No PR is bad PR, right? Well, head to the offices of cab sharers Uber and you’ll meet the company who have bled that famous motto dry and then some. Uber has been embroiled in a number of high profile scandals, leading many to question the integrity of their service. Here, we round up some of their most astonishing facepalm moments.

Operation Sabotage

Uber’s relentless push for supremacy has led them to use some underhand tactics in order to gain the upper hand. One such example was their unashamed attempts at persuading investors to abscond from rivals Lyft and move to Uber.

The story broke when Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick admitted he tried to poach investors directly from a fundraiser being organised by Lyft, their main rival.

“And we are going [to their investors], ‘Just so you know, we’re going to be fund-raising after this, so before you decide whether you want to invest in them, just make sure you know that we are going to be fund-raising immediately after,” said a rather frank Kalanick in an interview with Vanity Fair.

This recent revelation comes off the back of a number of Uber attempts to completely wipe Lyft out of the market. Lyft squared a number of anti-competitive (and no doubt anti-legality) allegations at Uber. Among them was the claim that 177 Uber employees had cancelled a total of 5,560 Lyft taxi rides. Drying up driver availability, plus the extra time and petrol money spent, drives down Lyft’s custom and subsequently drives Uber’s up.

Uber didn’t stop there. Using a series of burner phones, Uber ‘brand ambassadors’ would make temporary Lyft accounts, hop in a cab and proceed to tap up the driver. The devious scheme even included an online form, meaning subscribers to the Uber charm could sign up, mid-way through their shift at Lyft.

Double the Demand, Double the Price

There’s nothing like opportunism, but Uber blurred the line between sound business and unsound morality back in 2012. Hurricane Sandy hit US shores back in October 2012, killing at least 286 people across seven devastated countries. Public transport was understandably brought to a standstill with the subway network shut down.

Not wishing to miss an opportunity to boost profit, Uber conveniently doubled the price of each journey in an Uber taxi. A success story of supply and demand economics? Sure, if it’s after a busy sporting event or on Christmas day, but when a country is desperately trying to recover from a devastating natural disaster? Maybe a little insensitive.

Frank Uberwood

Uber’s ruthless endeavours to take down their rivals might, at times, be more at home in backstabbing TV drama House of Cards than the non-scripted real world. That was certainly the case when Uber’s senior vice President of Business, Emil Michael did his best Gordon Gecko impression. Micheal suggested Uber should consider hiring a team of investigative journalists, who would then be tasked with uncovering dirt on their critics in the media. Originally reported on BuzzFeed, Michel even picked out one particular female journalist, Sarah Lacy, who had previously accused the company of “sexism and misogyny”.

Uber swiftly backtracked on those original comments, stating Michel believed the dinner he was in attendance of when he made the comments was off the record. With Uber’s public image already scrabbling around in the dirt, Michel’s comments were never likely to go down well, however seriously they were intended.

Not our Problem

Uber’s calamitous incompetence was exposed to the very worst degree at the turn of the year. Six-year-old Sophia Liu was tragically killed on a San Francisco road when she was hit by an Uber contracted SUV driver.

The incident highlighted some major flaws in Uber’s system, flaws only exacerbated by Uber’s attempts to wash their hands of the affair soon afterwards.

Uber’s blase attitude towards the people who drive for them was left horrifyingly exposed by incidents such as the one above. Anyone can be an Uber driver and you’re unlikely to be background checked when you sign up. Should any unsavoury mishaps occur, Uber can attempt to back away from the situation. After all, the drivers are merely contracted out; they’re not actual employees of Uber. In the case of the six year old’s death, Uber tried to avoid responsibility as their insurance doesn’t stretch to journeys made between fares, as was the case in that particular instance.

Uber cut around these various laws by claiming to be a ‘technology service’, not a transportation company. By signing up to an Uber ride, you’re accepting that all the drivers are a third party. So, if things go wrong, Uber is not responsible for any of their actions.

Inefficient Abduction

Uber’s method of hiring out contractors as drivers, rather than making them bonafide employees, came under attack after an incident in September. An unnamed customer was treated to the ride home from hell when their Uber driver diverted over 20 miles to an abandoned car park. Despite her protests, the driver refused to take the passenger home, even resorting to locking the doors.

Eventually, the woman’s screams persuaded the driver that they were indeed in the wrong location and took her home. Astoundingly, the victim’s complaint fell on deaf ears. After using the correct complaints channel, Uber’s automated response blamed an “Inefficent Route” on the driver’s psychotic tendencies. To sweeten the apology that little bit more, the customer was also refuded 50% of their memorable journey.

Taxi Driver 2

Fans of Martin Scorsese will no doubt be aware of the 1976 crime drama, Taxi Driver. Robert De Niro, in arguably his finest performance, portrays a mentally unhinged Vietnam Veteran working the night shift as a taxi driver. Fans of the classic can now have renewed hope of a sequel, ‘Uber Driver’, coming to fruition. If some of the violent activities they get up continue, at least a harrowing documentary seems certain.

Just one example comes only a few months ago, when Roberto Chicas climbed into an Uber Taxi in San Francisco. A few hours later, he woke up in hospital with concussion, multiple face fractures and the possibility of losing sight in his left eye. Why? Due to the alleged attack of his hammer-wielding Uber chauffeur.

As if that wasn’t serious enough, in the last week an even more shocking incident occurred. Uber is no longer able to operate in India’s capital, New Delhi, after a woman was allegedly raped by one of its drivers.

Clamping down on Uber

It’s on these rusty foundations that Uber are able to offer such remarkably low fares. When things take a turn for the worse, however, Uber’s shoddy practices, devious attitude and lack of customer focus are left horrifyingly exposed. Aside from the outright banning in New Delhi, a number of other areas are taking a firmer stance on Uber’s business model. Portland have filed a lawsuit against the company, citing some of the issues above as their reasoning. They join Spain, the Netherlands and Thailand in taking steps towards banning Uber from their territories.

Maybe having no driver at the wheel is the way forward? Check out our coverage on driverless cars, which Audi believe are coming as soon as 2016.