The GIG Economy Podcast
Talks about our Gig Economy adventures and breaking down the Gig Economy News
The GIG Economy Podcast
New Rideshare Apps, Uber Lawsuits, And A Cop Hijacked An Uber And Nobody Blinked
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We bounce from late-night gig work realities to the biggest rideshare and delivery headlines, including new apps trying to undercut Uber and Lyft with subscription-style pricing. We also dig into safety, automation, and data tracking, because the future of gig work looks a lot more monitored and a lot more algorithm driven.
• new rideshare competitor THROO entering New York City with a flat fee model
• subscription pricing trade-offs for drivers and riders
• insurance and liability questions when apps claim lower commissions
• Minneapolis alternatives and how local rules shape competition
• Uber Eats priority delivery lawsuit and why drivers may not even be told
• refunds, customer trust, and platform support frustrations
• police asking an Uber driver to help chase a suspect and the consent issue
• Amazon rural routes, dirt roads, and routing quality concerns
• Dutch regulators fining Uber over automated account suspensions and deactivations
• teen rides, live video streaming for parents, and drop-off rules for minors
• Tesla one-pedal driving and why some passengers feel nauseous
• robotaxis expanding and what approvals in Las Vegas could change
• FTC scrutiny of personalized pricing based on consumer data
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Names, Jokes, And Catching Up
SPEAKER_05Hello, hello. Welcome to the Gig Economy Podcast, episode three hundred and sixteen. I'm here with my bald friend Larry. Larry Paul Duncan, the one and only.
SPEAKER_03Larry Paul.
SPEAKER_05What is it? Isn't it Paul?
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_05Give me the first letter. I know it. It's M Maurice. Maurice. Okay. Only took me two times. I knew it was I knew it was something. But anyways, I know I had heard it before and we've talked about it on the show, but yeah. I kind of like that name. That uh middle. Well, I like that name. Like I feel like I'd be like if I saw one of my kids on the playground, since I'm back to school, so you can get some little playground stories or bus stories to spill in. But if they said my name's Maurice, I'm like, dude, give me some skin. That's that's amazing. Like I'd give them knuckles. Like, I don't know. I kind of like that name.
SPEAKER_03It's so funny because I never hear it until uh I started working where I work now. And uh when I filled out all my paperwork, for some reason when they made my computer account, uh it says Larry Marie, Larry M. Duncan Jr. or Larry, no, it says Larry Maurice Duncan Jr. And so one of the guys I work with every day, he's like, Is that Larry? Larry Maurice Duncan Jr. He called me by my full name like every time.
SPEAKER_05I'd be like, Why are you calling me by I always say, Why are you calling me by my government name? Exactly. Like, please don't
Late Night Gig Work Reality
SPEAKER_05do that. Yeah, funny. Yeah. How's it going, Larry? How was your week?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, it's good. Yeah, wife recovered from COVID. She's feeling good. Uh it's been good weather here. It finally cooled down just a little bit. Um, got out, did some gig work. We did the late night shift. That's the latest I've been out in a while. It's out to about quarter to four Sunday morning. And uh college kids, it's it's just about you drive down through there and just like it looks like 8,000 kids walking around. Really? They're at one in the morning, they're just everywhere. They're just roaming the streets, man, in packs.
SPEAKER_05No one would really believe you because like you you drive around there during the summer and it's just dead as a doornail, and then all of a sudden you're just like I don't know what movie, like the purge or something. Like you're just like there's freaking kids everywhere. I gotta watch what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Oh, and you you have to yeah, because they they do not watch what they're doing. You have to be very drive very slow around because they will they will walk in front of you and not think twice about it. Yeah. I mean, you have to be you have to really be careful around them.
SPEAKER_05Right. And then you know, you don't want to kill them because or run them over because they're your moneymaker.
SPEAKER_03It's a lot of paperwork. I got time for that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no one has time for that for sure.
SPEAKER_03They don't.
SPEAKER_05Uh, we don't neither of us have stories from the road. I know Larry's up late, and I did an Amazon route basically. I'm back to school this week, so no gig work this week so far. And I don't know, man. I'm a little burned out already. It's Wednesday. I got a full day tomorrow, half day Friday, and then I might just uh chill on the weekends. But yeah, I not much going on with that. So we're just gonna jump into gig economy
Subscription Rideshare Apps Arrive
SPEAKER_05and the news. Uh, got quite a bit to talk about, some interesting topics for sure. Uh, one of the things is we always look at we don't look at it, but it pops up from time to time. And I feel like it was hot and heavy for a while, especially when the regulations in these states came down, these apps that were trying to like compete with Uber and Lyft. And then it just kind of got quiet. I know there's Empower that I see pop up here and there every once in a while, but this is uh this is a new one I I see that's trying to take over in uh New York City.
SPEAKER_03Is yeah, it'd be it'd be cool to go back and look at all those ones in Minnesota that were trying to take off and see if they were still around. There's like nine of them, it seemed like. But yeah, yeah, and this one at least has a track record. So there is a new app, uh Roger app that's in a come into the New York City market, and it's called Throw, T H R O O. Interesting. Um, and it's actually very uh says very popular in some other countries, including Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Thailand, where they launched uh in 2018. So it's not a brand new app. The uh CEO there, uh, says he recruited more than 53,000 drivers in New York City, uh, which you know sounds like a lot here in Bowling Green, but it's not a lot in New York City where they have no telling how many drivers. But uh says that um they they threw charges no commission, so they charge riders less than they do on, you know, they'll pay on Lyft and Uber, and they charge the drivers a one dollar fee for every ride. That's it. So it's uh okay it's like a subscription base, which you know some of the other apps have tried to do that. Yeah, says um after they did a soft launch and on June 10th, um it says 2,047 drivers made a total of 2,547 trips in June. Uh, for the new app has a long way to go with Uber and Lyft, which combined for over 20 million trips that month.
SPEAKER_05That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Yes, it is. It says another thing they have going for them. Uh says they have a open communication between drivers and company to resolve conflicts and complaints. Uh Uber and Lyft are currently suing New York City to stop a city law from taking effect that would mandate due process for drivers in those situations. Again, this uh spokesman for the company said, you know, none of the none of the other apps that have tried to break up Uber and Lyft, like there's one called Via Get, one called Revel, uh said they didn't have the right business model and they didn't have the resources. This is a real company from Singapore and it's very well financed. So it says if it takes off and drivers like it, you're probably gonna see other platforms offering a subscription model, and then uh this you know, the subscription charge being the one dollar per ride fee.
SPEAKER_05So yeah, I've I've definitely like we talked about God. What was that scammy one we used to talk about?
SPEAKER_03And we like no rides or what no, what was it? I can't remember what it was, but oh yeah, I can't even.
