If the title of this post makes no sense to you, allow me to break it down. Uber is a like a taxi service. You download their app, request a ride by tapping a button the screen, and a driver picks you up in an Uber car. All the payment is handled with Uber and not the driver, so you don’t tip them. And the drivers can come from basically anywhere, by which I mean, there’s no regulated standard with drivers the way there is with say, an NYC taxi company. Think of it as paying a bunch of people to hire people to drive you around in a nice car.
Le1f is rapper/DJ. He is accusing an Uber driver of being racist. He sent of a series of angry tweets starting with,
MY CAB DRIVER DROVE BY ME & REFUSED TO PICK ME UP, NOW I’M SUPPOSED TO PAY $10 TO CANCEL?? IS THIS HOW YOU GUYS TREAT PEOPLE IN HARLEM (from twitter via Gizmodo).
He’s since taken down most of his tweets, but someone screencapped them before he did. From ONTD:
Uber responded with (via Gizmodo),
Uber prides itself on connecting riders to ultra-reliable transportation providers. We are looking into the details of this incident and will take swift and appropriate action. What we do know is that the customer used the TAXI e-hail product, which generally provides a poor quality of service across all of New York City. Fewer than 20% of TAXI e-hail requests result in a completed ride. This is the case anywhere in the city — Soho, Brooklyn, Midtown, Harlem and everywhere else. For a substantially higher quality of service and reliability at a similar price point, Uber has rolled out its UberX livery product. Customers are several times more likely to get a ride upon request.
So basically they’re saying, “it’s not our fault.”
I had a similar experience with Uber. Uber, not TAXI e-hail. I requested a car, took a few minutes to find the car (about 3), found him, waved frantically, and watched him drive away. I tried to chase him down but he still left. I’m not denying that racism among taxi/private car drivers exist. I’m saying that sometimes, Uber sucks. Even if you’re waiting exactly where you’re supposed to be, they can still pass right by you. And if they don’t see you right away, they’re not going to always wait more than 2 minutes. I don’t use them anymore because they raised their rates and taxis are now much cheaper.
What do you think of his situation? Have you ever used Uber?
I’m a frequent Uber user in Boston, and I have never had a problem, especially using uberX or the black car. A few times the “taxi” option was shotty, but I expected that. So I love it, and recommend it to everyone. But I don’t doubt that it’s a little crazier in NYC.
What a surprise, it didn’t go 100% his way and he screams the race card. I can’t take anyone seriously who blames their race for their mess ups
What mess up?? He said the driver drove past and refused to pick him up. I can’t take anyone seriously who uses the term “race card” to disguise their clearly racist comments.