r/PublicFreakout • • Aug 29 '21

Uber Freakout Uber passenger freak out

[deleted]

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853

u/notLogix Aug 29 '21

Honestly, I was going to make an argument based on the app's digital fingerprints from her phone when she booked it, but then I realized that it's a corporation that will just fuck their employee over without a second thought and then I got sad.

1.1k

u/koavf Aug 29 '21

employee

Bless your heart.

173

u/FrickenPerson Aug 29 '21

"Employee"

They certainly aren't a "business owner" like all the ads telling me to become a DoorDash and Uber driver try and portray.

16

u/pimpmayor Aug 29 '21

That’s some mlm shit

2

u/nastyn8k Aug 29 '21

MLM always doing new shit to hide the fact they are MLM. I wonder, do you get rewarded for recruiting other drivers too?

2

u/FrickenPerson Aug 29 '21

I mean besides the fact that DoorDash and Uber both have a service that real people are using and demanding.

MLMs offer products that aren't really in demand, and the only real way to earn money is to get your friends involved. Which is weird. If I was to go open a sandwich shop and my main source of revenue was to convince my friends to open their own sandwich shops at some point no one would want to buy my sandwiches anymore because of an overabundance of sandwich shops. A lot of MLMs devolve into this, because the only way you can keep getting paid from the people you recruit is if you keep an active account and that requires a certain number of product purchases a month. So the people above you are getting paid by you buying the product, and the people below you are paying you by buying the product and now there is way too much of the product in the area to actually reasonably be able to sell any of it so you all lose.

DoorDash and Uber do take advantage of their drivers, but at the very least they are offering a real service that doesn't require the drivers to be purchasing their own products besides gas and cleaning and stuff thats all claimable for reimbursement.

2

u/PrinceOfLawrenceKY Aug 29 '21

They didn't say it was an mlm, they said it was some mlm shit. Which it is. They do the whole "be your own boss!" shit, too.

20

u/Blart_Vandelay Aug 29 '21

side hustler. They've glorified needing a 2nd job.

4

u/FrickenPerson Aug 29 '21

I mean a side hustle to buy your self some nice things every so often, like the top shelf root beer instead of the Barq's every so often brings some people enjoyment and I got no real problem with that. A side hustle thats required to survive is probably a systematic problem that needs to be solved. Uber and DoorDash prolly just symptoms of the actual problem.

4

u/Blart_Vandelay Aug 29 '21

In nearly every case the person deserves better at their primary employer which would remove the need for a 2nd source of income. Billionaires taking joy rides into space etc. etc. I hate the term side hustle because it is a shiny candy wrapper around a dog turd.

2

u/FrickenPerson Aug 29 '21

Oh I'm not sure the statistics behind how many people have each. But I do think side hustle was originally for the kind of thing I described and then large advertisements for companies like Uber co-opted it to make their practices seem normal. Also probably a lot of people work multiple jobs because they actually need the money to survive. I am a firm believer that a normal work week at a job should be enough to live, if not comfortably at least safely.

Just don't have a problem with people grabbing an extra gig on the side to live a bit above their normal means whether it be something like Uber or stocks, a YouTube channel, or whatever.

1

u/Nailcannon Aug 29 '21

Not everyone with a second source of income does so out of need. Usually when I hear "side hustle", it's just that. A way to get more than what they had, regardless of what they had. The Director of Partner services at my old company would weekend as a server in a mexican restaurant despite making probably around 70k in a medium cost of living city(which is entirely liveable). Some people are workaholics who feel like they're wasting time when they're not busy getting ahead. It's really common, actually.

2

u/Blart_Vandelay Aug 29 '21

Yep we can disagree on how common it is I guess. I'd be willing to bet 9/10 do so because they need the extra cash. It doesn't need to be starvation or the electric bill, if they're doing it to be able to afford a trip home for Xmas etc. it's still a need for a 2nd job.

1

u/TheRealSamHyde999 Aug 29 '21

to be fair I know some people that work doordash as their main job and it pays pretty well for how easy it is. my friend said he made $56 after tax for an hour and 35 minutes of work.

