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from the always-read-the-fine-print dept.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1937
Uber is fighting a proposed class-action lawsuit that says it secretly over charges riders and under pays drivers. In its defense, the ride-hailing service claims that nobody is being defrauded in its "upfront" rider fare pricing model.
The fares charged to riders don't have to match up with the fares paid to drivers, Uber said, because that's what a driver's "agreement" allows.
"Plaintiff's allegations are premised on the notion that, once Uber implemented Upfront Pricing for riders, it was required under the terms of the Agreement to change how the Fare was calculated for Drivers," Uber said (PDF) in a recent court filing seeking to have the class-action tossed. "This conclusion rests on a misinterpretation of the Agreement."
The suit claims that, when a rider uses Uber's app to hail a ride, the fare the app immediately shows the passenger is based on a slower and longer route compared to the one displayed to the driver. The rider pays the higher fee, and the driver's commission is paid from the cheaper, faster route, according to the lawsuit.
Uber claims the disparity between rider and driver fares "was hardly a secret."
"Drivers," Uber told a federal judge, "could have simply asked a User how much he or she paid for the trip to learn of any discrepancy."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jcross on Wednesday September 20 2017, @04:21PM (6 children)
I was kind of surprised by this one:
"Drivers could have simply asked a User how much he or she paid for the trip to learn of any discrepancy."
This seems like a really awkward thing for a driver to do. What they're saying is, the information could have been transparent if the driver were willing to disturb their rider and appear to be in conflict with their "employer" or whatever you call Uber in this situation. It would be like a hotel clerk asking at check-in "how much did you pay for this room, because I'm supposed to get a percentage". I imagine most riders would rather think everything's fine between the driver and Uber. They don't really want to think about their participation in the locust economy (https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2013/04/03/the-locust-economy/).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 20 2017, @04:44PM
Honestly, that would be pretty low on the awkward scale for (what is in my experience) an average Uber driver.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 20 2017, @04:56PM (1 child)
"I imagine most riders would rather think everything's fine between the driver and Uber."
Yeah, and I imagine that dragons and unicorns live all over the earth.
Don't you think that "most riders" have to work for a living? And, most of those riders are well aware that management is out to screw the working man, as often as not?
Now, back to dragons and unicorns - why can't I find them living anywhere near my home? Is it because of pollution? Lack of living space? Noisy kids? Maybe light pollution - they probably have a hard time sleeping with all the lights burning every night!
(Score: 5, Funny) by frojack on Wednesday September 20 2017, @05:32PM
Because nobody audited your neighborhood development plat.
The developer was specifically required to provide a unicorn herd.
Instead he sold them to Disney, and pocketed the money.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 20 2017, @05:02PM (2 children)
This makes Uber look utterly sleazy. Almost everything about how they operate has some kind of sleaziness to it. The quicker they self-destruct the better.
Sure, the cab system in many towns has problems, but those problems are easily fixable, they just need to address the corruption in the political system (too much pay-to-play) that's making the free market and competition impractical.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Wednesday September 20 2017, @05:18PM (1 child)
I'd recommend removing the word "just" from that statement: It should be abundantly clear by now that there ain't no such thing as a non-corrupt political system.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 20 2017, @06:29PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves