My recent trip to Texas to witness the solar eclipse within the path of totality brought several experiences with the “gig economy”. I’m going to be honest, I am not a fan of the multitude of services where people “work as their own bosses”, “work their own hours”, and “set their own pay”–not because I don’t believe that people should be able to control their own careers, but rather because it comes with less accountability for performance.
That was borne out by my experience using the car rental website Turo. Because this trip was not planned with my usual 6 to 12 month timeline, I was at the mercy of what was “left over” for things like transportation. And as I would find out, every vehicle available through the standard car rental services like Avis, Hertz, Budget, and Enterprise had already been booked by the hundreds of thousands of people descending upon North Texas to be in the path of totality on Monday. That meant turning to Turo to find anything that might still be available.
And as luck would have it, I was able to find a vehicle at a rate that would have actually been lower than that of the major chains at the airport. I corresponded with the owner who told me how it was great he could help me out and that dropping the vehicle off at Love Field at my flight time would be no problem–nor would it be a problem dropping it off there for an early morning flight on Tuesday. I sent along a picture of my driver’s license and insurance information a couple of days before the trip–and assumed that we were good to go.
So imagine my surprise (and rage) when the owner of the vehicle sent me a message through the app (not a phone call or text–even though he had my number) on the day before my departure, claiming that the vehicle “needed maintenance” and “would not be available for my rental”. I sent back several messages asking if I could get the vehicle a day or two later and still use it for the days I would be traveling out of Dallas. There was no response. No explanation of the nature of the “maintenance”, when it would be “taken to the garage” or “when it would be fixed”. And I’m using flying quotes here because I am 100% certain that the vehicle was not in “need of maintenance” but rather, the owner realized that he could get TEN TIMES the rate that he had agreed to for my rental.
And I know that would be the rental rate, because the vehicles that Turo “recommended” as a replacement started at more than $400 a day. (It turns out none of them were available the days I would need them–so it was pointless to “recommend” them.) I checked the app a few times to see if that vehicle went back up for rental–but never did find it. I suspect an agreement was made “off-line”.
When I shared my experience with some people I know that recommend Turo, their response was “Oh man, that will give them a really bad rating on the site, cancelling that close to the reservation”. WOW, a “bad rating”. What a horrible punishment. Nobody had any suggestions for getting customer support. Nobody knew a way for Turo to take actual steps to rectify the situation or follow up with the owner to see if the cancellation was legit. Just a “tough break” and make sure to leave a bad review.
Avis, Hertz, or Enterprise would have at least put in some effort to find another vehicle–or they would not have taken my reservation knowing full well that the vehicle would not be available. When there is no higher authority to report to–like is the case for gig workers on Turo–there is no incentive to provide positive customer support.
Then on the day before the eclipse, I made the 3 1/2 hour trek (in my sister’s SUV) to Austin to try the brisket at Franklin BBQ–the Mecca of smoked meat. Because of its popularity–and that it makes a limited amount of product every day–lines to eat at Franklin’s begin to form hours before the doors open at 11:00 am. The guys at the front of the line got there at 5:00 AM. The folks that arrived at 9:00 (two hours before opening) got NOTHING AT ALL.
I arrived just before 7:00 and was about 40th in line. Shortly after I joined the end of the line, a young woman, thin and in her late teens or early 20’s, set up camp behind me. And by “set up camp” I mean putting out two of those new-style lawn chairs and a stool to form a makeshift cot–in which she laid and slept for the better part of the next four hours.
My initial thought was “Wow, not the kind of person you would expect to line up for smoked meat early on a Sunday morning”, but hey, everything is about “inclusion and diversity” now, so the more the merrier I guess.
But it turns out I was right about the Meat Line Waiter–she was not there to enjoy the absolute best brisket on the planet (or the amazing pecan pie either). Just before 11:00, as we made our way toward the doors, the woman was joined by an older and a younger man–who clearly were not members of her family or her social circle. Instead, they were the guys that had paid her to sit in line for them, so they could show up at opening time and eat. Yes, the woman was a “professional line waiter”. She (and others) advertise that service on the internet, and the actual customers paid her for her time.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to the woman after finding out what she “did for a living”. I’d love to know how much she charges, where else she “professionally waits”, and what she tells her family she does for a job. “I stand around so people can eat meat without waiting.” Austin is a college town, so maybe she is just a student supplementing her income doing the same thing she would be doing in the dorm at 7:00 on a Sunday morning. When the guys behind me found out that Franklin’s had already “sold out” of beef ribs–they were very disappointed, and likely would have liked to know why their waiter didn’t get there earlier?
As we get lazier as a society and don’t want to do as much for ourselves anymore–and as the next generations are told that American corporations and companies are “evil” and are just looking to screw over their employees–more and more people will choose to “do anything for cash”. But it unfortunately doesn’t mean it will be done better–or even at all.