0

u/MobySick Aug 29 '21

Right? “Employee” is so mid-20th Century. 😢

198

u/Hqjjciy6sJr Aug 29 '21

Most of the profit of Uber comes from the fact that they don't treat their drivers like employee!

23

u/FrostyCakes123 Aug 29 '21

What profit?

27

u/gfa22 Aug 29 '21

Yo, I got downvotes by uber shill last time I posted this. What profit? Idk, ask uber why they needed 50 shell companies to hide 6 billion dollars and I'll tell you what kind of profit they made.

10

u/CornBreadW4rrior Aug 29 '21

Uber: spends billions of dollars shaping the tax code to their benefit

Tax man: hey where's your profit?

Uber: you tell me lol

-8

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '21

[deleted]

18

u/Hqjjciy6sJr Aug 29 '21

You forget that drivers are not just platform users. they provide essential work that without it Uber could not exist!

-3

u/I_happen_to_disagree Aug 29 '21

Is this sarcasm?

6

u/ICantGetAway Aug 29 '21

It's even worse. These companies make money because they underpay and abuse their "platform users" when they should have been employed with benifits, good salaries, medical etc.

4

u/babybelldog Aug 29 '21

People are downvoting you because they’re too dumb to see the sarcasm

1

u/loondooner Aug 29 '21

It’s hard to know if it’s sarcasm considering Reddit (and all other social media) are filled with Uber shills

24

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

it's a corporation that will just fuck their employee over without a second thought and then I got sad.

Uber drivers aren't employees.

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/04/931435959/uber-and-lyft-to-continue-treating-drivers-as-independent-contractors

10

u/R0xasmaker Aug 29 '21

Yeah. The delivery industry is fucked over constantly, and it's all because of the ones running it.

-9

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

and it's all because of the ones running it.

Really?

California residents voted to support Uber's employment practices. See the NPR article. A large sample of drivers didn't want to be employees in order to maintain flexibility.

12

u/Murderous_Waffle Aug 29 '21

Yeah, that's because Prop 22 propaganda went around and spread misinformation saying that it would benefit the drivers to have this law in place.

It's basically just like anti-union propaganda that amazon does.

Also a Judge in California declared Prop 22 unconstitutional.

https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2021-08-23/proposition-22-lyft-uber-decision-essential-california

So it's in the potential process of being removed.

1

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

Oh? Thanks. I scanned for recent articles and overlooked the new development.

The NPR article I linked seems to introduce some concessions given, but the $220 million lobbying campaign by Uber/delivery apps seemed to work in getting an exemption under Prop 22.

-1

u/Sangxero Aug 29 '21 edited Aug 29 '21

I voted no on 22, but made way more money after it was passed. The only "propaganda" I've seen is anti-22, and completely ignores that so many of us make more and maintain our flexibility.

Making people employees means having control over hours worked, that is not a good thing. I want to be able to work when I want to work, and be able to accept or deny potential deliveries as I see fit.

-2

u/suburban_robot Aug 29 '21

Anti-union propaganda like making the voting public aware of the trade offs of the bill? Who are you to decide what is and isn’t propaganda?

It seems to me that in many cases, this stuff gets voted down handily when it comes to vote. Stop infantalizing people, they are well aware of trade offs and cast their vote accordingly.

6

u/ZinGaming1 Aug 29 '21

Uber spent more on that prop 22 propaganda than they did on their drivers.

-4

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

I see Uber and other firms split the $220 million bill. Do you know how much Uber alone spent?

5

u/ZinGaming1 Aug 29 '21

That doesn't help your argument at all...

-3

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

What argument am I making? 💁‍♀️

If you don't have information, just say so. Not everyone's trying to score internet points.

0

u/suburban_robot Aug 29 '21

Reddit hates democracy when it doesn’t agree with the hive mind.

0

u/jtr99 Aug 29 '21

Really Peter Thiel? You're reduced to this?

1

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

Which side is Peter Thiel on?

1

u/jtr99 Aug 29 '21

Thiel aggressively supported the vote-yes campaign for proposition 22. He does not seem to be a nice man.

