So many people are deleting their Uber accounts that the company had to set up an automated process to make it easier, the Guardian reports.
The rash of app deletions started after Uber lifted surge pricing around JFK last weekend during a strike by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which many customers saw as a crass attempt to take advantage of the strike. The taxi association’s members were protesting President Donald Trump’s controversial executive orders restricting immigration.
BREAKING: NYTWA drivers call for one hour work stoppage @ JFK airport today 6 PM to 7 PM to protest #muslimban! #nobannowall
— NY Taxi Workers (@NYTWA) January 28, 2017
The incident took on a political dimension, as Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is also on a board advising President Trump. As the hashtag #DeleteUber began trending, rival ride-share company Lyft pointedly announced it would be donating $1 million to the ACLU, and on Sunday Lyft surpassed Uber in app store downloads for the first time ever.
Under Uber’s new process for handling departing customers, an Uber employee will no longer have to manually process each account deletion. The change will help with “an increased volume of requests” Uber said in a statement to Mashable.