Late last year, Uber Technologies said it had a goal for 2017: listen to its drivers to better understand their experience.

“Feedback matters and we need to hear it directly,’’ Jeff Jones, a top company executive, wrote in a November open letter. “I can’t guarantee to address everything, but I can promise that Uber will do a much better job listening to drivers and serving their needs.’’

Yet when Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick had a run-in with one of the company’s drivers last month, he appeared to do little to alleviate concerns.

In a video posted online Tuesday, Kalanick was caught on camera arguing with the driver of an Uber black car about the company’s rates. Kalanick eventually exploded, using an expletive to insist the driver, Fawzi Kamel, was not taking responsibility for his own problems.

The video rocked the company, which was already in the middle of a series of scandals and controversies, highlighted by a former employee’s allegations of rampant sexual harassment at its California headquarters.

In a lawsuit filed last week, the self-driving car division of Google parent company Alphabet accused a company that was eventually acquired by Uber of stealing trade secrets. Uber also faced a boycott campaign in late January because some perceived it as taking advantage of an immigration-related taxi strike at JFK International Airport.

And the company has even faced some criticism from a key ally: the mayor of Pittsburgh, who has said the city is getting little in return for opening its streets to Uber’s self-driving car tests.

After his back seat run-in went public, Kalanick issued an apology.

But the video also undercut the company’s stated goal to better communicate with drivers and help address their issues.

In December, Uber released guidelines for passengers, which included rules like not leaving behind trash or having sex with other passengers in the car. Uber said they were put in place to ensure that drivers felt respected.

In Boston, company officials have been holding regular in-person meetings with drivers over the last couple of months. The biweekly meetings at Uber offices and area coffee shops are intended to let drivers air their complaints about the app so the company can work to resolve the problems, such as GPS outages or poor routing in certain neighborhoods. Uber has also introduced new feedback features in the app meant to recognize good drivers.

In a statement, Uber said the Kalanick video “does not diminish our commitment to listening, learning, and improving the Uber experience for the thousands of drivers moving our communities.’’

Stephen Harris, a driver who has attended the sessions with Uber’s Boston staff, said his focus has been on improving app functions like its GPS. He said that staff has been receptive to his ideas, but it’s too soon to say how they would be addressed.

Critics, however, say the initiatives hardly address drivers’ real issue, the one Kalanick dismissed on video: that they aren’t being paid well enough.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney who has sued Uber over how it classifies drivers as contractors, said Uber would have better success retaining drivers by increasing fares and allowing passengers to tip through the app, a feature that Uber does not have but rival ­Lyft does.

“I’m not surprised they’re going to pull off a PR campaign to change that perception,’’ she said. “To really turn it around in the drivers’ minds, they’re going to need to raise rates — something I don’t see them doing.’’

Matt Ripley, a Brighton resident who drove for Uber for about three months, agreed. He stopped driving because he wasn’t making enough money. A tipping function might change his mind, but new driver recognition efforts do not.

“If they say I did a great job, but I’m not getting anything out of that other than an e-mail, why should I care?’’ he said.

Another driver, Ben Dahdah of Burlington, said he has not even heard of Uber’s driver meetings. The only increased engagement he’s seen is on Uber’s smartphone app, which he said recently began prompting him to rate his experience working for the company on a one- to five-star scale. He’s been giving Uber a single star, saying the company’s fares are too low and that it fails to ban unruly passengers with low ratings from drivers.

“As far as I can tell, Uber’s attempt at listening to drivers’ concerns has been a little blurb in the app once a month, asking, ‘Do you enjoy driving for Uber?’ ’’ Dahdah said. “But there’s never been any follow-up. That is no path to finding out why your drivers are happy or dissatisfied.’’

Uber said it has been inviting active drivers to meetings and other engagement initiatives. Dahdah said he rarely drives for Uber now, which might explain why he has not been getting invitations to the meetings.

Dahdah said Uber’s fast reaction to the allegations of sexual harassment — which included hiring former attorney general Eric Holder to investigate the complaints a day after they became public — stood in stark contrast to the company’s sluggish response to drivers’ concerns.

“You hired the best of the best for sexual harassment,’’ Dahdah reasoned, “so why not hire somebody that understands the culture of independent contractors and what we go through?’’

Even before the recent problems, driver churn has been an issue for the company. In the last year, Uber has aired national advertisements aimed at attracting drivers.

A study released in November found that 11 percent of Uber drivers, many of whom use the app on a part-time basis, stop using the system within a month of signing up. Only half last a year and a third last two years.

That turnover leaves the company under pressure to keep its rider-driver equation in balance, said Harry Campbell, a California industry analyst who runs a blog called The Rideshare Guy.

“I’ve always felt that Uber looks at drivers like disposable commodities instead of partners, and this video just confirms that,’’ Campbell said. “Instead of apologizing, I’d rather see Uber working with drivers to get drivers increased rates or even an in-app tipping option. These are both substantial pain points for drivers over the past few years that Uber has basically ignored.’’

Adam Vaccaro can be reached at adam.vaccaro@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adamtvaccaro.