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| After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28759 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 10:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us Yesterday — barely 24 hours after we published a first-person essay critical of Uber — L.A. Weekly's editorial assistant was contacted by a stranger offering a first-person essay about how great Uber is. It was kind of strange. It was purportedly written by a former taxi driver named Cabdi Xuseen ("Confessions of a Former L.A. Taxi Driver," the title read), but it came from the email of a different person, someone with the improbable name of Tawny Valentine. "This piece is exclusive to the L.A. Weekly and we hope that you would consider placing it," Valentine wrote. A former cab driver with his own PR handler? Curious. The essay was all about how great it was working for Uber. "I’ve driven a lot of things for a lot of different people throughout my career: taxis, limos, and even 18-wheel trucks. But now, I drive for myself, with Uber. I get to be my own boss. I make my own hours. My car is my small business, and I am free to run it as I see fit." Our editorial assistant emailed Valentine back. Normally, she told her, we hear from writers directly. What was her relationship with Xuseen? Valentine dodged the question, but sent us Xuseen's cell, explaining, "Cadbi saw the piece that ran yesterday and wanted to author a response." Naturally, we called Xuseen. And he had a different story. Valentine had contacted him. He didn't seem to have seen our piece at all. Instead, she'd reached out to him because he was one of Uber's top-rated drivers — 4.87 out of 5 stars, he told us proudly. So we emailed Valentine again. She reached out to him? Who was she working for? Only then did the truth come out. "We work with Uber." In other words: Uber saw our first-person essay from a disgruntled driver, which was published at 7 a.m. on Monday. By 12:47 p.m. Tuesday, Uber's PR team had already tracked down a top-rated driver, interviewed him and turned his life story in a neatly phrased 520 word essay, offered exclusively to this newspaper. Damn they're good! For the record, so is Xuseen. He told us a story we couldn't help swooning over — a Somali immigrant, he has five kids and loves the flexibility and freedom he gets from Uber. He's also a golf coach (when we called him, he was at Rancho Park golf course). He's living the dream. But we're increasingly disconcerted by PR people bearing gifts. Last year we were contacted by a "freelance writer" who'd written an expose about a local hospital. We did a little digging, and it turned out he was part of a PR group that had been hired by a nurse's union. Their goal? Bringing the hospital to its knees. We didn't publish that one, and we won't publish this one either. Cabdi Xuseen may have a great story, but it's hard to trust anything being peddled by a PR team that doesn't disclose that fact immediately and up front. We may not have billions in venture capital, but we still have some principles. With reporting assistance from Jennifer Swann. Follow the writer on Twitter @sarahfenske http://www.laweekly.com/news/after-our- ... us-5177453 |
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| Author: | edders23 [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 3:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
honestly cc how much are (edited by admin) paying you for all the free mentions of their name on here ! |
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| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 7:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
When it says "L.A." does it mean Los Angeles (a place in the USA) or Little Aston (a place near me) cos if its the 1st why am i interested?..... Most of the anti-Uber bile is trash imported from the US, I dont give a to55 TBH |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
edders23 wrote: honestly cc how much are (edited by admin) paying you for all the free mentions of their name on here ! they're paying nothing - I'm proving a point |
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| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
captain cab wrote: edders23 wrote: honestly cc how much are (edited by admin) paying you for all the free mentions of their name on here ! they're paying nothing - I'm proving a point which is what or more precisely, how does the point affect Uber uk? |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 9:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
It makes sense to put up all this Uber stuff, and then allow real drivers to comment on it. So when folks google Uber they will see the articles and the comments that follow. Uber maybe good at PR, but they can't censor TDO. We are too big for them to handle. 
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sun Mar 13, 2016 10:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
wannabeeahack wrote: which is what or more precisely, how does the point affect Uber uk? If you cant see the link between stories of this company attempting to use drink driver stats and their company, they you are f*cking retarded. |
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| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: After Our Uber Exposé, Their PR Team Tried to Dupe Us |
captain cab wrote: wannabeeahack wrote: which is what or more precisely, how does the point affect Uber uk? If you cant see the link between stories of this company attempting to use drink driver stats and their company, they you are f*cking retarded. FCK the US, if they cant do to Uber what the Uk has then tough |
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