Washington Post ad employee Heather Schmelzlen is über annoyed with a popular transportation company.
You guessed it. Another Uber driver made creepy overtures to a female passenger.
But when she complained, all she initially got was a lame “We’ll look into it” response.
So Schmelzlen deleted her account.
On Thursday she took to Twitter to share what happened to her.
She included a snapshot of Uber’s supposed policy on drivers inappropriately engaging with passengers. As shown below, drivers are not to “comment on appearance” or “ask overly personal questions.”
The WaPo reporter isn’t the only female in the journalism industry who has had problems with Uber.
Sarah Emerson, who handles social media for VICE, commiserated.
In March, 2014, The Daily Beast‘s Olivia Nuzzi famously chronicled her experiences with the modern taxi.
In her story, a male driver had taken what she described as a close-up picture of her in workout gear from earlier in the day and asked if she wanted the picture. Which Nuzzi found “weird.”
She reported it. The driver lost his job. The driver then wrote Nuzzi and her employer, which creeped Nuzzi out even more because now he obviously knew her full name.
The Mirror sought comment from Nuzzi on whether she’s using Uber these days. “I do, and I’m very public about the fact that I still use it,” she said. “It’s an imperfect technology for sure but I don’t think fundamentally flawed.”
New York Daily News Opinion Editor Josh Greenman questioned the WaPo employee about other modes of transport: “This never happens in cabs with you?”
She replied, “I’ve had some uncomfortable exchanges in cabs, too, sure, but if uber is going to tout its safety…”
But perhaps Schmelzlen’s Twitter revelations paid off. After other women spoke up about their strange experiences in reaction to her’s, Uber surfaced with this:
