Employees at car service company Uber may have gone too far in their attempt to compete with a New York rival last week.
Gett drivers claim that staff at Uber illegally tampered with their car-ordering service and tried to bribe them to leave the company, CNNMoney reported.
Uber employees allegedly ordered and canceled more than 100 Gett cars during a three-day period last week, according to Gett.
"During a very short period of time when we had a hundred cancellations that took up a hundred drivers, those hundred drivers could have served a hundred of our legitimate customers who weren't able to get a car or had to wait much longer to get a car," Gett CEO Jing Herman told CNNMoney.
The cancellations were enough of a disturbance, but Uber drivers allegedly went a step further, trying to bring Gett drivers to the dark side.
After the canceled orders, which allowed the Uber drivers to obtain the Gett drivers' cell phone numbers, an Uber employee texted the Gett drivers. In screenshots of the texts, the Uber employee tried to recruit the Gett drivers by offering them money.
Uber admitted in a statement that the tactics were extreme.
"Our local teams can be pretty determined when spreading the word about Uber and how our platform opens up new economic opportunities for drivers," Uber said in a statement provided to CNNMoney. "In this instance, the New York City team was a bit too ambitious and we'll make sure they tone down their sales tactics."
CNNMoney reported that "more than a dozen Uber employees were involved, including community managers, operations managers, Uber's general manager, and the company's social media strategist. Some booked and canceled as many twelve rides over the two-day period."
Gett declined to comment to CNNMoney on whether or not it will pursue legal action, but if the claims are true, the company could have a strong case.
"If Uber employees intentionally diverted Gett drivers from legitimate business by making phony calls, that is an unfair business practice, illegal under California law," San Francisco-based attorney Drexel Bradshaw told CNNMoney. "It is also an intentional interference with Gett's business which makes them liable for money damages."
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