SPEAKER_05But anyways, and that was like a weird like pure pyramid scheme, I guess. But I don't hate the subscription model. I don't either if you keep it all and the demand is there, and even a dollar a ride is like, oh, that's freaking cheap.
SPEAKER_03I mean, if you do a twenty dollar ride and you pay him a buck and you get 19, like uh you know, if I if I don't care if it's a subscription model, I don't care what the model is. If I'm making more money for the same work I'm doing now, then I'm I'm probably gonna be forward. Right.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, exactly. Even if it's two bucks, but if you're making more on the back end, it it doesn't really matter. Uh and then the always the question we ask, and and maybe you mention it, I was doing a little uh research on Minneapolis, but um do you do did it say anything about insurance? Because that's the one thing we always ask. Right.
SPEAKER_03It that it doesn't mention that, and that's a big that's a big you know uh red flag if it doesn't mention it.
SPEAKER_05I would think if they're operating in New York, the amount of regulations they have there that you would think you'd think they'd have to, yeah. Or you you know, they're not gonna say, hey, you need commercial insurance, and they're not gonna put that in the article, you know, because then that who is gonna like investigate it as a driver if you're like, oh, you need commercial insurance, or like, well, I'm not I'm not gonna, you know, deal with that at all. Sure.
SPEAKER_03Well, let's see if I can find anything real quick. Oh. According to AI, and it says through does not provide commercial auto insurance for drivers. Drivers are required to maintain their own ballot coverage that complies with legal and New York City taxi and limiting requirements.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Um, just going back to the Minneapolis one, because we talked about that for a while. Because what was the drama there? There was something. Oh, that's right, because they just they passed something that they're guaranteed like a dollar thirty-eight a mile. Um and the ride lifting Uber say we're leaving. We're gonna pull out. Yeah, that's right. So that the ones that listed on, and this is Minneapolis.gov, so okay is is hitch. It's H I C H. I don't remember that one. Uh move M-O-O-V, my wheels, and uh W rides. Why do I remember that was the one I couldn't say? Why yeah what what how are you supposed to pronounce that? Just rides and silent? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So that's what they say is still like that's an active choice. When I did Google it, it it uh it said um H I C H was it's a feature features no surge pricing and zero commission for drivers. Okay. Yeah. Um that one we I don't know if we talked about that one.
SPEAKER_03I don't I don't remember it. I I don't think we do.
SPEAKER_05Oh, that's interesting. So it says zero commission taken. I'm on their website, 500 plus active drivers. That I mean it's just in Minneapolis. No subscription no subscription charged during your first trial period. Okay, so it's uh I almost said prescription. Subscription. It says 2,000 equity spots. First 2,000 drivers receive real hitch ownership. So interesting. I'm trying to look at um what the uh oh twenty bucks a month. Oh, that's what the subscription is Oh, it's a dollar a day, twenty dollars a month, or two hundred dollars a year, or a thousand dollars a year, and it gets you twenty one hundred equity shares. And it says this is based on two thousand dollars a month in fares. This is a little weird. Why would why would it only be twenty dollars a month? Does that not feel really cheap?
SPEAKER_03I guess that's for part-time people.
SPEAKER_05Maybe I don't know. Anyways, so yeah, we talked about move, and then we talked about my wheels and then rides with a silent W, which I fucking hate. It's annoying. Yeah. Uh best subscription model is Hum, Bubasue says. New York, you have to have commercial insurance. Well, yeah, I mean you have to you have to as a driver or as a like a any kind of ride share.
SPEAKER_03And in that they have to be in that what is it, TLC, TNC, whatever they whatever their commission is. Uh I think they require them to have it.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, because there's Uber drivers in New York that don't have commercial insurance. They just it's under Uber's plan. But um, hmm, interesting. Well, hopefully hopefully they're successful. It like I said, that's uh that has that shit has died down as far as like stuff we talk about. Um I looked I'm clicking on hum, but that does that just brings up nutrition. I probably have to hum hum rideshare? Is it hum rideshare? Yeah, I don't know why I just oh yeah, here it is. I don't know why I just did uh the word hum and expected it to pop up. Oh it's okay, so it's an operating system for independent professional drivers. So basically you have to find your own riders. Um but oh wait, what does it say? Oh yeah, so it's yeah, you basically have to find your own um business, yeah. They're in a lot of states, but I don't know. I mean if you're doing if if you're like a main ride share guy, I don't mind this because then you can start hustling private if you if you have the insurance. Like that's how I feel like a lot of people, especially in in Michigan or anywhere really, you don't want to do that because you it the risk of getting in an accident or liability, you know what I mean? But if you already have like this or whatever this is, um they give you commercial insurance, yeah, the it would it would be dope. I mean, but I mean I think when even before Larry came on this show, I think Jesper and I looked it up and it was we got quotes and it was gonna be twelve, thirteen hundred dollars a month. And I mean that's not feasible when you're making you know sixty cents a mile or whatever it pans out to be.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It's just yeah, man, that it's on yeah, that's a lot.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, I mean you'd have to be you'd have to have a private clientele that you're making bank on, you know, where you you're making a couple hundred dollars per ride. Um but yeah, it's just kind of uh one of those things that I think most people aren't gonna spend that kind of money or they they can't spend that kind of money and they're just you know, they're just kind of there to to make it work.
SPEAKER_03So I just googled how much is commercial in auto insurance in Kentucky. This can't be right.
SPEAKER_05What does it say?
SPEAKER_03So it costs an average of $184 a month.
SPEAKER_05There ain't no, I mean, but that's the thing. Like each state has these weird like insurance for cars. Michigan's a no-fault state, so it we have one of the highest, probably maybe not the highest, but gotta be the top three of highest insurance rates in the country. Like, I'm I'm sure it's different depending on the state. But $184 a month seems so cheap. Larry's his wheels are turning. He's like, maybe I need to get me some clients. I mean, someday you won't be working again, and you'll be like, Oh, this might be nice to do this, but it's good to yeah, it's good to know. It's good to know. What is it? Put my state in there. What does it say if you take Kentucky out and put Michigan in? I'm just curious.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Michigan, the average cost of partial insurance ranges from 186 to 270 per month.
SPEAKER_05Oh, fuck off. That ain't right. AI is a scam.
SPEAKER_03Michigan is considered a high cost tier state for auto insurance. Yeah, but it just listed go ahead. Yeah, no, that's right, because it's considered a no-fault state requiring mandatory robust personal injury protection.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. But I'm saying it says it's a high state, but it listed the same price as you did in Kentucky.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, pretty, pretty much.
