judge city

Uber, the car service and taxi app, was made for me. There is no one who loves a taxi more than I,  my motto being: ‘you never regret taking a taxi.’ Money always well spent. Taxis are not only more convenient, but lets be real, they’re a lot less sweaty than public transportation. And the sweat factor of things determines most of my life’s activities.

The best part about Uber is it guarantees you can get a car anywhere you are. So when you are in a rush or are in a no cab zone, Uber has got your back. That is, until you find yourself at midnight on Saturday (like I did) in the pouring rain (in a white dress) because there are apparently no Uber cars available. And forget hailing a taxi in the rain on a Saturday night in SoHo.

Thankfully, I had an umbrella and could walk to the subway, but that isn’t  the point. The point is that Uber provides a service, a service I was willing to wait for, and I kept getting turned down. Aren’t they supposed to save you from this very situation?

Because I love Uber so much I decided to let them know what went down. Here is what I wrote:

Uber! I love your service. Your cars are so clean, drivers so nice, and as Ashanti sings, you’re “always on time.”

But, I discovered, you’re a fair weathered friend!

Literally, you are a fair weathered friend. Non-metaphorically speaking, when it’s sunny or partly cloudy out your cars are at my location within minutes–even in a busy part of town at 2 AM.

And when it’s raining, you are nowhere to be seen. Last night leaving a friend’s house it began to torrentially downpour. With taxis all tied up, I figured Uber could save the night. But I got an email saying no Uber cars could be found!

I would’ve paid the hike! I would’ve waited 20 minutes! Of course, not having a car isn’t the worst thing as the walk to the subway was good exercise and it meant I’d have a chance to grab chips, but it worries me that the second it rains it seems I can’t count on Uber just as you can’t count on taxis under the same conditions.

Why don’t you get more cars and drivers? If all the cars were taken I assume many others use Uber so isn’t it time to ensure that every user can be picked up anywhere at any time? Winter is coming (not a GoT reference) and what will us faithful Uber riders do when it snows?

Or, can’t there be some sort of assigned queue rather than a “sorry no Uber cars at this time try again?” If I had been assigned a 20-30 minute wait I would’ve waited but I’m not going to sit around waiting and not know if a car will arrive.

Let’s work it out?

To my credit, my complaint was well structured yet lighthearted and offered customer advice that could be helpful to the company. Though I was proud of the critique and happy to have leftover chips (jalepeno in case you were wondering), I didn’t expect to hear back any time soon, if at all.

But, to my surprise, two days later I received a response from Michael at Uber that was better than anything I could have anticipated:

Hey Samantha,

If you aren’t already writing professionally, you should certainly consider it. Thanks for your cheerful yet serious email. It’s a welcome break and was a pleasure to read.

Now – regarding the issues you mentioned…

This weekend was intense. The promise of surge pricing is that our higher prices keep drivers available for those who need them most and are willing to pay the increase. Normally, we cap how high that pricing can go to keep it somewhat in control. On usual busy nights, that works well and we don’t see too much trouble. This past weekend though was another story. People must have been so happy to be back in town and the rain was stronger than ever that even with our 2x surge pricing, almost all of the drivers on the Uber system had their cars full. The demand outstripped our supply and we left loyal Uberites like you empty handed. For that, I am truly sorry.

Lesson learned though – and we’ve been tirelessly ramping up our partnerships with drivers so that we can handle the growth we’ve been seeing. We’re also going to be experimenting with surge pricing and let it run wild to truly rise with the demand. That should keep drivers available, and we’ll see how it works out. I credited your account $20 for the trouble and time that this caused you and for falling short when you were counting on us most. I do hope that you continue to rely on us as we move in to the cold of fall and winter (I don’t watch GoT so your non-reference was lost on me).

And finally, if you could let me know the best mailing address, we’d love to send you a little something small.

Let me know if I can help with anything else, Samantha. Hope to see you in an Uber soon.

I wasn’t expecting to get a credit or anything in the mail, just a simple response would’ve sufficed. But Michael went above and beyond with the perfect apology. Why was it perfect? Because Michael gave me:

a) a reason why there were a lack of available cars that night
b) a brief apology
c) their plan to fix the problem
d) free things (okay even if I wasn’t expecting it, if it’s free it’s for me).

All companies should use Michael’s response as an example when addressing complaints. It was friendly (he complimented my writing! swoon) and professional (he never got too joke-y or too apologetic). But most importantly, instead of a vague ‘sorry we value you as a customer gotta go bye,’ hearing how Uber was specifically fixing the problem made me feel more assured as a customer.

And to the complainers: someone is reading your complaint. Try to be constructive, clear and, when you can, humorous. There is no place ANYWHERE even in the world of complaining to be a rude, ungrateful, and snotty person. Michael and I both handled the situation to get the most effective outcome, which is really the point of the whole thing.

And to Michael:

a) Thank you!
b) You really need to start watching Game of Thrones
c) Let’s be best friends?