- Uber's CEO moonlighted as a driver last September to better understand why recruitment was an issue.
- Dara Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal he encountered problems that discouraged drivers.
- He also found that some passengers were rude and acted like they were alone in the car.
Uber's CEO moonlighted as a driver to try to find out why the company was having trouble signing up more drivers. He was surprised to find out just how many issues there were – and how unpleasant some riders could be.
Dara Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal he secretly signed up as a driver in September last year to better understand the Uber employee experience, amid a slowdown in recruitment.
The company had traditionally focused on the experience for riders, but he said it also needed to win the "hearts and minds" of drivers to maintain its lead over rivals such as Lyft.
He bought a secondhand Tesla Model Y to ferry riders around San Francisco and make deliveries using the alias "Dave K."
While there were several operational issues that made using the app difficult, Khosrowshahi was unpleasantly surprised by the behavior of some customers.
The Journal reported that some experiences made him feel slighted, such as riders discussing personal problems or confidential corporate information as if they were the only person in the car.
When Khosrowshahi made food deliveries using an electric bike he often encountered a practice called "tip-baiting," whereby customers entice a rider with a big tip when they order, before reducing it after delivery.
Another passenger who recognised the CEO on one of his Uber shifts asked him for advice on his start-up.
Khosrowshahi told the Journal he had a five-star rating for the 100-odd rides and deliveries he'd completed around San Francisco.
However, he said he'd go to bed anxious about maintaining his perfect rating the next day.
The Uber CEO said he would try to keep customers happy by offering phone charging cables and serving up Spotify playlists featuring artists including Taylor Swift and The National.
Five Uber drivers recently surveyed by Insider said they frequently encountered rudeness, no tips, arriving late, and requesting stops at drive-thrus or convenience stores from customers.
Khosrowshahi's moonlighting was part of a bigger operation called "Project Boomerang" that aimed to get more drivers back on the app post-pandemic.
The findings prompted Uber to create a single sign-up for both rides and deliveries, allowing drivers to see drop-off locations before pick-up, and hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses for drivers.
Khosrowshahi told the Journal that some drivers had returned in response to economic uncertainty, which was yet to have an impact on rider demand.