Signing up for a ride-sharing app like Uber or Lyft is usually as straightforward as it gets, but not if your last name is identical to the name of the app, it seems.
As it turns out, there’s an actual Uber family out there, and none of its members was able to sign up for an account with the app that bears the same name as them, returning an error message that said: “given last name not valid,” presumably because nobody at Uber the app ever thought there would actually be someone bearing this last name, or because of a security concern.
Additionally, according to the quickstitchplus Threads account, which was founded by one of the family members, the Uber family was mysteriously removed from the same name ride-sharing app last year because of an unspecified violation of the terms and conditions.
But here’s where the power of social media comes into play because none other than rival ride-sharing app Lyft got into the conversation and seized the opportunity to make a splash by offering the Uber family a $1,000 gift card for Lyft rides.
The story unfolded on the freshly launched Threads social media platform, where there was a photo of the gift card posted on the official Lyft account and a description that asked the Uber family to get in touch with the company.
And that’s exactly what happened, with Michele Uber getting word of what was going on at the pink-colored firm and posting a reply on her own account: “Sorry, Uber, this Uber Fam chooses Lyft.”
Bri Reynold, the ride-sharing company’s social media manager, said on her LinkedIn account that they immediately saw this as a golden opportunity to make the Uber family’s life a little less complicated.
“Who knew Threads would have led to this,” she wrote. “Yesterday we met The Uber family on threads (yes their last name is actually Uber). They haven’t been able to make any Uber profiles because their last name is registering as an ‘invalid entry’ (lol). Immediately saw this as a GOLDEN opportunity for us to show up for them.”
As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.