All the boozehounds who did the right thing and caught an Uber home instead of drunk driving on New Year’s Eve woke up to find they had paid Uber insane amounts of money. Sure, the car service gave plenty of advance warning that they would be increasing rates on New Year’s Eve, but not by a gazillion percent.
Global News reports Edmonton Uber rider Matthew Lindsay received a massive shock when he was struck with an Uber bill that looked more like a mortgage payment than cab fare. Lindsay and three of his friends used the service after attending a wedding on Friday and had three stops to make in the Canadian city. Lindsay says while he was given an estimated fare with surge pricing for the group’s first trip, he was never notified of the new pricing once the group made the additional two stops, leaving him with a $1,113.21 bill for a one-hour cab ride that would’ve normally been $125.08.
“I was shocked, physically shocked. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said when he received the bill. “I felt it was beyond unreasonable.” “You could go anywhere in the world for that price.”
Lindsay contacted the company and demanded a full refund, but initially was told they did absolutely nothing wrong. However, Uber later offered him a partial refund of $500.
Of course, Lindsay wasn’t the only Uber rider shocked by their tab. Many others went on Twitter over the holiday and complained about the crazy pricing.
Thanks @Uber for making my first purchase of 2016 one my bank account will never forget. #ubersurge
— karima (@karimact) January 1, 2016
Uber Surge pricing was insane last night! I think people forgot regular taxis exist.
— Adam Kuhn (@IamAdamKuhn) January 1, 2016
Uber charged us $356 last night to go 6 miles… My friend complained and got it down to $266….. #ubersurge is ridiculous. -_-
— Chizoma❤️ (@chizochristine) January 1, 2016
all I did was close the app for 5 minutes…. How????? #ubersurge pic.twitter.com/TwsQXKhQQb
— samala harris (@samantha_sky) January 1, 2016
This is how Uber reminds me of the price of New Years! #ubersurge #fml pic.twitter.com/v8rc15WETI
— TheLastNickelbackFan (@lastnickelback) January 4, 2016
https://twitter.com/rnshankar/status/683928795292790784
$380 bill with Uber. They took advantage of the situation… #ubersurge #Uber pic.twitter.com/7vgJc17wtl
— Thek (@Steven_Thek) January 3, 2016
$300 for 12 miles? Wish I could time travel. #ubersurge #hellolyft
— Rachel Burkhart (@rachelb0300) January 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/Javie_Zamora/status/683186809816268802
For the prices some of them were paying, you’d think they were being chauffeured around town in one of those obnoxious Hummer limos and not in a moderately priced sedan that probably reeked of smoke.
(Via Global News)