Customer service can be hit or miss: Some companies go above and beyond, while others lack even basic skills.
Ride-sharing service Uber falls somewhere in the middle: For six years, all support—for drivers and riders—was accomplished via email. But the "increasingly inefficient" approach did not allow individual city teams to learn from each other, and created "a lot of duplicate work," Uber said in a blog post.
"So we started to think about how we could better support our customers around the world," product manager Michael York wrote. "After all, if you can get a ride—or work—at the push of a button, why shouldn't you be able to get great customer support as well?"
Rolling out first in the U.S., then internationally, a new in-app service lets users inquire about a forgotten purse, check their passenger rating, and submit questions regarding an incorrect receipt or odd trip route.
"Just tap 'Help' and all the information you need is right there," York said.
Uber has been criticized in the past for not providing a phone number or any immediate way of getting in touch—especially in cases of violence or harassment of drivers and passengers. The new method should provide quicker response times, according to Uber, which is urging folks to contact Uber through the app instead of via email.
"Ultimately, our goal is to create a product that's so great you never need to contact customer service," York added. "In the meantime, we're doubling down on our technology so that when you need to get in touch, it's as quick and easy as getting a ride."
Last week, the company launched an official bug bounty program, offering rewards of up to $10,000 in exchange for information about "critical" security issues in its code. The move comes after Uber last year introduced a private beta program for 200 security researchers, who found nearly 100 vulnerabilities—all of which have since been fixed.