In today’s news round-up for the Uber app, Uber South Africa was lambasted by the locals over “poor service.” Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the app, a new ad was launched, and it’s going to make you swoon over it. Read on for the scoop.
Uber South Africa giving ‘poor service’?
Uber South Africa is all over the news lately, and not for good. This is because the locals in the country are lambasting the app over what they call as poor service.
Ridesharing media were alarmed when they saw almost all of the around 4,800 reviews on this certain consumer complaints site for Uber are one-star ratings, with explanations that will cause you to distrust the app. Like seriously.
Generally, the complaints centered on reliability and safety. Riders noticed the unsafe behavior of drivers, with others even describing drivers who are ignoring GPS directions, speeding on the road like there’s no tomorrow, and dropping passengers far from the drop-off points.
What’s worse, there were complaints saying that they were being charged for trips that never actually occur, with prices reaching over almost $6. That could already be spent for a McDonald’s meal!
Other complaints include poor vehicle conditions, particularly broken air conditioning units, dirty interiors, and foul smells. Some passengers wrote it was like “they were sealed up in a plastic container with leftover food.” That’s awful, indeed.
Of course, who would like drivers canceling trips, especially if you’re in a hurry? Passengers are saying they were being abandoned by drivers, then even charging them cancellation fees. Other complaints include complex queuing systems, using phones left in cars overnight to jump in lines, and frequent pick-up fares.
Love is in the air
Could this be an early Valentine’s Day treat? Uber has unveiled its newest ad that will get you swooning over. The theme? Love and romance.
Entitled “In Good Time,” the ad campaign or the hero spot starts with a spark between two people in a suburban bar with six minutes to spare. It concludes with one minute that provides that love really, indeed moves in mysterious ways.
Spanning a little over two minutes, the ad begins with two people laughing at a bar with the surroundings dimly lit. They were also in a conversation.
Then, the following frames were the two bonding with each other over a swimming pool, an Uber ride, and under a rainy weather.
There was even a scene when Uber’s notification told them the car is arriving in four minutes, so they’ve got four minutes to spare with either making love, quarreling, and the like.
“Because there are love stories in your area,” the ad ended with this caption. “There are drivers in your area.”
This is part of the bigger campaign by Uber, with the others titled “Large Antiques,” “5 AM Flights,” and “Tired Dogs.”
“This campaign is about the tapestry of life that happens across America’s suburbs every day and the way Uber is a thread keeping it all together and moving,” explained Oriel Davis-Lyons, the chief creative officer at the advertising agency that created the ad. “It’s a big, expansive story-driven platform for a brand that is inextricably woven into the fabric of daily life in America.”