SPEAKER_05Well, not that I even contemplating it. I'm not gonna ride people, but or ride people. Jesus Christ. I mean, I'll ride somebody, but it ain't people. It's my wife. Uh better be. Hey, oh. Uh yeah, I I I wouldn't, and even if it was a hundred dollars a month, I probably still wouldn't do it. And I need to call them just get an actual quote and I mean it's honestly, if you had two clients a month that did one ride, it would pay for the insurance itself. I mean, just to look at it at a smaller scale, to at least be like, well, at least I'm not, you know, I'm I'm I'm not taking it out of my regular, you know, budget for the month. I'm able to cover it for with a couple of rides, but god, it'd be worth it. You that's about all you do. I mean, that it kind of you could make a pretty good extra side hustle if you had that, if it was that cheap.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna have to check with uh couple get get a couple quotes and just see now.
SPEAKER_05I mean, uh yeah. I mean when you're moving different, I think God, that this seems so cheap, but we gotta move on. We've been talking about this too damn long. Hi, uh, hi, hello, how are you, Ava? Avia I can't hey Ava. But I thought I don't know. Uh all right, Uber Eats lawsuit claims driver make other make other stops despite direct to
Uber Eats Priority Delivery Lawsuit
SPEAKER_05you promise. So this is kind of interesting because we talk about this shit all the time about people paying propri uh priority. Priority. Thank you. Jesus, it's been a day, and they're not getting it, and they're bitching about it. Um, so they're facing the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims customers are paying extra because they believe their food will come directly from the restaurants at the door, which it should, but according to the complaint, drivers may still make other pickups or deliveries along the way, including orders from competing apps. Well, that's not an Uber problem, that's a driver problem. Yeah, yeah. The lawsuit alleges Uber doesn't even tell the driver when a customer has paid for priority priority delivery. So the customer expects special treatment. The driver has no idea they paid for it, and Uber still collects the fee. Now, I I can say I don't ever remember seeing that, but I mean, I live in Cheaptown USA, like everyone's Dutch here, and you know, the whole adage is Dutch Dutch people are cheap. So I would guess that not a lot of people pay for that priority. Um, so the plaintiff argues that Uber therefore has no reliable way to guarantee what it advertises. He estimates these priority fees may have generated hundreds of millions of dollars, which I I I would believe that. The lawsuit seeks to represent customers across the country who paid for the orders advertised as direct to you or delivered directly to you. Uh, it's important to know that these are allegations in a new newly filed lawsuit, not a ruling that Uber did anything wrong, of course. Yeah, I mean, if Uber doesn't notify the driver or prevent other stops, you know, what are we supposed to do? Like, I I don't know. God, I wish I I want to talk to somebody that does delivery all the time. Like, do you see this?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I don't, I don't, I mean, I don't do a ton, but I've I know I've never seen it. Uh but yeah, if they're not telling the driver, and I mean we as drivers pretty much are just going where it where it tells us to. 100%. We the on the back end, it needs to take care of that problem. That's where they need to fix it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, is it DoorDash or Uber Eats? One of the two you can do out of order, and I can't remember one of them makes you not do it. I I I can't remember what it would be. I don't know, Faith or uh Faith or Gabe maybe would know that. But yeah, if they if you're just doing what the app tells you to do, it could say, you know, it could say whatever. It could say Massachusetts Massachusetts on it and or whatever. It could say anything, and you would just you would just do what the order told you to do it. So Bubba Seuss says Uber Eats a lot. I knew one of them you could go out of order. Um I don't know if I've ever done that, but um, yeah, I mean I think it's bullshit. If you're paying for it, you better. I mean, nothing says lawsuit, like if you're not getting what is promised and they're raking in millions of dollars.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and they are making millions of dollars.
SPEAKER_05Which millions isn't a lot for them, but I mean, I you know, we talk about this time and time again. Like, just do good by your customers. Like, why are we constantly talking about scams and lawsuits in reference to you're not treating the customer or the driver correctly? It's just very frustrating.
SPEAKER_03It is, yeah. It's uh yeah, it's a doggy dog world, and they're just trying to make as much money as they can.
SPEAKER_05I know, but like I can see, I mean, I'm not giving them uh a pass. I can see when you're trying to, you know, do the IPO or you're trying to go public. I I get all that, but that just keep going. Like, how much fucking money do you need? Like, just treat the customer right. Like I I I see a lot of uh customers post about like not getting refunds and stuff like too. It's like you gotta beg, borrow, and steal and give your firstborn to get a freaking refund if even if even if you're not being scammy about it, like if it's a legit issue.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and uh I don't know how they fix that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I don't either. I mean, I don't either. It's just I mean, I'm sure they do give a lot back, but we're only seeing the bad ones, right?
SPEAKER_03Sure.
SPEAKER_05On Reddit, you're only seeing the ones that don't get it back, you're not seeing how many they do, but it is from personal experience, you have to really beg them and keep on them for like a half hour texting them. I I brought it up before when my wife and I were at a hotel somewhere on vacation, and I screw I did screw up and they still they wouldn't refund it, and I canceled it right away. I remember, I don't know if you remember, they said all the orders already being made, but I immediately canceled because I realized I did the wrong thing, and they're like, Oh, we can't cancel, it's too late, it's already in the system. I'm like, it's 2026. If you can't send the store the met uh the restaurant a message saying, please don't make this, it was sent in error, then fuck you. Like, yeah, I think that's the last time I ordered Uber Eats. I think I've done DoorDash since then, but doesn't matter, they're both kind of shitty either way. Um, this is Larry's dream coming up. Uh I think he probably has wet dreams
Police Ask An Uber To Chase
SPEAKER_05about it. Uh it's about a uh a police officer that jumped into Uber to help chasing a suspect. Now I did not watch this whole thing, it's like a three minute video, but it's a little bit
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's length lengthy. I don't know.
SPEAKER_05We'll see see how it goes. Uh, you got anything else to add for that before I play it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, go ahead and play it and then we'll talk about it. All right.
SPEAKER_01Unexpected request from Houston police after officers stopped an Uber driver right here at East Seventh and uh and half street in Oxford in the Houston Heights neighborhood.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the officers were trying to catch a man running from authorities, and the whole thing was caught on dash cam.
SPEAKER_02Hey, give me a run over there, please.
SPEAKER_01KPRC2's AJ Patel met the driver, an army veteran, who takes us through what happened and how he says he didn't have time to think. He was just doing what police told him to.
SPEAKER_06Uber driver Anthony Baines tells me he was on his way to pick up someone asking for a ride when he was detoured.
SPEAKER_07Got in my vehicle and ordered me to go chase down the person that there was uh chasing a suspect.
SPEAKER_02Which way did he go? Over here, go that way.
SPEAKER_06Baines tells me that's the only verbal interaction he had with officers. What's running through your mind when that happened?
SPEAKER_07Uh, I'm just running off of Andrena. I am surprised, I'm shocked. I have cops, you know, ordering me to do things. I'm gonna comply. I didn't want to, you know, you know, resist or anything of that nature.
