Uber temporarily suspended accounts of some drivers who were suspected of fraud, including when its systems concluded drivers had taken unnecessary detours to inflate fares or accepted trips without intending to complete them
Regardless of how Uber did it, these kind of drivers should be removed from the platform. This happened to me more than once. It’s quite frustrating as an example you want to get to airport and a driver has accepted your request, but you can see in the app the vehicle doesn’t move. One time this happened for all requests on Uber when I wanted to go to airport early morning and had to switch to Bolt
But wouldn't you want a human to be involved in this process?
Let's say you run a legitimate SaaS company, and a cloud provider suspends your account due to an allegation of fraud. Wouldn't you prefer a human is involved?
To me that seems pretty reasonable when people's livelihood is at stake.
But wouldn't you want a human to be involved in this process?
The article says human review was used for the final decisions. The accounts were temporarily suspended during the investigation.
Investigations take time because you need to allow time for the person to respond with their side of the story and then to have human reviewers investigate, which can take multiple rounds.
Having human review is as simple as having one person watch a dashboard of accounts flagged for fraud and then press the suspend-account button after skimming it. I fully expect that’s what they switched to after getting hit with this.
To me that seems pretty reasonable when people's livelihood is at stake.
What about the riders who are on the receiving end of fraudulent drivers in the best case, abusive or dangerous drivers in the worst case? It is possible to go to far in trying to protect workers for things that impact paying customers. Thinking of it only as big bad companies versus innocent workers misses the real problems.
What about the riders who are on the receiving end of fraudulent drivers in the best case, abusive or dangerous drivers in the worst case? It is possible to go to far in trying to protect workers for things that impact paying customers.
Not saying they shouldn't be banned. But a human should look into it. Seems reasonable?
I don’t think Uber or any other platform would automatically suspend the account based on one incident. It would have been multiple people complaining about a driver and then got suspended.
Drivers should be able to appeal and in that case a human should manually review before making the suspension permanent. Most probably that’s how it happens right now, but article doesn’t say anything about how the appeals are processed.
I almost lost a connection to a flight once using Bolt. Driver had confirmed, and at the last minute decided not to come. Of course on short notice could not find another driver. A friendly hotel worker drop me off.
Bolt washed their hands, and refereed me to the their customer agreements:
"Bolt says it is in no way responsible for performance of the transport contract between you and the transport provider."
"Their liability section goes further in Clause 6.1 says Bolt does not guarantee the quality or freedom from defects of the transport service. It says losses connected with the transport contract, including accidents, are not Bolt's responsibility."
F#%&uck Bolt, Uber and all the corrupt politicians who allow these innovative disruption "businesses"
I disagree, all those issues you pointed out are there with a normal taxi as well. However, what Uber has done for passengers is that drastically reduce the probability of getting scammed or abused by drivers.
Try getting a taxi in a country as a tourist where uber doesn’t operate and I bet 99% of the time you would get scammed or charged twice or three times as the normal cost of the ride
Thai taxis are notorious for off meter fares, but a savvy tourist can avoid them mostly (flag down a cab, don't take one waiting for you or worse, offering a ride).
I've made it work for me when the legit cabs had a long wait - I offered an off meter fare and I got instant service.
I once calculated the fare using a taxi fare site and the verbal off meter rate was lower than the estimated one. I gave him the higher rate.
Off meter isn't so black or white, that said I always prefer uber or similar regional cabs.
I had overall much better experience with taxis in Barcelona than Uber anywhere else it operates (I mostly use it in SoCal). One time I missed last train and had to use a taxi - driver multiple times asked if I understand that it will be 50-60 euros because of how far it is.
Taxis in Da Nang, Vietnam were also nice, but there were all arranged by the hotel, so that's probably why.
The opposite experience anywhere in the US. Taxi accepting credit card still a surprise for me.
Comments
Regardless of how Uber did it, these kind of drivers should be removed from the platform. This happened to me more than once. It’s quite frustrating as an example you want to get to airport and a driver has accepted your request, but you can see in the app the vehicle doesn’t move. One time this happened for all requests on Uber when I wanted to go to airport early morning and had to switch to Bolt
I agree.
But wouldn't you want a human to be involved in this process?
Let's say you run a legitimate SaaS company, and a cloud provider suspends your account due to an allegation of fraud. Wouldn't you prefer a human is involved?
To me that seems pretty reasonable when people's livelihood is at stake.
The article says human review was used for the final decisions. The accounts were temporarily suspended during the investigation.
Investigations take time because you need to allow time for the person to respond with their side of the story and then to have human reviewers investigate, which can take multiple rounds.
Having human review is as simple as having one person watch a dashboard of accounts flagged for fraud and then press the suspend-account button after skimming it. I fully expect that’s what they switched to after getting hit with this.
What about the riders who are on the receiving end of fraudulent drivers in the best case, abusive or dangerous drivers in the worst case? It is possible to go to far in trying to protect workers for things that impact paying customers. Thinking of it only as big bad companies versus innocent workers misses the real problems.
Not saying they shouldn't be banned. But a human should look into it. Seems reasonable?
You’re still missing it
Humans did do the review.
They paused their ability to take new rides until the human review was complete.
I don’t think Uber or any other platform would automatically suspend the account based on one incident. It would have been multiple people complaining about a driver and then got suspended.
Drivers should be able to appeal and in that case a human should manually review before making the suspension permanent. Most probably that’s how it happens right now, but article doesn’t say anything about how the appeals are processed.
Depends how pervasive the issue. I agree a human in the loop for reasonable redress is appropriate
I almost lost a connection to a flight once using Bolt. Driver had confirmed, and at the last minute decided not to come. Of course on short notice could not find another driver. A friendly hotel worker drop me off.
Bolt washed their hands, and refereed me to the their customer agreements:
"Bolt says it is in no way responsible for performance of the transport contract between you and the transport provider."
"Their liability section goes further in Clause 6.1 says Bolt does not guarantee the quality or freedom from defects of the transport service. It says losses connected with the transport contract, including accidents, are not Bolt's responsibility."
F#%&uck Bolt, Uber and all the corrupt politicians who allow these innovative disruption "businesses"
I disagree, all those issues you pointed out are there with a normal taxi as well. However, what Uber has done for passengers is that drastically reduce the probability of getting scammed or abused by drivers.
Try getting a taxi in a country as a tourist where uber doesn’t operate and I bet 99% of the time you would get scammed or charged twice or three times as the normal cost of the ride
Thai taxis are notorious for off meter fares, but a savvy tourist can avoid them mostly (flag down a cab, don't take one waiting for you or worse, offering a ride).
I've made it work for me when the legit cabs had a long wait - I offered an off meter fare and I got instant service.
I once calculated the fare using a taxi fare site and the verbal off meter rate was lower than the estimated one. I gave him the higher rate.
Off meter isn't so black or white, that said I always prefer uber or similar regional cabs.
I had overall much better experience with taxis in Barcelona than Uber anywhere else it operates (I mostly use it in SoCal). One time I missed last train and had to use a taxi - driver multiple times asked if I understand that it will be 50-60 euros because of how far it is.
Taxis in Da Nang, Vietnam were also nice, but there were all arranged by the hotel, so that's probably why.
The opposite experience anywhere in the US. Taxi accepting credit card still a surprise for me.