Uber promised passengers a “free ride” but provided only a $15 discount. Details.
Intentionally blocked aggregators and comparison shopping
Uber banned aggregators from comparing Uber’s prices with competitors, raising antitrust/competition concerns. Analysis by Ben Edelman: How Uber Uses API Restrictions to Block Price Comparison and Impede Competition. July 2017 news coverage of Uber’s threats against comparison shopping tool Ride Fair.
Vehicle inspections
Uber operated without vehicle inspections required by applicable local, state, and/or national governments. Details coming soon.
Driver verifications
Uber operated without driver verifications required by applicable local, state, and/or national governments. Details coming soon.
Operating without licenses required by applicable governments
Refused to provide documents when ordered by an administrative law judge
“Knowing and intentional” “obstructive” “recalcitrance” in its “blatant,” “egregious,” “defiant refusal” to produce documents and records when so ordered by administrative law judges.
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement v. Uber Technologies, Inc., et al., Initial Decision, November 17, 2015. C-2014-2422723.
“God View” let Uber staff see any passenger’s activity
An Uber employee told a visiting journalist that he had tracked her, leading her to uncover an internal company tool called “God View” that let Uber staff see the travels of any passenger including both real-time and historic location, all without the passenger’s knowledge.
Uber granted job candidates provisional access to the same customer location data provided to full-time employees. One candidate reported having this access for an entire day, even after the interview ended. He admitted searching for records of people he knew, including politicians’ relatives.
User also displayed customer data to members of the public invited to its premises. At a 2011 party celebrating Uber’s launch in Chicago, Uber let guests visually track passenger rides, without users’ permission or knowledge.
Drivers with criminal records
Allegations of sexual assault
Uber drivers were accused of sexually assaulting riders in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, and more.
“Upfront pricing” disputes
Uber “upfront pricing” nets out in Uber’s favor, increasing effective fees charged to drivers. Details from Rideshare Guy.
In screenshots and details at Quartz, drivers show some specifics. For example, on one ride, the passenger paid $31.02, yet Uber told the driver that the passenger’s fare was $26.96, which led to a net payment to the driver of $17.05 (net of Uber’s fee, tax, and other charges). In other examples, Uber charged the passenger $41.86 but told the driver the fare was $34.85; and $25.65 versus $22.03. In each of these examples, Uber’s statement to the driver about the passenger’s “fare” appears to have been affirmatively false, as the true fare was more.