SPEAKER_06Houston police has confirmed the video. They tell KPRC2 News they received a call that a man was threatening to shoot a mom and her two kids. HPD says the man was upset because he thought someone stole something from him. Wow, okay. Um, so that's that's scary. Authority share when officers were trying to detain him, the man was leaving an apartment, refusing to cooperate, and that's why he started running.
SPEAKER_07The gap between the cops and the suspect, uh, I felt that it would make sense for them to get in a vehicle and pursue the suspect because uh he was extremely fast. I didn't think they would be able to catch him on foot.
SPEAKER_06The Houston's police officer union sent me a statement via tech saying Baines in part, quote, could have said no, but instead he quickly jumped into action helping our officers get ahead of the suspect. He placed himself in harm's way to assist our officers, and we are all very appreciative. End quote.
SPEAKER_07I didn't know what my rights were at the moment, um, but I'm glad I was able to help. Um, and I'm glad that they are recognizing it.
SPEAKER_06So I reached out to the Houston Police Department asking them what their policy is for cops using a person's car, trying to chase a suspect on foot. We're still waiting to hear back.
SPEAKER_07This uh was by far just a just a unique situation. I I never prepared for anything like this. So this is different.
SPEAKER_06Houston police says after officers left Bain's car, they weren't able to find the suspect. That's all that's in Houston, AJP Tell, KPRC2 news. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I would love that. That'd be that would be great. Uh I'd love to have cops come up and ask me to chase some guy. Like, get in, man. I mean, let's go. Let's rock and roll.
SPEAKER_05I uh I have so many thoughts about this. One, I thought the guy was Hispanic, and then he's like black, like the the white wash is you know what? Did that throw you off too? You were like, is that the same guy? Yeah, it's a that was a Van True camera. Yeah, one of the things I have an issue with, I don't think he was on board with them jumping in, and I think he felt a little scared to say no. I could tell by the way he spoke of it. Yeah, of course, it all worked out for the I mean for him, he didn't get hurt or anything, but I don't know. I'm feeling a little feeling a little weird. Well, obviously, those chicks aren't gonna catch anybody. I mean, it's I kind of chuckled. Well, and that yeah, and that always brings up the question like don't we don't we have to have some physical fitness to you know I mean you need a little bit, but anyways, I'm not I mean it could have been a man, a woman, it has nothing to do with gender, it's just there were bigger girls, but um yeah, I don't know if I'd be okay with that. I mean, in the moment I probably would do it just because it let's go, let's roll, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03But yeah, it would catch you off guard, but yeah, you could tell he was not real thrilled about it. And you know, he mentioned he's like, I didn't know what my rights were at this time. So you tell he wanted to, you know, if he had time to think about it, I think he would have said no.
SPEAKER_05Well, I mean, uh you know, as a black man in America, we know that there, you know, there's there's issues there. We don't need to go into it, but there's definitely issues there, and it's just yeah, I don't know. It was kind of cool. Well, it's a shame that they didn't catch the guy. I mean, they eventually will. I I love the amount of people that run. You're we know where you live, you dumb fuck. You're gonna come back home.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they got him on video. Like somebody's gonna know who he is.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I guess people make a decision, it's fight or flight, right? You're either gonna fight or you're gonna run or hide or whatever. And he decided to run. But if you know, for the audio listeners, the guy runs and he's like, he's sprinting, he's like very fast, and and then the chicks come behind it, and I'm like, Yeah, they're not gonna catch him. So uh, but I knew Larry would love it. He'd be he'd be all about that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm I'm down for it.
SPEAKER_05You'd come home, you'd wake, you'd wake your wife up by having sex with her because you'd be so pumped, and and and then and then you'd get done and tell her the story, and then she'd be like, God, don't ever wake me up for that ever again. Like, let's talk about it in the morning.
SPEAKER_04Oh goodness.
SPEAKER_05Larry's like, no response, no response. Um, all right, Amazon rule route rural.
Amazon Rural Routes And Bad Maps
SPEAKER_05I spelled it wrong. Fun word to say. It is such a such a hard word to say. You know, Amazon sends these like, you know, this is what's going on. And um, I have a picture of it real quick, but it's it's not much. It just is depending on your location, you may receive a route that takes you in rural areas. Here are some recommendations, and then it just gives recommendations. And I'm just like, do you feel like this is something where you know you're you work for and and I have this in the bus world, like someone does something wrong, and so they just send a blanket email, they don't address the person that's you know what I mean? Like, so I guess if it feels like that with these emails, like maybe there's a new uh warehouse that's opened and it's in the country or something. I don't know. Like I've been doing rural routes since I started, right? It's like it's nothing new.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So I remember you talking about some of the dirt roads you've been down and the pounding it puts on your car.
SPEAKER_05Oh my god, it's like my last route was a lot of dirt roads, and it's just like some of them you can take at almost full speed. Like it's 55 and you're fine, and some of them you're doing like 30. And if you you look at how many miles you have to go, and it's like two miles, and it's just like two miles on doing 30 miles an hour, and you know, when you're delivering, you're trying to get it done, you're not like racing through it, but yeah, that's uh that's another thing too. And we'll probably talk about it next week, but because I haven't really read it, but Amazon sent another email about they've updated their maps, and we know we talked about the last time how they've been routing them like they're on I think I said methamphetamines, how I can say that, but not a rule or priority. Yeah, um, so I don't know if that's gonna help you know, if that's their push to fix it or or whatnot, but it's it's another thing of like so thanks, Amazon. Like, just I mean, I don't know how hard it is. I don't know how you go to routing okay. Like it's fine. I never use anything else to the point where I'm using a private service or a secondary service to like route all my stops once I get them because it's so bad. I don't know how you go from I don't know how you go backwards, I guess what I'm trying to say. Which is very odd. So I mean, can you imagine Uber where you had to like put it in another app to just get correct directions, which kind of happened early on and back in the day, I guess. We would always use Google over for a while.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but it still popped up automatically though.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's true. It did. But remember for a while there, no one would trust the in-app GPS where you'd be you'd be cooked on that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, oh yeah. I mean we didn't I didn't switch over to Uber and Lyft's navigation. I mean, it's been within the last year and a half, probably.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. I don't know how they can't because I feel like I feel like there's such God, we we talked about so much, and I think this was the Esper, but the the amount of money that they would have to pay to get the access or the license through Google, so they try to do it themselves, but it was just kind of an epic disaster. Now I don't know if that was Uber, but I remember Jesper and I talking about something like that. It's just so expensive to use Google's what do they call it, the API or something like that in the background. But yeah, no, we didn't trust it at all, but which is really odd. How do you mess up like regular like I get routing different stops all around? I mean, there's an efficiency value to that, but if you're going for point A to point B, I don't know how you fuck that up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, uh I mean uh and a company as big as Amazon with how much money they make. I mean, they should be able to get this stuff correct.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean I say their app is it has gotten better, it is doesn't glitch out as much as it used to. I mean, even just a couple of years ago, you had to there would be bugs where you would have to like it would take a picture and it would it would close it down, or you had to do something just a little bit different for it to clear out. That stuff is better, but yeah, the routing, I don't know how you go backwards on that. So yeah.
