You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Uber Acknowledges Nasty Ploy to Sabotage a Competitor Employees at car service Uber ordered -- and then canceled -- over 100 cars from a New York competitor called Gett and then attempted to poach its drivers.

By Geoff Weiss

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Uber

Uber's voyage to revolutionize the modern transport model and topple a budding crop of competitors has lately been a bumpy ride.

Rival car company Gett says Uber employees in New York ordered and then canceled -- in some cases, at the very last minute -- more than 100 cars last week, resulting in a disruption of its service. After receiving the Gett drivers' cell phone numbers from the orders, an Uber employee texted the drivers in an attempt to poach them from Gett.

"Our local teams can be pretty determined when spreading the word about Uber," Uber acknowledged in a blog post, adding that its actions against Gett were "too aggressive." The company claims, however, that it paid cancellation fees and that Gett's drivers lost no time as the requests were canceled immediately. Gett denies both claims.

"We collected contact info and canceled within seconds," Josh Mohrer, Uber NYC's general manager told Entrepreneur. "This had nothing to do with sabotage."

Related: Uber Deepens Discounts on Its UberX Service

Gett, for its part, does not seem to be taking the incident sitting down. In a blog post on its website featuring a battle still from the movie Braveheart, the company -- which launched exclusively in New York last August -- thanked its users by offering them a discount code and pleaded, "We need your support now more than ever."

Gett said that it was evaluating its legal options.

This isn't the only bad press currently surrounding Uber and its polarizing co-founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick. In addition to a lawsuit by its drivers who allege the company is stealing their tips, the company will soon face its first wrongful-death lawsuit after an Uber car tragically struck and killed a 6-year-old girl in San Francisco on New Year's Eve.

Related: How to Outwit Your Competition

Geoff Weiss

Former Staff Writer

Geoff Weiss is a former staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

James Clear Explains Why the 'Two Minute Rule' Is the Key to Long-Term Habit Building

The hardest step is usually the first one, he says. So make it short.

Side Hustle

He Took His Side Hustle Full-Time After Being Laid Off From Meta in 2023 — Now He Earns About $200,000 a Year: 'Sweet, Sweet Irony'

When Scott Goodfriend moved from Los Angeles to New York City, he became "obsessed" with the city's culinary offerings — and saw a business opportunity.

Living

Get Your Business a One-Year Sam's Club Membership for Just $14

Shop for office essentials, lunch for the team, appliances, electronics, and more.

Business News

Microsoft's New AI Can Make Photographs Sing and Talk — and It Already Has the Mona Lisa Lip-Syncing

The VASA-1 AI model was not trained on the Mona Lisa but could animate it anyway.

Leadership

You Won't Have a Strong Leadership Presence Until You Master These 5 Attributes

If you are a poor leader internally, you will be a poor leader externally.