IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Uber Support Center a Mashup of the DMV and Apple Genius Bar

The in-person “partner support center” where drivers can have their problems addressed on the spot sees so much use that Uber is moving it to a bigger location, and has replicated the model in 117 other locations.

(TNS) -- One driver was confused about Uber’s latest incentives program. Another was submitting paperwork to begin driving for the first time, while a third was picking up a dashboard placard to use at SFO. A handful of others tried out the Uber app on some test phones and iPads, while another man took an online test on San Francisco geography to qualify as an UberBlack driver.

They were among several hundred Uber drivers a day who pass through the company’s in-person “partner support center” at 301 Vermont St. in San Francisco to have their problems addressed on the spot at a location that functions like a mashup of the Apple Genius Bar and the DMV.

“Any driver can come in at any time with no reservation, six days a week (Monday to Saturday) and get help solving any question,” said Wayne Ting, general manager of Uber Bay Area. “Anything a driver needs to be successful and get back on the road, we’ll handle.”

The center — Uber’s first — sees so much use that Uber is moving it on Monday, May 9, to a bigger location at 950 John Daly Blvd. in Daly City. Crucially for drivers, the new locale has plentiful parking.

It’s also been such a hit that Uber has imitated the model with 117 similar centers worldwide. In addition, it has 67 pop-up outdoors locations that handle “onboarding” — inspecting cars, verifying documents and opening background checks to get new drivers started.

Some Uber critics have suggested that it opened the centers to keep disgruntled drivers from showing up at its spiffy Mid-Market headquarters or offices in other cities. However, drivers who mount protests over issues such as Uber increasing its cut of fares manage to find their way to the street and sidewalk outside the corporate office, a more iconic location for media coverage.

On social media, drivers sometimes slam Uber’s online tech support for being difficult to reach or unhelpful. The center tries to counteract such critiques with quick help times. Most driver are in and out in 20 minutes, Ting said. “There’s a texture when you see someone in person that’s not as apparent in email,” he said.

Drivers who are nonnative English speakers particularly benefit from the face-to-face support. The center is staffed with 15 Uber representatives at a time (the Daly City locale may add two or three more) and tries to includes folks fluent in Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish most of the time.

The center started two years ago, almost by accident. Uber used the Potrero Hill location as a shipping warehouse for cell phones, but drivers kept showing up with questions. The company changed gears in a day, moving out all the warehouse equipment and moving in sofas and chairs for waiting and a long counter where tech-support people sit with their laptops.

Several Uber partners also have tables. AT&T essentially runs a mini-store there, while a Farmers Insurance rep peddles coverage tailored for ride-hailing drivers. H&R Block sets up a table at tax time.

Uber also uses the center to take the pulse of drivers’ sentiment. It runs monthly focus groups to solicit input, and its software engineers frequently drop by to get feedback on new ideas such as the UberPool shared-ride option, a partnership with Spotify for music, its Xchange car-leasing program and changes to the app.

“You can sit in the office and debate how to structure a program, or you can come here and learn so much more,” Ting said.

New employees from Uber offices worldwide usually spend a week in San Francisco for training, including some time at the center as support reps.

Another big gripe from drivers is that they can’t get someone from Uber on the phone, as there is no driver hotline. “Stay tuned,” Ting said. “We’re working on that.”

The center serves one last crucial function: It’s Uber’s lost and found for San Francisco. Most of the keys, cell phones, wallets and other flotsam and jetsam left behind by passengers wind up there. It has mailed items to Singapore and South Korea. The most bizarre lost stuff: an axe, a mechanical hot-dog toaster and a unicycle.

©2016 the San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.