Uber Deactivations And A Huge Fine
SPEAKER_05Uh Uber is fined one billion by Dutch regulators over an automated suspensions of accounts. And again, this you hear the the theme, it's Uber sued, uber fined, uber like do right by the world, please. Uh so tell us about that, Larry.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so this one, uh Dutch data protection authorities, they have they have much tighter rules on privacy and things like that over in in uh the European Union. Okay. But this this was Dutch Data Protection Authorities fine, Uber uh almost a billion dollars saying that um Uber used automated software to suspend driver accounts, sometimes permanently deactivating them without any human review to check for any mistakes. That's crazy. So, yeah, the fine's 825 million euros, which is 964 million dollars US dollars, uh, because they violated the it's called GDP regulation. Uh, that's a big thing in in software, any kind of software or anything like that. Uh uh says uh Uber failed to inform drivers about its automatic decision making uh from violations that took place from 2018 to 2022. Of course, Uber disagreed with the decision, said it will file an appeal. This is the four this is the fourth time that this that they imposed a fine on Uber. The largest was in 2024 when they hit Uber with a $324 million fine for uh allegedly transferring personal details of European drivers to the United States without adequate protection. So yeah, they they uh they have much stricter data protection rules in uh EU than we do here, which is sad.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's just yeah, it's just frustrating. Like I get like using AI to sus to suspend accounts, but um somebody's gotta look at it.
SPEAKER_03Well at some point.
SPEAKER_05Do you think well I was gonna say, do you think someone everyone should look everyone should be looked at, or do you think only the ones like the driver appeals or whatever, or do you think everyone should look at each one regardless?
SPEAKER_03I would say definitely if somebody appeals, that should be looked at. And if it's something that's gonna be a permanent deactivation, then yeah, I think a human should look at that. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And then it was like, okay, yeah, you know, we looked at it, you're all good.
SPEAKER_05Um so this is more just the suspensions, not firings, right?
SPEAKER_03Is that no, it's it's uh let's see. It said sometimes no, it was permanent deactivations.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they're using automated software to suspend driver accounts, sometimes permanently.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so that's the initial suspend, and then then they're like, okay, well, we've decided to yeah. Yeah, permanent. Well, yeah, there there's gotta be some some humor interaction. I mean, it are you doing that many of them that you don't have an employee that can't just take a peek at it?
SPEAKER_03Like Yeah, you wonder how many people they deactivate in a month, and then you wonder how many people fight it.
SPEAKER_05Like maybe people just don't fight it and they're like, well, whatever. Although that's not Uber's end goal. They want to keep drivers on the road, they want to make more money. So you would think they would include a human interaction to try to be like, oh, this is fucked up. We need to get this guy back on the road.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you would think, but sometimes it I mean, sometimes they make it pretty apparent that they don't care. There's an endless supply of of you know drivers out there, drivers uh who are willing to drive for them. So which is kind of sad.
SPEAKER_05It's yeah, a little bit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it is for sure.
SPEAKER_05It's kind of depressing, honestly, if you really if you really spend time like thinking about all right, moving on.
Teen Rides With Live Video Monitoring
SPEAKER_05Uh you know, I was really uh Larry actually shared this right before the show, and I thought we had to put it on because last show we talked about them adding a tween feature. There was some code written. Bloomberg had sniffed out that they were gonna offer tween rides between 10 and 12. And then, you know, we got on this tangent of like talking about safety and they needed to be uh background check with fingerprint. Are they gonna do that? Well, apparently, at least for the teen portion of that, they are rolling out a new safety feature that lets parents watch live video while their teenager is taking a ride. And then I thought, oh, okay, it's gonna come from a camera. Well, obviously a camera, but I thought it was a dash cam. No, it was coming from the this uh inward-facing selfie cam. Once the trip begins, the parent or guardian connected to the teen's account will receive a notification that live streaming is available. If the parent starts watching, both the driver and the teen are notified. Uh let's see, Uber says only the linked parent or guardian can view the stream once the end ends the long or once the ride ends, the video is no longer accessible to the parent, teen, or driver. Uber says stream stream is encrypted, although TechCrunch notes that the company would not confirm while it's whether it's end-to-end encryption, which leaves unanswered questions about whether Uber itself could access the footage. Well, I mean they have to be, right? Like, what if there's an issue? Or is it just like you have an issue, so you just call 911?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they're there they did not give enough details about it for sure. No. Um are they gonna have the ability to turn on the camera on my phone? And do I have it uh do I have the ability to opt out of that?
SPEAKER_05I see, I don't think so. I think if you are doing a teen, the parent has the right to turn it on, which I'm for. Yeah, like I don't have a problem with that. Um privacy concern also for passengers traveling with a teen, they could appear in a l in the live stream, which is it's not really a live stream. I mean, I guess it's live. Yeah, and it is streaming, I guess. But the Uber reportedly doesn't provide them a way to opt out. Currently featured in nine markets Atlanta, Cleveland, Rhode Island, and Uber Planes expand it nationwide in the next several weeks. I don't know. I I think I'm okay with that. I mean, I I mean I'd watch the shit out of that thing. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05If my kid was in the car. The weird part of it is though, it's probably gonna be facing the driver, which I guess is fine. You can see if the driver starts fucking around, I guess.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because to me, like I have my phone on the mount, like I it's like I'm looking at it and it's pointed at me. It's not pointed to the back.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, just like if you if you had your your kids were in the car and you're we're you're the parent and you're like, I'm gonna watch this ride. And it's it's one of those dudes just start out, he's holding his, he's holding his phone, you know, in his hand. It's pointing at his garage. Yeah. All you see is the ceiling of the car. Yes. Oh my god, so many red flags. Yeah. This reminds me though, I did not necessarily a story from the girl, but I want to ask you what you had done. So I actually had my first that I that I remember seeing teen ride overnight. And didn't even notice it until I was picking them up. But they were probably high school girls. And we get in and she's like, Hey, um, instead of going to her house, we're gonna go to my house, but it won't let me change it in the app. Of course it doesn't. I was like, Well, can I let me look? It won't let me change it in the app, and not on a teen ride. Nope. And uh, so it wouldn't let her change on hers. Which I like. I like all this. So uh they're like, Well, are you gonna take them? I was like, how far apart? They're like, Oh, it's uh we live really close together. We're just going to my house because I have my car and I'm gonna give them a ride home because it was gonna be cheaper. So would you take them to where the app says to drop them off, or would you take them to the house that they ask you to take them to to drop them off?
