Uber drivers have figured out all sorts of unethical ways to get more money from their passengers:
- Vomit fraud
- Taking a longer route to get to the destination, which made for a higher bill
- The driver telling the company that they picked you up and dropped you off further than they actually did
- Saying they’re too tired to drive and asking you to cancel (if you cancel, they get a kickback)
- The most despicable scam yet
Welp, now you can add this to the list: what can happen if you fall asleep during your Uber ride.
A DJ in the UK named Chris Reed (he’s known professionally as Plastician) had had a bit too much to drink a while back, so he took an Uber home. He wound up falling asleep during the ride. He was planning to be taken to his home in the south London town of Croydon but when he woke up, he realized his driver had driven him to the Midlands, which was about halfway up the country.
Total bill at the time? £1453.86 ($1,869.53).
PC: https://twitter.com/Plastician/status/1182234740511985664
“An Uber employee at the call centre confirmed with me on Tuesday that my home address was on the booking when I called it in,” he wrote in another tweet.
“They are now denying this yet have no proof that I ever entered an address in Sleaford – a destination I have never been to in my LIFE.”
Plastician tweeted a few days later that Uber refused to reimburse him for the charges, because drivers are allowed to change destinations on trips.
PC: https://twitter.com/Plastician/status/1182234740511985664
Several other people tweeted him in reply, reporting similar situations that have happened to them when riding with Uber. Uber would sometimes tweet back at those people and ask them to give them the details via DM. Here’s my favorite:
PC: https://twitter.com/Plastician/status/1182234740511985664
Jerks.
But I suppose Plastician got off easy – they only took money from him. In October 2018, an NYC Uber driver was charged with groping and kidnapping a passenger who had fallen asleep during her ride with him. In June 2019, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
And people wonder why I’m not a fan of Uber…
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