Uber has so many little annoyances that make it a miserable experience. I generally don't engage in the "recreational corporate hate" thing but it's one of the few companies and products I actively dislike.
The app is misleading and insulting to users' intelligence. Multiple times, I've requested a ride, been connected with a driver, and it's completely obvious that the dude is still sitting in his house and hasn't gotten into his car yet. Yet the app will show A) The car moving around pointlessly on the map, B) The wait timer diminishing from 10 minutes, to 9 minutes, 8 minutes, etc.
It's so transparent that some asshole PM in San Francisco thinks he's really clever and that lying to users will improve retention or whatever. Which also means he thinks users are clueless rubes that can't tell he's fucking lying to them.
This might improve short-term metrics - perhaps I'm slightly less likely to cancel the ride on any particular trip - but in the long term it makes me hate this company and avoid using them unless I'm absolutely forced to. There's a million other things in the app and user experience that cause similar mental friction and stress.
The result is that these days I'd much rather drive my car to the airport and pay for parking than take an Uber.
The app is misleading and insulting to users' intelligence. Multiple times, I've requested a ride, been connected with a driver, and it's completely obvious that the dude is still sitting in his house and hasn't gotten into his car yet. Yet the app will show A) The car moving around pointlessly on the map, B) The wait timer diminishing from 10 minutes, to 9 minutes, 8 minutes, etc.
It's so transparent that some asshole PM in San Francisco thinks he's really clever and that lying to users will improve retention or whatever. Which also means he thinks users are clueless rubes that can't tell he's fucking lying to them.
This might improve short-term metrics - perhaps I'm slightly less likely to cancel the ride on any particular trip - but in the long term it makes me hate this company and avoid using them unless I'm absolutely forced to. There's a million other things in the app and user experience that cause similar mental friction and stress.
The result is that these days I'd much rather drive my car to the airport and pay for parking than take an Uber.