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by NotPaidToPost 2589 days ago
The article clearly mentions that this is an artificial and concerted effort to increase prices.

To me this does not seem different from taking a longer route to increase the fare.

What you describe would probably be fine if that wasn't concerted. But here they all collude to artificially trigger surge pricing.
1 comments
thrill 2589 days ago
Not accepting a ride until an agreed (the rider can always cancel the ride) price is met is entirely different than taking a longer route after a job has started.
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fl0wenol 2589 days ago
Also that's a bit more nuanced a topic because between the driver and the passenger they might agree to take a longer route which could cost more if it's faster, avoiding traffic or whatever.
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NotPaidToPost 2589 days ago
You're avoiding the point, which is the collusion and artificial price increase. That's fraudulent.

Edit: Whether this is a "regulated market" is a red herring and irrelevant.

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eropple 2589 days ago
"Fraudulent" is a word that means things. Can you please substantiate your claim beyond just the assertion?
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NotPaidToPost 2589 days ago
That's what I keep doing...
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eropple 2589 days ago
To this point, I haven't seen it. Yes, there's collective action. You could even call it "artificial". Where's the fraud? How is it thus not fraudulent when Uber and Lyft run me and my girlfriend through their pricing models and quote me two bucks more for the same ride?

Why is this driver behavior fraud--and not the collective behavior of these ride-on-demand companies in general?

Hell, let's go back to first principles: why is choosing to refuse to take rides below a certain price ever "fraudulent"? It might be "bad", it might even violate the terms of a contract with Lyft/Uber and thus be grounds for termination of the relationship between the driver and the ride-on-demand company, but how is it "fraudulent"?

Words mean things.

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free652 2589 days ago
Drivers don't set prices, Uber and Lyft do. Uber can keep prices lower and hire employees if they want.
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pyrale 2589 days ago
It would if Uber was a regulated market. However, it is not, and Uber will never support making it so.
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