Uber... Shady practices?

abc.xyz

I booked an Uber on Friday night. A driver accepted, he wasn't far away, then he cancelled on me and I was charged a £4.12 cancellation fee.

I went into the app to dispute it, and was automatically and immediately given £4.12 account credit.

I know it's only £4.12, but it's the principle for me. They tried to charge me for their driver cancelling the trip. Only when I disputed it did they refund me, but in the form of an account credit. They've effectively stolen money from my bank account. Seems very shady...

Andy_L

What have they said when you contacted them about it?

Andy_L

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2018/01/been-wrongly-charged-by-uber-heres-how-to-get-your-money-back-rather-than-credit-/#:~:text=If you request a cab,of being given a refund.

4 years ago but probably still relevant, particularly
"An Uber spokesperson said: "Users can also get a refund through the app if they would prefer [that to having credit applied].

"We don't know if a cancellation fee was wrongly charged at the point we give users credit. This is just an immediate gesture for the benefit of our users.

"We believe users like this feature as it does not require them to engage with our support team. If a user would prefer a refund instead of credit, they simply need to let us know and we will refund the cancellation charge in every instance where they are eligible."

abc.xyz

Andy_L said:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2018/01/been-wrongly-charged-by-uber-heres-how-to-get-your-money-back-rather-than-credit-/#:~:text=If you request a cab,of being given a refund.

4 years ago but probably still relevant, particularly
"An Uber spokesperson said: "Users can also get a refund through the app if they would prefer [that to having credit applied].

"We don't know if a cancellation fee was wrongly charged at the point we give users credit. This is just an immediate gesture for the benefit of our users.

"We believe users like this feature as it does not require them to engage with our support team. If a user would prefer a refund instead of credit, they simply need to let us know and we will refund the cancellation charge in every instance where they are eligible."

Thanks for the guide, but the links don't work anymore and I can't find a contact number/email on their website. Tried to follow the steps in the app, but just get met with "We've already credited your account" and can't go any further.

"We don't know if a cancellation fee was wrongly charged at the point we give users credit. This is just an immediate gesture for the benefit of our users."

Rubbish. They know whether the driver or the passenger clicked cancel. If it were a glitch, why leave it unfixed for 4 years...

Seems intentional to me. Hope people don't notice they've been charged. If they do, hope they will accept an account credit. If not, make it difficult to speak to an actual human.

MilesT6060842

I have seen some similar complaints on my local nextdoor forum, and a more severe case where a passenger booked a longer trip (quoted over £60), was taken barely a quarter of the way, then the driver forced the passenger to leave the vehicle and then claimed that they ended early voluntarily.   And if you prebook a long time in advance, recent experience is that the drivers accept the fare and then cancel out if they think they can get a higher price for the trip based on current quoted rates.