An Uber “brand ambassador” in Chicago spoke on the condition of anonymity about the company’s practice of persuading Lyft drivers to convert to the rival service.
“I have no idea how many others in Chicago do this. All my communication with Uber is done remotely through e-mail or webinars. Once I met a driver who said she’d already encountered two brand ambassadors, so there could be a strikingly large amount of people. It’s a great third job for me because I’ve always liked talking to cabdrivers and I’m naturally a talker. I tend to ask them how long they’ve been driving and I’ve had people say they’ve been driving for 12 hours straight. One ride I remember—it was two in the afternoon and the driver said he’d been driving since two in the morning. That’s crazy. I don’t like how there are no regulations from either Lyft or Uber on this.
