Uber wants to enter Vancouver, and depending on your lifestyle, you might want the ride-hailing app in the city.
After being shut down in 2016, Uber is evidently preparing to take another swing at cruising into Vancouver. A couple weeks ago, Uber launched a month-long mapping project in the lower mainland in hopes of getting the green light from the province later this fall.
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In an effort to ‘woo’ the market, Uber announced a partnership with Earnest Ice Cream earlier this week that would entail the ride-sharing app delivering free ice-cream sandwiches on Friday. The process was straightforward, simply download the Uber app and tap “request ice-cream” between 11:00am – 3:00pm.
Uber had a majority of Vancouverites thrilled about the promotion, and who could blame them? To sweeten the pot even more, Uber also made a pledge to donate $1 from every request made to the Vancouver Sun Adopt a School meal program.
Come Friday however, the sweet treat promotion quickly came melting down.
Numerous people who downloaded the app took to social media to express their frustration after being met with a “Ice Cream Unavailable” message.
Thank you so much @Uber_VAN #UberIceCream pic.twitter.com/k8IK9OYT9k
— Tyler Daigle (@JustaWrapper) August 25, 2017
The Children’s Wish BC/Yukon office was really looking forward to getting some free ice cream from @Uber__Canada today. #UberIceCream pic.twitter.com/PwcM3XVMDq
— Children’sWish BC/YK (@cwfbc) August 25, 2017
When you’re trying to get #UberIceCream and it says “unavailable in your area” but then the car drives by. pic.twitter.com/HGYDMUDvUX
— The Nikki (@helloitisnikki) August 25, 2017
While it’s clear a few people were able to successfully get their free ice cream delivery, a large majority were not which led to chaos online.
It’s only ice cream stop the madness #UberIceCream pic.twitter.com/QPscerXYmT
— Samuel (@7SevenIn7) August 25, 2017
Shortly after the promotion period concluded, Earnest Ice Cream took to social media in regret of partnering with Uber. By then the “#UberFail” was the talk of the town and the issue was trending on Twitter.
We made a mistake… pic.twitter.com/YdNUyFXKuB
— Earnest Ice Cream (@Earnesticecream) August 25, 2017
On the contrary, Uber defended itself and stated it successfully delivered hundreds of ice cream sandwiches and was able to raise thousands of dollars for charity. According to the company, the issue came down to supply and demand – ironically the same issue Vancouverites face nearly every weekend when it comes to getting a cab.
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