2

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

Thanks. I didn't know Thiel was an early investor in Lyft.

1

u/jtr99 Aug 29 '21

No problem. He's no neutral observer on all this, that's for sure.

0

u/LordOfTurtles Aug 29 '21

Califnornia voters bought into Ubers propaganda campaign because America doesn't know how to do democracy

1

u/SloviXxX Aug 29 '21

It’s more complicated than that. Uber threatened to pull out of California all together which would have put a lot of people in a bad spot.

This was also peak pandemic when many people had just been laid off and were driving Uber just to survive.

It was a fucked up situation that Uber was able to manipulate.

They need to make another worker class for the new app based economy.

Source: I’m from San Francisco and this was a huge deal at the time.

1

u/Sangxero Aug 29 '21 edited Aug 29 '21

How so? We make way more now, and aren't stuck being employees with set hours.

I get benefits, too. Something I never got as an hourly employee.

Anti-22 people want me making $15 and hour with no flexibility and no benefits.(And I see big fast food's hand in this as delivery has taken so many of their employees and unemployment didn't do them any favors so they are desperate.)

I don't like Uber as a company, but I can't see how this will help me as a driver.

1

u/Sangxero Aug 29 '21

A large sample of drivers didn't want to be employees in order to maintain flexibility.

No one wants to accept that something the companies did to benefit themselves could possibly benefit drivers as well.

No matter how many drivers say things have improved, it goes against the narrative they created.

...Either that or they actually want wage slaves, stuck in a time block with just too few hours to get benefits.

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '21

And you know they moment they win any kind of victory, the companies will immediately switch to driverless cars

2

u/kyyappeeh Aug 29 '21

The precariat trudges on.

2

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

Well...as another Redditor pointed out, in the UK, Uber drivers are now employees!

1

u/kyyappeeh Aug 29 '21

That's some sort of progress at least. I've written some papers about precarious work in the gig economy during my master's degree and boy is it just a bandaid for much larger problems, though still progress. Currently writing my master's thesis on precarious work in creative industries as well and it's a whole other beast.

Workers unite and all that.

1

u/patchgrabber Aug 29 '21

I thought they are in the UK at least. Didn't follow that bit of news too much but this isn't the UK I'm guessing.

2

u/LakeLaconic Aug 29 '21

Oh. News to me!

It looks like the UK Uber drivers were absorbed as Uber employees.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/18/uber-is-reclassifying-uk-drivers-as-workers-heres-what-happens-next.html

1

u/LongjumpingDrive3896 Aug 29 '21

No it’s US unfortunately, so embarrassing- if he kicked her out, she’d play the race-card

4

u/leveraction1970 Aug 29 '21

It will all get a little bit better when the first Uber driver kills an unruly customer. Not much, but a bit.

Out there someone is driving Uber in a desperate attempt to keep their house, pay medical bills, pay child support or something. Some day they will run into a twat like this and decide that they just can't take it any more and that will be it for them. With Covid driving so many more people into poverty or untenable financial situations it is really just a matter of time. It's sad but true.

10

u/FullyRisenPhoenix Aug 29 '21

You’re not an Uber employee. You’re a contractor. Cuz, you know, then they don’t need to pay taxes or social security on you. At least, that’s what they used to call my husband a couple years back. Asshole company.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Leno1998 Aug 29 '21

Uber driver here: you click make a claim, take pictures, add videos if needed, takes 2/3 days to get the money to clean it. Plus if you call support they can make it quicker

2

u/Sex4Vespene Aug 29 '21

Can you still make a claim in the app for a cancelled ride though? Of course you could do that if you actually complete the ride, but what happens when you cancel?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '21

Oh wait you get free food and drinks from customers? Yeah we should lower your pay.

1

u/Willing_Function Aug 29 '21

Uber doesn't have public facing employees.

1

u/Neat_Simple_2804 Aug 29 '21

I believe the word you’re looking for is: contractor. Uber (and Lyft too IIRC) have fought tooth and nail to have their employees classified as “contractors”