SPEAKER_05I'm a rule follower, I'm going on the app. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I you know, I just when it comes to kids and where you I think you get deactivated. Like, I I think there is a risk if you take them to another house, you drop them off, you end the ride, all of a sudden, because yeah, no, heaven forbid the parent or the kid tell the parent they're doing that, which they probably didn't. So the parents like tracking them, like where the fuck is like all of a sudden you I mean, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure what did you do?
SPEAKER_03I took them to where it said the app said.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so you did the right thing. I said, all you need is you bring it somewhere else. All of a sudden the parents call 911, you got 15 cops swooping in because they don't know what the fuck's going on. Which, hey, the live stream that kind of ties in would be good to see that they hear the conversation of going on and they can text their kid, hey, no, no, no, no, no. You're going to where we put.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05You know what I mean? So I think you made the right call. Now, I mean, I wouldn't, I wouldn't kick your. I mean, I get it. It's a judgment call in the moment.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03But for some, I mean it was it was it was like not right around the block, but it wasn't far. You know, it was maybe a minute away or something. Yeah. Where they were going.
SPEAKER_05I would just be, I mean, you know, big brother watching, I would just be worried I would get deactivated.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. That's why I kind of explained to him like, hey, this is a teen ride. I I can't take you somewhere where it doesn't. Because I, you know, that that you have to think how that looks if if something were to happen, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. There's so much liability. I mean, even with you know, there is tying in school bus driving, it's the same thing. I I have a couple of kids, you know, you got uh a decent sized neighborhood, but they're not the stops aren't too far away. And they're like, Oh, can I get off with little Johnny? Like, now when I say little Johnny, they're like in middle school, and I'm like, Yeah, because I know I can see your house from the you know what I mean? I'm fine with that, but if it's in a whole different neighborhood, absolutely not. You need to talk to your parents about that. Like, that's too far away where it would be kind of a red flag. So sure. No, I think you did the right thing. I think it's important to make sure the kids are safe. So, how how do you feel? I mean, I know you're a little worried about like unrestricted video cameras that you know we talked about, and me too a little bit, but like uh not being able to have access to how do you feel about this, the live stream portion of it?
SPEAKER_03I'm okay. Uh it wouldn't bother me. Um and who knows if they could, you know theoretically, I could possibly turn it on now and we don't know about it.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, with I mean and hey, we might talk about this in a long time from now, or maybe not, that there's a lawsuit because they have been watching the entire time and they didn't tell us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, that would definitely be a lawsuit for sure.
SPEAKER_05Oh, that that would probably crush them. That would probably end them if they did.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, if I had if I have kids in the car, I'm fine with the parents live streaming it. You know, that would that would certainly make them feel better, I would think.
SPEAKER_05And yeah, I mean, honestly, I'm you know that at a on a personal connection with this, I'm you know, Sullivan uh is not getting his driver's license for a while. He's gonna it's gonna take him some time. And so he's 16, and and I and I even talked to Megan about and she didn't she did she poo-pooed it. I was like, you know, if he has to go to an appointment or whatever and we're both working, like let's just use Uber. I mean, and she's like, no, not gonna do it. I'm like, it'll be fine, it's a short ride because she has trust issues, which is valid. Like, I get it. We her and I have had some shitty ass rideshare drivers to the point where like I don't with her, if we ever go, we take a uh Uber comfort or above just because there's just more professionalism. It just happens. I mean, if you're paying more for the ride. It I mean it it's just typically a better experience. Um but yeah, I I but I would love this. I'm like if I told her, like, yeah, like he's gonna take a ride from his appointment to home, which is a mile and a half, I'm fine with it. But if I could live stream it or she could, because typically the issue is I'm still driving bus or whatever it is, I I think it's good. So I'm hopeful I'm hope to convince her a little bit. I'm like, well, and then I try to break it down to her, I'm like, do you want him on the city bus? Because the city bus does go through Granville. I mean, we're not which I really I really do love that the city bus does come through Granville. Uh, I think it's important public transportation. But Granville's not there's not a lot of hood in Grandville. But my point is, is like, would you rather have on the city bus or an Uber in a mile and a half? And so we haven't finished that discussion yet.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, just need Waymo.
SPEAKER_05I mean, game changer, right? Although, did you see? I did not grab that video. I don't know why I didn't. Uh, if we even get to it, it's 46 minutes into the show. We have like 26 articles. Did you see? I don't know if it's Waymo or or it was what is the zooks? Oh, yeah, Zux. What is the Zooks? Or a Zooks, but it did a hit and run, or that's what the video showed. It a van pulled out, it smacked it, and then it just kept on going. But that's when the video stopped.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah. I haven't watched that video yet.
SPEAKER_05My guess is it it pulled over further down the road, or the you know, and the person probably just clipped it to go viral, you know what I mean? It's like, oh, look at this. For sure. I can't imagine it wouldn't. It was a pretty big hit. There was a lot of plastic flying.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So I uh I forgot I should have pulled that. I forgot about that. But um, so uh back to the Waymo. There there can be issues with that. But yeah, I mean, honestly, I'd be probably more comfortable with him taking a Waymo than than a ride than a driver.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because the driver can fall asleep, the driver can be on methamphetamines, the driver can be a creeper, the Waymo. The the worst risk you have, honestly, in a Waymo is probably another driver that's gonna hit him. Yeah, for the most part.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, that's that's the most likely scenario. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05All right, patreon.com slash the gig econ gig econ podcast. Would love for you to go there. Extra podcast a week, exclusive piece of merch, ad-free episodes, special going on to the end of the month. Get your first month half off. Always a seven-day free trial if you want to check it out. Uh, really helps push the show forward and it makes us feel special that you have that you love us. We have not got a one in a long ass time, so it'd be really nice to get a little pep in our step. Uh, the people that support us, I love them a long time is Samson, Bud, Omar, Frank, Tom, Jim, Miguel, Linda, Jerry, Faith, Metal Kickass, and Anna. Appreciate you guys so much. Go to patreon.com slash the Gigacon podcast. All right, moving
Tesla One Pedal Driving Complaints
SPEAKER_05on. Uh Teslas get a lot of hate for various reasons. And one of them is, you know, when Teslas came out, I they were not the first electric car. I think, well, I mean, we can go back to like the 80s. I'm sure there was there was one, but I mean, I think the Nissan Leaf was kind of the first one which had not a lot of range, but Tesla was the big one. And one of the things that come came out with it, and I don't know if you know about this, but one pedal driving. I'm sure I've talked about on the show. Do you understand what that is? So basically the motor just goes in reverse and regenerates, but it can be a little herky jerky at times. If you don't know how to like feather it, it can and I'm guilty of it too. In fact, I've been trying, I've been kind of turning it off on the highway. So when my crew slows down, it doesn't like like think about it. Like if you if you if any truckers listen out there, like a Jake break, it's kind of like that, where it's like slowing down the motor a little bit. But um, so these guys did a little video about what it feels like to ride in a Tesla, and we'll talk about it.
