Woman Surprised To Get $1,537 Bill From Uber

While it sucks that this even happened in the first place, the story does have a happy ending thanks to the media getting involved.

“I figured this was obviously some kind of system error, either with the driver or with the software and that it would get reversed by Uber immediately,” she told ARLnow.com this morning. “I’ve tried to reach out to Uber via email about eight times and have heard nothing. And when I try and log in to Uber it now says my account has been disabled.”

And this is why you have any sort of auto-pay linked to a credit card and not a bank account.

thanks to the media getting involved.

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Yep. Thanks to the media making a stink and the company going, "Oh shit! This could negatively affect our bottom line!" Not thanks to anyone in the company actually being a decent human being and seeing that this was wrong.

I've had something similar happen where someone had gotten in my uber and I got the bill. They fixed it in 1 email and I got a credit.

This is why I am content to continue using the local Arab or Ethiopian driving the yellow cabs. Taxi services are heavily regulated and for good reason.

Catboxer said:

I've had something similar happen where someone had gotten in my uber and I got the bill. They fixed it in 1 email and I got a credit.

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You got a credit? As in they took your money and gave you credit for it? That's not a refund.

Dwango said:

Yep. Thanks to the media making a stink and the company going, "Oh shit! This could negatively affect our bottom line!" Not thanks to anyone in the company actually being a decent human being and seeing that this was wrong.

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Yup. That's all I think of when I see stories like this. It's just a way to minimize losses from others. It has nothing to do with them being good people or a good company.

amdgamer said:

This is why I am content to continue using the local Arab or Ethiopian driving the yellow cabs. Taxi services are heavily regulated and for good reason.

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Regulation isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Uber tried to screw me earlier this year. The threat of legal action prompted them to resolve it but I will never take an Uber again.

sfsuphysics said:

And this is why you have any sort of auto-pay linked to a credit card and not a bank account.

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This plus elventy bajillion. Since I got out of college I refuse to link anything directly to a bank account. College overbilled me and it took almost a year to clear up. The entire time I was out that money - and at that point in life it was a lot tighter in terms of budget.

Why is it better to link it to a credit card? IDK how credit cards work in the US. But if someone billed something to my credit card I'd not just have to face the loss of money, but also pay the interest on it as long as it's not refunded.

M76 said:

Why is it better to link it to a credit card? IDK how credit cards work in the US. But if someone billed something to my credit card I'd not just have to face the loss of money, but also pay the interest on it as long as it's not refunded.

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I am in the US for reference. When you get your credit card bill and review it if you were to find this uber charge you would call up the CC company and dispute the charge. If you dispute a credit card charge it sort of goes into limbo - until a resolution is reached you don't pay interest and do not have to pay that amount to the CC company. It generally will remain as an outstanding charge and count against your credit line. If the CC Company agrees it was a fraudulent charge it is forgiven as far as you are concerned and you do not have to pay it and it is like it never happened while the CC company goes after it behind the scenes. Now should the case be decided against you - you will have to pay the amount plus interest.

If you link a checking account or debit card the bank has already sent the money (your money) out the door by the time you can raise a dispute. It is orders of magnitude more difficult to get money refunded from a bank than a credit card company plus yoiu are out that money while the dispute is open.

M76 said:

Why is it better to link it to a credit card? IDK how credit cards work in the US. But if someone billed something to my credit card I'd not just have to face the loss of money, but also pay the interest on it as long as it's not refunded.

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It depends on local laws, but in US you can appeal the charge. This gives the company an incentive to handle the issue. It also protects the cash in your bank account. Many consumers have very little in their bank account so having an extra 1400 or so billed might cause checks to bounce... which then impacts your ability to have good credit. Banks also tend to have less incentive to fix the issue over credit card companies.

Interest is only charged after an entire billing cycle and which point the issue would likely be corrected. You could also simply pay the bill with the cash should it be to your advantage. When they are linked directly to your bank you do not have that option.

In the end everyone should use a credit card as a buffer. A good card will give you 1% cash back min on all purchases and help protect you,should the card information get stolen. It is at least less disruptive to your life then having checks start bouncing.

M76 said:

Why is it better to link it to a credit card? IDK how credit cards work in the US. But if someone billed something to my credit card I'd not just have to face the loss of money, but also pay the interest on it as long as it's not refunded.

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In addition to the above, in the US, credit cards are unsecured debts (which is why they care higher interest rates) and it is a civil matter not criminal if you fail to pay.