Uber and Lyft are once again battling publicly for dominance in ride-share app market. The war of words has sparked national attention to the app services that aim to displace standard taxi service.
Each company claims the other is using tactics to undermine business. Both Lyft and Uber claim the other's employees are requesting a ride and then canceling at the last minute. The companies say it's costing them money and loss of real business.
The war of words began when Lyft told CNN Uber recruiters had requested some 5,560 rides, but then canceled them at the last minute. Uber then retorted that Lyft employees are participating in the same strategy, but on an even larger scale, claiming Lyft employees have requested Uber rides almost 13,000 times, only to cancel at the last minute.
"Lyft's claims against Uber are baseless and simply untrue. Furthermore, Lyft's own drivers and employees, including one of Lyft's founders, have canceled 12,900 trips on Uber," Uber said in a statement. "But instead of providing the long list of questionable tactics that Lyft has used over the years, we are focusing on building and maintaining the best platform for both consumers and drivers," it added in an attempt to deflect away from the controversy and take the "high ground" in the controversy.
But Uber didn't stop there, adding that "these attacks from Lyft are unfortunate but somewhat expected." It comes after reports suggest that a number of Lyft investors have been calling on Uber to acquire Lyft and unify the service.
Lyft, however, is not backing down.
"Once again Uber is deceiving the public, now with false allegations and an attempt to deflect from their illegal cancel campaign," said Lyft in its response to Uber's claims. "Lyft has more than 100 investors, all of whom are extremely excited that Lyft is approaching IPO-level revenue. Our 'nuclear' strategy is continuing to take market share with 30 percent month-over-month growth, while building the strongest community of drivers and passengers."
The battle for ride-sharing supremacy began to heat up with Lyft in April announcing a number of price cuts that were aimed at battling against Uber's popularity, Tech Times reports. Lyft announced it was pushing into 24 new cities across the United States, bringing its total cities to 60, surpassing competitor Uber, who currently is in 48 cities in the country.
Uber has established a presence in over 100 cities globally, while Lyft is focusing on the American market at the moment.