SPEAKER_02All right, Uber's gonna be here in five. Yo, it's a Tesla. Let's go, dude. I can't wait to be nauseous the entire ride. Honestly, dude, I'm so glad I spent a couple extra bucks just to make this ride miserable. My favorite part is when you like speed up and like slow down randomly throughout the entire ride. It's the best. Oh, he's here. Let's boogie.
SPEAKER_05So for the audio listeners, I mean you heard it, you didn't really need to see it, but at the end I I chuckled because he put a helmet on. But that's the problem. If you're if I'm going 55 and I completely let off the gas, I mean, you do go forward. It's almost like you're hitting the brakes. I mean, not like really bad, but it's enough where you feel your body. And so if you're constantly doing this, it can make somebody nauseous.
SPEAKER_03I can imagine. Yeah, I've heard you talk about I've not I don't think I've ridden uh I don't think I've ridden in a Tesla or any other well, you rode in a Waymo, that's an electric car. Waymo, yeah. I was gonna say that's the only electric car I think I've ridden in.
SPEAKER_05And honestly, they probably have that turned off, whatever that one pedal driving is.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it was a pretty smooth ride.
SPEAKER_05I mean, for me, they say that there's no difference between the regeneration with the one pedal and the um with it off. I call bullshit on it because I feel like there is. Um, but I also love I don't ever have to press the brakes. I never touch the brakes. Yeah, and if I cut it a little short, there's a paddle on my steering wheel that I can I I can just tap it like this or hold it, but you can tap it a little bit and it kind of like okay, catches me to slow down a little bit without me putting my foot on the brakes. So if I'm by myself, the little herky jerky doesn't bother me. No one's ever complained to me with as a as a uh a passenger has it or my family, they they complain because I do 65 on the highway. That's what they fucking complain about. Because I'm an old man. But um, but yeah, I was just that I saw that video. I was like, ah, it's so true. If you don't know how to feather that gas pedal, because basically you're you're feathering the the gas pedal, you don't touch the brake, the brake's already built in. So I'm sure some people don't understand that you can I don't know, maybe it's just me, but like I want to make it a smoother ride, so like fucking learn how to one pedal. Fuck you, Bubble Sue.
SPEAKER_03Like I said, uh I've I've never driven uh driven one of those, and it I'm sure it takes a little bit to get used to for sure.
SPEAKER_05It does, and I I do well honestly, I make mistakes with my so I don't know if you know it's in the uh EV world they call gas cars ice and it's internal combustion engine, not that ice. But when I'm in my my wife's car, which is just a regular car, it I always tell them, hey, be patient with me for the first like five minutes of the trip because I'll let go of the gas pedal and I don't fucking slow down, and then I'm just like or I my pedal is so heavy because of the feathering, I'll hit my wife's gas and we're like brrrr. So I'm like, give me a couple minutes to kind of re- and now I drive a school bus, but the pedal in the school bus is kind of like my car, it it's heavy, yeah. Um, so yeah, it's it's always a little little adventure.
SPEAKER_03It is. I mean, even when I get in my wife's Subaru, her Subaru is man, it's zippy. Oh, is it on camera? It is, yeah. And I'm always like, man, your car is so zippy.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you got you gotta be careful when you're obviously getting in someone else's car, but um, she won't drive with a one pedal. Like, if I'm going, if we go out, normally if I'm gonna have alcohol, we take her car because she knows I'm not gonna drive home. Even if I have two beers, I'm like, whatever, you're here. I'm not gonna drive. And um she we always take her car. But if she does happen to, if we do happen to be in mind, she turns that one pedal driving off. She fucking hates it. Um all right, moving on.
Robotaxis Approved For Las Vegas
SPEAKER_05Waymo in the news. No video, but uh, I could have had a video, but I've I'm guessing I'm new. Nevada approves over 7,000 robotaxis from Tesla, Uber, and Waymo. Were they not in were they not already in Nevada in Las Vegas?
SPEAKER_03Or was it just No, I think they were just doing the you know the the little the ride between the hotels on a it was on a you know regular route, I think. Okay.
SPEAKER_05Because I know they had the the Zooks, and I know um Faith had sent a couple of pictures. Um the Zooks, and there was a I think there was another one, but um looks like it says your next visit to Vegas may see you riding in the autonomous taxi by Tesla Uber or Waymo. New approvals from the NTA for all three companies will bring commercial robotaxi service to Clark County, including within the city of Las Vegas. The three approvals could result in over 7,000 more vehicles hitting the roads. Um I I don't remember us talking about them testing there, but it all gets blended together.
SPEAKER_03It does. They're testing in St. Louis right now. Yeah, you said that it was one of the bigger ones. It was not like the smaller Waymo, it was it was a it was a like the bigger, almost like a van.
SPEAKER_05Okay, here's the end of the article, which kind of confirms that Nevada Nevada, Nevada first granted Waymo permission to operate fully autonomous vehicles in Vegas back in July, uh, alongside plans for Denver, San Diego, and Tampa. Uh it's funny on these little areas uh they don't talk about like well, I guess St. Louis isn't little. I mean, but I haven't when we read these articles, I don't ever see anything about Detroit or um you know, even St. Louis. But they're coming, baby. They are coming. Okay. Uh all right. Let's see what time we got. 55. All right, let's do let's do the next one.
FTC Targets Personalized Pricing Tricks
SPEAKER_05I think it's important. The Larry's gonna talk about the FTC targets personalized prices based on consumer data. So we've talked about this before, depending on if you have a low battery and stuff like that, but looks like the the trade commission is getting involved.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and this doesn't deal with any even one industry not to be able to do that. No, no, that's true. That's true. So this this uh article uh uh is uh talks about the FTC saying that it's proposing a uh policy that companies should clearly disclose a price uh when it's personalized, explain why it's personalized, and identify the types of personal data that's used to set it. It does not have the authority to ban personalized pricing across the board, but it does plan to aggressively enforce already existing consumer protection laws if the practice is uh unfair or deceptive. So the FTC says that a company you know could be in violation if it uses uh consumers' personal uh data to personalize a price without disclosing it in situations where shoppers would normally expect everyone to see the same price. So they listed a bunch of hypothetical examples. Some of these are some of these are so bad. Oh so some of the examples that could get them in trouble a food company uh quoting a higher price to consumers on the basis of data uh that those consumers uh that leads the company to believe they're less likely or unable to leave their home to purchase food, or a grocery chain charging a delivery customer a higher price for milk based on data showing that several children live in the house. A hotel charging a higher price to consumer on the basis of data personal to that consumer that leads a hotel to believe the consumer is traveling for a funeral or some other you know, can't miss personal business. Rightshare company charging a user more based on uh revealing data showing that the user doesn't have any other of the company's competitors' apps installed on the damn, that's terrible. Oh, listen to this one. A rideshare company charging a user more for transport to a medical facility on the basis of data suggesting that the user has a life-threatening murder medical emergency or condition. This guy's dying, so yeah, let's let's charge him double. He's gonna pay it. Oh my goodness. A retailer charging more for a home security camera based on court filings indicating that that particular customer has recently been the victim of a crime.
