Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
A vast majority of Americans — 96 percent, according to Pew Research — own smartphones. But for that small minority who don’t, or for those who find a smartphone difficult to navigate, Uber is testing out a new way to hail a car: a 1-800 number.
This experiment may be new for Uber, but it’s probably pretty familiar to anyone who remembers calling a car service in the pre-Uber days. The number is only available to people who live in Arizona for now. Uber says that Arizonans without access to the app can call 1-833-USE-UBER to request a ride from a live team member. That customer service rep will provide an upfront price using the same pricing algorithm that powers the app.