Model of No-Responsibility

Business Insider talks about Uber and Music.

We've all heard of services like Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft. They are services that hook-up folks with a service with people who need the service.

Uber and Lyft are car services where independent contractors drive around and service apps match customers with drivers. The responsibility is laid completely on the individual, and the company that is hosting and making profits from it all maintains complete lack of responsibility for any problems.

Airbnb works under the same process, but it hooks up folks who want to rent out their apartment with folks who need a place to stay. So if you own a condo in New York City but travel regularly, you could set-up with Airbnb to rent it out while you travel. Again, if anything goes wrong, it's not Airbnb's fault.

I've used both these services, and I like the convenience and lower price they provide. I live in the Boston area. If I call a taxi, it can take 10 to 50 minutes for the taxi to get to the area I'm in. They have to wait not just for a taxi to be empty but for it to get to where I am. Uber has independent contractors trolling all around, so if I request a ride, they just hook me up with the closest person to me. It takes 1 to 15 minutes (usually about 7 minutes) for my ride to arrive.

Using Uber is cheaper than a taxi, and most importantly for me, it's a lot more convenient. I have downloaded the app onto my phone and given it my credit card information. I can request a car, and it comes to pick me up. Uber picks what it will cost in advance based on the route - the driver can't over charge me because of routing me through a bunch of unnecessary streets, and I can just hop out of the car. There's no tipping, and there's no exchange of money or credit card with a random stranger. The driver has their own insurance and is responsible for any problems that might occur, but with at taxi company, the company is responsible for any problems.


Is cheaper better, though?


Using Airbnb is cheaper than using a hotel because it's not a hotel service. The person just rents out their home for the set amount of time. When they return they clean their own apartment, wash their towels and sheets with their own laundry, and they are responsible for anything that goes wrong. They don't have hotel insurance - anything that goes wrong is their responsibility.

It sounds like a good idea, and I've enjoyed the services immensely. I had a great stay in Boston a couple of years ago. We stayed at an apartment right along the greenline, and it was cheaper than staying in a hotel that would have been farther from available public transport. Access to a cheaper car service has made it much simpler for me to get places at a lower price.

This sounds great, but there are some problems. Here's a Reported List of Incidents Involving Uber and Lyft.

 "Uber’s process for onboarding drivers is dangerously negligent. Neither Uber nor Lyft uses fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers. And Uber doesn’t even bother to meet with drivers in person before allowing them to ferry passengers."

In this news story, a woman contacted Airbnb frantic because her son was traveling overseas and was being attacked by the person whose home he had rented to stay in. Airbnb said that as program that just hooks folks up with each other, they had no responsibility. The boy was brutally raped while the mom frantically tried to figure out how to get him help.

These companies are making a lot of money with zero responsibility to the people they are working with. They carry no responsibility for taxi accidents, for any type of violent attacks made by either party, or for anything else.

I'm sure there's a solution that includes more regulation. The taxi industry no longer works the way we want it to, and that's how we ended up with Uber. I'm still using Uber, but there need to be changes. I don't have an answer to these problems, but I do think that companies should be required to take responsibility for those who work for them. They're defining these people as "independent contractors" and denying them basic benefits, etc. However, they're taking a rather large cut of profit to do so. 

In the industries I've worked, the independent contractors fall under the prime contractor. If the independent contractor or the subcontractor screws up, the prime contractor is still responsible for making things right. If an independent contractor dies on a job, the prime contractor's safety rating goes down, and it becomes a heck of a lot harder for them to get work. If an independent contractor hurts someone, it is the prime contractor's responsibility to do whatever they can to remedy the situation. The prime contractor's responsibility is ensuring that their independent contractors can be trusted.

The Uber and Airbnb models are obviously not following that basic premise, and it's a load of hooey. If they don't do it themselves, someone needs to step in and make them.