Uber Charged Man $500 For A Ride He Never Took
CHICAGO (CBS) –Uber charged a rider $573.85 for a ride he never took.
Jason Holbrook was at the intersection of Chicago and Fairbanks, a couple weeks ago, when he decided to request an Uber to get him to his next location. The ride he requested was cancelled by the driver, CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports.
Holbrook walked to Michigan Avenue to catch a cab. He received an email from Uber stating his ride was cancelled and he would not be charged.
Holbrook thought that was the end of it, until he received his credit card statement with a charge from Uber for $573.85. A ride said to have driven 23 miles and taken 45 hours and 46 minutes.
"That's a really long time to sit in an Uber and go 23 miles," Holbrook said.
Unable to find a phone number to call, Holbrook sent an email to Uber hoping to seek assistance. He received very minimal responses back, which led to numerous email exchanges, each time with a different person.
CBS 2 reached out to Uber for Holbrook. The company apologized to Holbrook, promising a full refund.
"This is an isolated incident and we are working on our end to under what may have happened here," said an Uber representative.
Holbrook said Uber should have spotted red flags from the beginning.
"A. It's over $500. B. Someone was in a car for 45 hours. C. And you only went 23 miles," Holbrook said. "It doesn't add up at all, and there's no -- obviously, it seems like -- concern on their part."
From now on, Holbrook will be using Lyft of taking a cab.
"I used Lyft this past weekend and had a wonderful experience," Holbrook said.
Uber said this was not fraud, but still does not have an explanation or how it happened or why it took a news story to get it fixed.
