If the driver is too busy serving other (higher-paying) customers acquired via other channels, they can sign off from Uber/Lyft with no repercussions.
In that sense they don't differ much from lead generators for other businesses (plumbers, roofers, landmowers).
Do you have any examples?
Franchise owners are independent businesses, which doesn't prevent McDonald's and KFC from advertising $5 special and requiring franchisees to accept that rate.
Large trucking companies are attracting independent owners/operators at advertised mileage rates with a "take-it-or-leave-it" implication. The owner/operator stays independent while accepting a truck load at a pre-determined rate.
On a broader scale though, nothing prevents me from posting a Craigslist ad "Looking for a ride to the airport this Saturday, my budget is $40". It does not constitute an employer-employee relationship, and an argument could be had that Uber/Lyft are just proxies for posting and fulfilling such requests. Extend that to moving, plumbing, etc.
Or am I completely off?
There is significant difference. I'm not privy to their requirements, but as I understand it drivers have to commit to a certain amount of rides in a month, availability at certain times (peak periods), and must meet certain criteria in execution of rides. IIRC, it's the dictation of how a job is performed, time schedules, etc. that have caused the courts to consider whether or not drivers are employees.
All contractor relationships include meeting certain criteria in the execution of the work. If you "contact" with someone in a way that doesn't give them any obligations, it's just a gift.
There are also rumors of required percentage of accepted requests (i.e. they don't want the drivers to be logging in and sitting idly), but I can't find a link handy.
Both of these practices, if continued, are likely to land Uber in hot water, so my (uneducated) guess is that it's no longer happening in US jurisdiction.
Is there something I'm missing here?
1) Low-rated passengers.
2) Requests that require significant travel for pickups that are likely to result in short rides (pickup request comes from a downtown bar with next destination likely to be another downtown bar, the driver himself is not very close to downtown). Happens under low driver supply. https://www.reddit.com/r/uberdrivers/comments/2mykji/my_repl...
3) Requests happening while the driver is "chasing the surge" and heading towards high-surge area while driving in non-surge vicinity and receiving a non-surge request just by being nearby.
This thread has more links towards the nature of concerns http://uberpeople.net/threads/ride-skipping-deactivation.365...
Might not be true in every town.
Why can they then decide which car you should buy? Why aren't you allowed to hire sub-contractors? Why can't the driver just set their own price?
If they where just lead generators then uber would take a cut of whatever price the drivers decided to take for their ride but the actual price negotiation would be between the driver and the customer.
So not it's unfortunately not that simple.
Any lead generator can choose who they deliver leads to, right? Uber can't literally force any individual to buy a certain type car, but they can choose to not do business with people unless they have a certain type of car.
Have a reasonably decent car, do the job yourself, maintain a certain level of customer satisfaction. These all seem like relatively reasonable terms under which to offer contract work.
You guys seem to be redefining what it means to defend what uber is doing.
How many lead generators do you know that would hinder a private contractor to hire other people?
It could. In the US, there's no hard/fast definition that gets down to that level of detail.
The IRS says: "In determining whether the person providing service is an employee or an independent contractor, all information that provides evidence of the degree of control and independence must be considered"
Certainly "who sets the rates" would be a consideration.
By itself, no, but it is one of the larger pieces of it.
"In that sense they don't differ much from lead generators for other businesses (plumbers, roofers, landmowers)."
Except lead generators for those other businesses don't have any say in how much you charge.
Not at all. Companies often put out contract proposals to a variety of contractors saying "we'll pay X for this work, take it or leave it". That doesn't suddenly make those contractors into employees.