Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 215) reports that taxi drivers in Mexico were frustrated at having spent spent thousands of dollars on licenses, permits, training classes, and other regulatory requirements — only for Uber to take their business. As cabbies grew more desperate, they beat and robbed Uber drivers — and killed one Uber driver in Guadalajara.
Indian driver threatened suicide
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 187) reports an Indian driver who threatened suicide due to reduction in Uber’s payments to drivers:
One incident involved an Indian man who arrived at an Uber outpost in hysterics, upset that Uber had yet again slashed prices. The man took out a canister, doused his body in gasoline and then brandished a lighter, threatening to set himself ablaze unless Uber raised its rates again. Security guards tackled the man, wrestled him to the ground, and stripped the lighter from his hands.
Hyderabad driver suicide
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 187) reports the suicide of a driver in Hyderabad, India after he wasn’t able to make his car loan payment on time:
An angry mob of drivers—some who drove for Uber, others employed by taxi organizations all too happy to stoke anger—showed up outside of Uber’s offices in early 2017 with the dead body of the thirty-four-year-old driver, M Kondaiah, dumping the corpse on the company’s front doorstep. If Uber’s wages for drivers in India weren’t so low, the group claimed, Kondaiah would still be alive today.
Millions of dollars wasted on fraud in China
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 183) describes scams in China seeking to steal sign-up incentives:
[I]n China, drivers and riders colluded to scam Uber out of billions in incentives, divvying the rewards. Most scammers found each other over text-based Chinese internet forums, a simple, anonymous way to match people who wanted to make a quick buck. They developed their own codified language; drivers seeking a fake ride would ask for “an injection,” a reference to the small, red digital pin that signaled a user’s location inside the Uber app. A “nurse,” or scammer, could respond in kind to give a “shot” to the original poster by creating a new fake account and going on a fake ride with the driver. The two parties would then split the bonus incentive payment from Uber. Repeated over and over across dozens of cities, small driver bonuses mushroomed into millions in squandered cash.
The obvious solution was to better verify drivers and passengers, to prevent repeat signups. But this was off the table:
To juice growth, Kalanick had made the new user sign-up process as simple as possible. Joining Uber only required a name, email address, phone number, and credit card number, all of which were easily replicable. Fraudsters simply entered fake names and emails. Then they used apps like “Burner” or “TextNow” to create thousands of fake telephone numbers to be matched with stolen credit card numbers. But requiring Chinese users to add other, more precise, forms of identification would add more friction to the process. And, as Kalanick’s data scientists found in their research, adding friction slowed growth. For Kalanick, putting a dent in growth was not an option.
Isaac then explains the additional methods scammers implemented to create fake riders, including cheap cell phones and disposable SIM cards to simulate additional personas.
Drug traffickers and prostitutes used Uber with stolen credit card numbers
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 182) reports drug traffickers and prostitutes using Uber for local transportation — and not even paying for it.
In Brooklyn, … credit card thieves used stolen card numbers to run drug trafficking and prostitution rings using Uber vehicles. The ruse was simple: the dealers would buy stolen credit card numbers from the Dark Web, then plug those numbers into the app to charge Uber trips to the stolen accounts. Over hundreds of trips per week they delivered drugs and call girls throughout New York City–all paid by Uber incentives or through chargebacks from credit card companies after the original card owners reported the fraud.
Manager dated a report, then favored her
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 171) reports that the same manager who attacked and berated employees also dated a direct report — and subsequently favored her in workplace matters.
Manager attacked and berated employees
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 171) reports physical and verbal abuse by Uber managers:
One manager in Rio would scream or throw coffee mugs at subordinates when he was upset. Workers were threatened by managers with baseball bats if they didn’t meet targets. Once, this manager berated an employee about his performance so intensely, he made the man cry in front of the entire office. … Yet because Rio de Janeiro was one of Uber’s top performing markets, the numerous HR complaints about that manager went unresolved.
Paid costs associated with fines and impoundments
When in a dispute with Philadelphia transit regulators, Uber promised to pay any fines and other costs if drivers’ vehicles were impounded:
Uberx: Reminder: If you are ticketed by the PPA, CALL US at [number removed]. You have 100% of our support anytime you are on the road using Uber–we are here for you, and we will get you home safe. All costs associated will be covered by us.
Source: Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 148)
Pushed taxi and livery drivers to financial ruin
Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 146) summarizes the “financial ruin” that car services and taxis faced when Uber entered their market and destroyed the value of their permits and medallions. Quoting from driver Doug Schifter’s suicide note:
When the industry started in 1981, I averaged 40-50 hours. I cannot survive any longer with working 120 hours! I am not a Slave and I refuse to be one.”
Levandowski hired a lobbyist for autonomous vehicles without safety drivers
Then working at Google, Anthony Levandowski hired a lobbyist in Nevada to advocate for a law that allowed autonomous vehicles to operate without backup/safety drivers. Google didn’t know about this, and this was contrary to Google’s careful approach.
Source: Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped (p. 143)