been following the news lately. https://www.google.com/search?q=uber+bans&oq=uber+bans https://www.google.com/search?q=uber+bans&oq=uber+bans
        walterbell 12y ago
        One could argue that those events have not changed Uber policy, except for conciliatory blog posts. Uber, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen to lobby for legal changes in the court of public opinion, rather than working directly with regulators. Such an approach requires maximum public visibility to gain new riders before the service is shut down, in order to garner public support for reversal of court rulings. This playbook has been consistently applied in many cities globally. Cities and activists need to develop defensive strategies which do not play directly into Uber's campaign for maximum public visibility.

5 points by jweir 12y ago

Quick nice reaction from Uber, the PR was really starting to turn against them with surge pricing making it cost 100 AUS to get the hell out of dodge BTW,seeing the situation unfold is Sydney is insane. Been at that café and have friends working a block away

greenyoda 12y ago

Apparently, their surge pricing, as reported earlier, was generating too much bad PR for them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8750431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8750431

chetanahuja 12y ago

The original surge pricing was the latest piece of evidence that there's probably no adult human making the calls at the top. The rightful horror expressed in the initial media coverage would have been obvious to almost any actual adult participating in normal human society on a day-to-day basis.

walterbell 12y ago
High prices (algo or otherwise) have the side effect of generating at least two surges of news articles - one for the price surge and one for the human intervention to reduce pricing. By now, this must be a well-honed skill.
- chetanahuja 12y ago
  You seem to be implying that Uber wants news coverage of it's surge pricing during every humanitarian crisis. To me it sounds like a surefire way for activists to push for laws banning the practice of surge pricing (more normally known as profiteering or price-gouging in a crisis).
  - walterbell 12y ago
    Have activists been successful in changing Uber policies? Activists and irate taxi drivers generate even more news stories, i.e. more free coverage and watercooler talk for each Uber launch.
    - chetanahuja 12y ago
      Perhaps you've not been following the news lately. https://www.google.com/search?q=uber+bans&oq=uber+bans https://www.google.com/search?q=uber+bans&oq=uber+bans
      - walterbell 12y ago
        One could argue that those events have not changed Uber policy, except for conciliatory blog posts. Uber, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen to lobby for legal changes in the court of public opinion, rather than working directly with regulators. Such an approach requires maximum public visibility to gain new riders before the service is shut down, in order to garner public support for reversal of court rulings. This playbook has been consistently applied in many cities globally. Cities and activists need to develop defensive strategies which do not play directly into Uber's campaign for maximum public visibility.