A $184 Uber ride on New Year’s Eve has a once-loyal customer vowing never to use the ride-sharing service again.
Around 2 a.m. on New Year’s, Michelle Matton ordered an Uber car to pick up her three friends travelling from her Centretown home to the Elmvale area, in south Ottawa.
“They were actually trying to get a cab, and I was the one who told them ‘I use Uber all the time, they’re great,'” she said.
She said the ride typically costs about $20 using Uber, the ride-sharing app that connects passengers with drivers.
Uber raises its prices at times of high demand. The company warned customers of “surge pricing” between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m. New Year’s Eve, advising people to order requests outside those hours for the most affordable rides.
Matton said she was aware of surge pricing and prepared to pay more to ensure her friends got home safely.
But when she received the ride receipt via email, her jaw dropped: the trip came in at $184.43.
“I feel taken advantage of,” she said. “A 900 per cent price increase is unacceptable. I could have rented a private driver for the night at that price.”
Uber spokesman Xavier Van Chau said Friday that Matton’s trip was requested when “dynamic pricing” was in effect.
“Prior to requesting the ride she ordered on New Years, her rate was prominently displayed on her screen and she had to manually enter the multiplier to complete her request,” Van Chau said.
Matton said she doesn’t recall agreeing to paying the surge or entering the multiplier; there was a lot going on with her friends leaving and she was trying to ensure her guests got home safely. She said she may have agreed to it without realizing it.
She said she didn’t get a fare estimate because she didn’t have her friends’ exact address when she requested the pick-up. They were busy gathering their things, she said.
But Matton said she thinks the driver should have clarified the high cost of the trip once he entered the destination.
Van Chau said Uber’s fare estimate feature allows riders to get a clear idea of the fare before they ride, and that Uber makes significant efforts to alert riders about possible increased costs.
Matton is also displeased with the follow-up. She replied to the receipt and said she received the exact same email back three times saying she agreed to the surge price.
She also tweeted at the Uber Ottawa account, which responded saying they could look into the issue if she replies to her receipt.
“They don’t really seem to care all that much, which is kind of disappointing.”
Van Chau said when Uber receives feedback from riders or drivers, “we respond promptly to provide the best customer service we can offer.”
Matton said she had been using Uber for a few months and until Wednesday had had mostly good experiences.
She said she’s not interested in asking for her money back; she knows she “agreed to the fine print” of the contract. But she said she’ll never be using the service again and is deleting the app from her phone.
“This is unforgivable to me,” she said. “They make an easy 185 bucks, but lose a customer for life.”
Related
