First, we saw an Uber promotion for AT&T and live football now we see an Uber promotion for BMW while Uber is in a quagmire of bad news.
BMW and Uber are offering BMW 7 Series chauffeured rides before the U.S. retail launch on October 24. Starting at 12pm local time today, Uber users in New York, NY; Miami, FL; Los Angeles, CA and Chicago, IL can receive a free ride from a BMW Product Specialist to a destination of their choice in the brand new BMW 7 Series.
Over the weekend, on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, prospective 7 Series customers in those same markets were able to test-drive the new 7 Series on-demand through the Uber app.
The BMW 7 Series is the top-of-the-line model, however does not maintain its resales value. The BMW 7 Series has a starting MSRP of $82,295 (including Destination and Handling).
Meanwhile in Boston, a former Uber driver accused of raping a female passenger in 2014 was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. The driver pleaded guilty to, trapping a female victim in the car, and then strangling and sexually assaulting her on Dec. 6, 2014. Uber claims that the man was not working for Uber when the incident occurred. The woman was waiting for an Uber ride and he pretended to be an Uber driver. In San Francisco, A female writer for SFist says her Uber driver threatened to rape and kill her Thursday night after she cancelled the ride when the driver called and was nasty because he couldn’t find her at the address she entered. Uber called to apologize and fired.
In Canada, Uber is offering free rides up to $15, to polling stations for first-time customers for today’s national election which could be considered good will unless more people from one party use app and it changes the election results.
Cab drivers and some legislators insist that Uber does not screen its drivers as well as cab companies. If I were AT&T or BMW, I’d be worried that the wrong driver could cause way too many publicity problems.