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Lost something in an Uber? You’ll now have to pay your driver $15 to get it back

Lost something in an Uber? You’ll now have to pay your driver $15 to get it back

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Also new: 24/7 phone support for drivers

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Uber Releases Results Of Internal Sexual Harassment Investigation
Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images

It’s a common occurrence: you’re a little buzzed from happy hour, so you call an Uber home. And just as the driver pulls away after dropping you off, you realize you left your phone inside the car. Previously, all you had to do was log on to your Uber account from a friend’s phone or a web browser, contact the driver, and according to Uber, coordinate a “mutually convenient time and place to meet” to get your phone back.

Part of Uber’s “180 days of change” apology tour

But for drivers, returning lost items was rarely ever convenient. Many would complain about the difficulty of tracking down passengers to return lost phones and keys. Uber, which is in the midst of a “180 days of change” apology tour aimed at improving relations with its drivers, says it has finally heard those complaints and is doing something about it. Starting today, passengers will have pay their drivers a flat fee of $15 for returning forgotten items. Uber’s calling the new charge “a delivery fee,” estimating that drivers return an average of 11 lost items a year. (According to online driver forum UberPeople.net, Uber may have been piloting the delivery fee in Los Angeles before rolling it out nationwide today.)

This was just one of several new perks outlined by Uber in an email to its hundreds of thousands of US drivers today. Other benefits include the promise of 24/7 phone support, quick fare fixes in the app, protections for driver ratings, faster document review, and the option to schedule in-person support meetings. These new features come a few weeks after Uber, in a major shift, added a tipping option to its app in over 100 US cities.

Uber NYC

Uber will be hiring more call center employees in order to meet the demand it’s creating through the addition of 24/7 phone support for drivers, a spokesperson said. Uber outsources some of its US customer support to overseas call centers, in addition to using some US-based services. The spokesperson wouldn’t specify which Uber call centers would see more staffing.

A bid to shore up driver retention in the wake of a series of major scandals

The addition of tipping, as well as today’s list of driver-friendly features, is intended shore up driver retention the wake of a series of major scandals, including revelations about pervasive sexual harassment and a toxic work environment. In the past few months, a critical mass of top executives, including founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, have resigned or been fired. And while the search is under way for a new CEO, Uber is doing what it can to keep the drivers it still has — and keep them happy.

“From a quick phone call to speedier paperwork to in-person visits — our goal is to be there for drivers, whenever and wherever they need us,” Rachel Holt, regional general manager for the US and Canada, and Aaron Schildkrout, head of product for drivers, wrote in a blog post today.

These features may go a long way toward appeasing some drivers, but others won’t be satisfied until they are reclassified as employees of Uber. The company currently classifies its drivers as independent contractors, arguing they are in business for themselves and thus ineligible for traditional benefits like overtime and health insurance. It also has strongly pushed back against attempts to allow drivers to unionize, even injecting anti-union messaging in the podcasts it produces for drivers.

Some drivers will be appeased, but others won’t until they’re reclassified

Multiple lawsuits by drivers have been brought against Uber challenging their classification. Last year, Uber agreed to settle a class action lawsuit with drivers for $100 million, but that was later rejected by a judge as an insufficient amount. Earlier this year, Uber was fined $20 million by the Federal Trade Commission for misleading drivers about earnings.

A coalition of labor groups and stakeholders recently put forward a series of recommendations to make Uber a more ethical company, such as paying drivers a living wage and making payroll tax contributions to workers compensation, social security, and unemployment insurance.

This isn’t the first time Uber has made a series of major tweaks in the hopes of assuaging relations with its drivers. Last year, the company rolled out a bunch of new driver-friendly features, including more control over their ride requests, fines for riders who make drivers wait too long, and even discounts on Uber rides. The company has also rebuilt the navigation system that’s built into the driver app. Also, earlier this year, Uber made some big changes to the way it handles complaints against drivers to take into account a driver’s history as well.

As Uber continues to pursue its dream of a completely driverless future, it’s not difficult to imagine the mindset within the company that radical changes are tolerable, as long as they’re only temporary.