When it comes to the title of “worst ride-hailing company in America,” there can be only one. And sure enough, like some kind of mustache-twirling Highlander, Uber is still well ahead of its competition by any metric that involves generally shitty business practices. The Wall Street Journal reports the business responsible for that app you keep meaning to delete (but, you know, you’ve already uploaded all your info, and it would take like four whole minutes to redo it) has been underpaying its New York City drivers for the past two and a half years, making it the second time in three months Uber has admitted to not paying its workers their proper remuneration. Truly, it’s a turn of events that might surprise anyone not familiar with the company’s history of not taking responsibility for sexual assaults in its cars, creating a nightmarish work environment, being run by assholes, and more.
The report and the company itself continually refer to the underpaying of its drivers, which will likely result in a cost of tens of millions of dollars to Uber, as a “mistake” or “error.” It stems from the business taking its commission from the cost of each ride prior to deducting sales tax and a local injury-compensation fund fee, both of which are supposed to be removed from the total of which Uber takes its cut. The regional general manager of Uber for the U.S. and Canada says in a statement, “We are working hard to regain driver trust, and that means being transparent, sticking to our word, and making the Uber experience better from end to end.”
But buried down beneath the noble language of PR-speak, in the fourth-to-last paragraph of the story, is an interesting wrinkle which again confirms that, in addition to sticking to their word, the company is sticking to being really shitty, and fending off all comers who may attempt to out-shitty Uber. The WSJ flatly notes the valued-at-$68-billion company “had an opportunity to fix the problem in New York City sooner,” noting yet another lawsuit against the company in June 2016 called out the financial discrepancy. But, much like an allegation of assault or concerns about exploitative business practices, Uber chose to ignore it. The company looks forward to your feedback, and please feel free to share any concerns you may have, so that they can file those concerns on a broken flash drive in the basement of its offices.