I am all about alternative business models, being a bit of one, myself. So, it should come as no surprise, as someone who likes to go out to eat, meet friends, take in a concert and basically enjoy my city it is nice to have a car service that actually picks you up (when they say they are going to) and delivers you home safe and in one piece for a reasonable amount of time and money. Before Uber, these had not been my experiences with car services in Kansas City. Face it. We are not a taxi cab kind of town.
So when I got an email from Uber saying that they would deliver 5 different kinds of ice cream to wherever I was today between 11 am - 5 pm, I thought . . .Why not? Who doesn't love ice cream? It is summer after all, and frankly I was curious as to how it would would all work.
Simply use your Uber app and hit the button that says ice cream at the bottom of your main screen. It will show your current address to confirm that is where you want it delivered and then you hit confirm and a Uber driver (or so I thought) is dispatched to your address.
When the Uber app announced that they were at my doorstep, I ran downstairs to meet them. That's when I realized they had brought an ice cream truck to make their delivery. Right behind them, pulled a silver car, which I assumed was my Uber driver that had accompanied the ice cream trucks they hired for the day to my door. I headed for the driver of the silver car who was coming around towards me, while talking to the driver of the ice cream truck. They definitely seemed to be on the same team.
I held out my hand and introduced myself, as the woman's face changed to confusion, she extended her hand none the less and I shook it. I said to her, "Thanks for coming, this is such a cool idea." She looked at me blankly, so I tried again, "So, how does this work, what do you need?"
She then said, "Oh, I am just here to get some ice cream, same as you." That's when she headed back to her car to pull out some swag or paperwork or something for me.
At that moment, a perky brunette jumped down out of the ice cream truck with a pair of hot pink sunglasses that said UBER on them and a t-shirt that had Uber's logo on it and said: "Hi Jenny, I am from Uber and your ice cream has arrived."
THAT'S when I realized, the woman I had introduced myself to in the silver car . . .was not with Uber at all. She was simply a harried Mom with all of her kids in the back seat, all of whom were demanding ice cream from the ice cream truck. She was disappointed when the Uber rep explained to her that they weren't a real ice cream truck that they were with Uber and you had to order the truck from the app to get ice cream . . .the woman (and her kids) quickly apologized and drove away.
I should have offered to by them some ice cream, but they were gone before I even knew what was going on.
Lady, wherever you are . . .I owe you and your kids some ice cream.
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