Woman gets unexpected bill in strange Metro Vancouver Uber trip | Daily Hive

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A part-time Metro Vancouver resident and Uber customer had a strange trip with the rideshare company that resulted in a significantly higher bill than expected.

Daily Hive Urbanized has independently verified all the claims made by the customer via receipts and screenshots, and we have also verified the situation directly with Uber.

The customer, whom we are calling Jenny for privacy reasons, lives in Calgary and stays in New West during the summer. A couple of weeks ago, after a night out, at around 3 a.m., Jenny booked an Uber to take her from Richmond to New West. Right away, something seemed off.

“When the driver was coming to pick me up, it took them forever to come up Number Three Road. It should have taken less than five minutes, but it took them ten. I thought it was just weird,” she told Daily Hive Urbanized.

The next morning, she needed to go downtown and booked another Uber. However, she noticed that her original trip was still in progress. After the driver ended the trip, she was charged around $80 instead of $30.

What it took for Uber to rectify the situation

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Jenny did what anyone would do and contacted Uber customer support. However, it was of no help. In a screenshot she sent to Daily Hive, Uber acknowledged the issue, saying, “We acknowledge that your trip charge is quite higher than your upfront fare since the driver didn’t end the trip.”

It went on to say that the trip wasn’t eligible for a refund or price adjustment.

“We know that this is not the resolution you’re hoping for, but please be assured that this experience will be properly documented,” Uber’s customer service response said, adding, “We will definitely review this driver’s account.”

After a few conversations with the passenger, we pursued her situation for a story and reached out to Uber for comment. Soon after we emailed the rideshare company, she got a call from Uber.

“I connected with you, and then a guy called me. It was all I needed. It was a real person to look at it. He said all the right things,” Jenny said.

Uber told her they couldn’t say what would happen with the driver, but that they would investigate.

She believes that Uber’s internal system has significant gaps because, despite speaking with the representative who said they would rectify the situation, she received another automated email stating that she wasn’t eligible for a refund.

After speaking with the representative, she was fully refunded the same day. The customer is under the impression that she wouldn’t have received help if she hadn’t reached out to Daily Hive, and that it shouldn’t take contacting the media to get good customer service and for a company to do the right thing.

Uber’s response

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Uber initially thanked Daily Hive for bringing the Vancouver rider’s situation to the company’s attention, and a spokesperson told Daily Hive that it would have its support team investigate the matter.

A day later, we were informed that the trip was reviewed and the matter was resolved directly with the rider.

We asked Uber for an update on what specifically happened in the situation and received a response yesterday.

“There can be many reasons why a driver and rider may alter a journey as they go,” an Uber spokesperson shared.

We also learned that an Uber driver is responsible for ending the trip in the app after it has been completed, which means the rider has left the vehicle.

Uber provided us with a link to a website that you can access if this doesn’t happen.

Uber also informed us that it would review the incident and, if it was found to be intentional, the driver would receive a warning and could potentially lose account access permanently.

The customer shared concerns about others who might experience this, such as individuals who are not familiar with technology or those who may not even think to check their bill.

She said, “What happens if English was not my first language? What happens if I were a much older person and didn’t see the charge?”

Have you ever had an Uber experience like this in Metro Vancouver? Let us know in the comments.

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