Uber is reportedly in “crisis mode" as it works to piece back together its disintegrating reputation. But a Washington Post article from late last month gives every indication that it’s a lost cause.

From the report, which cited anonymous former employees at the company:

These people attributed the reputational declines to a swarm of negative publicity stemming from driver strikes — timed to coincide with the IPOs of Uber and rival Lyft — that helped draw nationwide attention to the harsh working conditions and low pay of ride-hail drivers. That continued a bad cycle of media coverage, including a disappointing IPO and big losses. Just this week, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg joined a demonstration outside Uber’s San Francisco headquarters pushing for a state bill to reclassify gig workers as employees rather than independent contractors.



Even before that, investors and longtime company observers worried the new CEO spent too much time apologizing for Uber’s past mistakes, inadvertently drawing further attention to its problems without a coherent marketing strategy to help it emerge with a new story.

Nowhere in the report does anyone point to the real problem — the absolute collapse of quality control at Uber — as the reason people are starting to hate the service with a volcanic rage.

Since 2013, when the app really started to catch on with the general public, the Uber experience has crumbled. Uber X, the “economy option,” is now synonymous with “sucks but might pick you up where you’re located and will attempt to drop you off in the general vicinity of your destination.”

Riding with Uber no longer even feels like paying for a service. It feels like sitting in the waiting room at urgent care for a double shot of penicillin.

Some drivers take care to maintain a clean car and to get riders where they want to go quickly. But they’re now the exception and not the rule. More often than not, requesting an Uber ride means staring at your phone screen for up to 10 minutes as you watch the little graphic car patter around searching for your pick-up location. When the driver finally figures it out, he parks across the street in the opposite direction you need to go and then immediately starts the two-minute wait timer which, once out, begins charging the customer, whether he or she has gotten into the car or not. The driver then whirls around almost aimlessly, unsure of where he's going, squinting at the GPS, blaming the system for poor directions.

I’m sure Uber drivers feel abused and underpaid. Welcome to the party of just about every service industry employee ever. But what about the customer? What about me? I’m the one who has to wait an indefinite amount of time for a nearby driver to show up at my location. But God forbid I’m two minutes late once the car finally arrives, lest I be slapped with a waiting fee. If I only have two minutes to get into the mis-located car, why doesn’t the driver have two minutes to come find me?

If I order an Uber and the car drives around for 10 minutes, showing no indication that it’s going to make it to me in a timely manner, it’s reasonable that I’d cancel and request a different one. But if I do, guess what — I’m automatically charged $5 for the cancellation.

I once had an Uber driver show up to get me and then, upon arrival but without explanation, cancel the trip. If I don’t receive a credit for the cancellation, why should I pay for it when I cancel?

Uber is two rolls of tape away from functioning as a mobile slumlord. That’s the problem with its reputation, not this political business about employment and wages. The company doesn't seem to understand, and that’s why Uber won’t be able to fix it.