SPEAKER_04Jesus.
SPEAKER_03A retail, a retailer charging more for product sold on its website on the basis of data revealing that the consumer is uh physically in one of the uh at the location or parking lot browsing the retailer's website. So yeah, those are just some of the examples they've given. And like I that's some of those are just that's that's the one about the medical emergency, man. That's just low. That is so low.
SPEAKER_05Do you feel like this has always been going on? But now we I feel like with Uber, it it seems like it gets talked about. Now, granted, we're in it and look at it all the time, so maybe it's it's in other areas, but I'm not seeing it. I've seen more Uber stuff talking about the well, they brought the surge, right? And the dynamic pricing, right? And so we heard about Wendy's trying to do that. And remember, they got some so much pushback, and then I heard that Walmart's doing it. So I feel like Uber's brought it on, but has it always been here and we just haven't paid attention?
SPEAKER_03I don't think it's always always been there. I don't either. We know it hadn't been in Walmart. I mean, they couldn't change your prices, they had you know physical tags, and but they've got the the digital signs now, so that makes it very easy.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_03Uh um, so yeah, I think I think uh the some of these gig companies uh are kind of what started this in a big way.
SPEAKER_05I do, I do every once in a while I see a random TikTok about Amazon where they say if you have Amazon Prime, they're gonna charge you more if you don't. Like they'll go into like an incognito tab where it basically is not tracking their cookies or whatever, or their or yeah, I think it's cookies. Yes, and and knowing that, and then you don't sign in, and usually the price, I mean, they say that I've never I've never looked at it because I I feel like it's a conspiracy theory rabbit hole that I'll end up doing checking prices on everything. Because honestly, like you and I have talked about it. If I can save, I'm not I don't use coupons, like I I don't, but I mean if if it's if it's easy enough for me to save 50 cents or a dollar, I'm gonna fucking do it. If it's the same product, like yeah, I'm gonna save the dollar, like why not? Sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly. Why wouldn't you?
SPEAKER_05And I'm and again, I'm not gonna clip coupons like like the old days. I know they don't do that anymore, but but I guess my point is I guess I don't want to do it because then I'll be obsessed with it and check every product. Now, obviously, when I buy a big stuff like around Christmas, if it's you know over a hundred dollars electronics, I'll check Walmart Target and Amazon because like you never know what deals they're running. But for the most part, like if I want something, I 99% just go to Amazon, look it up. I'm like, yeah, that one looks good, send it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that'd be interesting. I if I think about it, I'm gonna try that. I've not heard that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I and and I don't I don't ever like comment or share or repost because TikTok, man, their algorithm is is it works so fast within seconds? You're watching all this stuff, and I'm like, I don't know if I want to go about down that conspiracy theory, but I wouldn't doubt it. Like, I actually kind of believe it probably is true, but I don't want to admit it or find evidence that it isn't because like ignorance is bliss, not yeah. I mean, yeah, I'm gonna stick my head in the sand. Um I mean, because I mean, God, what is prime like 140 a year, which isn't horrible. But but it's everything adds up.
SPEAKER_03It does.
SPEAKER_05So, and because he I think of what is it if it's $25 or $35, they'll ship the shit for free anyway. So you can't beat though next day. Like, I needed an aux cord because I lost mine for the bus, and I wanted it before Friday, so I got them from work today. I was like, Oh yeah, it'll be here like two o'clock tomorrow. I'm like, okay, cool. It was eight dollars and fifty cents. Didn't look, didn't go to the store, didn't look anywhere else, thought about it for 10 seconds, and I'm it's done. So I mean, they got the market on that shit for sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so till till except uh till Walmart can deliver it in 10 minutes with their drones.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean, I mean, we're gonna probably probably play that on the Patreon if you want
Patreon Plug And Week Wrap
SPEAKER_05to see it. Oh, did you see? Speaking of Walmart, did you see they finally are offering Apple Pay and Google Pay at the stores?
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes. I was gonna tell you about that. I wonder I wonder if they're not sure today.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I wonder if they I mean, I know they worked out a specific deal between Apple and Google, like, hey, we can't pay this much because it was all about them not paying the insane fees. So which Apple, I heard, rakes you over the coal. Like if you're a like a app developer and stuff like that, like if you charge five dollars for the app, like we're getting their share. Yeah, Apple takes like three and you get two. It's like something insane like that. But I don't know. Like Uber. Yeah, like Uber. Yeah, exactly. Sons of Sons of All right, Patreon uh.com slash the gig econ podcast. It'll be 8 10 p.m. in six minutes. Come join us. Uh thank you guys so much for watching the show. Good night, Bubba Sue. Larry, any ride share or gig work in the next seven days?
SPEAKER_03Um, possibly. My son is uh he's got a couple days off. He's gonna drive down from St. Louis tonight or tomorrow morning. So he'll be here this weekend. Uh, but like if he's over to his friends or his mom's or something, I'll go out.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I was like, you can you two need to limit your video games to like 1 a.m. You don't need another 4 a.m. get a call. It would be from that kid, so at least he's home, so it won't be a far trip.
SPEAKER_03No, he's here.
SPEAKER_05He's here, so yeah. You would you you and 4 a.m. times. I meant to make that joke earlier, but I forgot.
SPEAKER_03Like I thought about it and then what is it about that that time?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, because I was like the last time you were up there at four, you're playing video games and you had to go rescue your son. Yeah, that was rough, dude.
SPEAKER_03I oof man, that that was a harsh drive. That that was tough. Like I left, yeah. I stopped three times in a in a you know, four-hour drive. Yeah, that's wild. For sure.
SPEAKER_05All right, no gig work for me. I'm gonna rest. I think uh I think I'm just gonna take the take the weekend off. I gotta work white caps, so that's gonna be enough for me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're doing enough work. You need to chill a little bit.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, for sure. Uh and uh uh as always, don't put up with anyone's bullshit.
SPEAKER_03We'll see you on the road.
SPEAKER_05Uh panics if like it was that am I saying the right way? Oh my god. Oh, you're already committed by that. Right. All right, I gotta peace so bad. Holy smokes.
