Although its ubiquity might make you feel like it’s been around for longer than it has, Uber has certainly made a major impact on the way we travel and order deliveries in the few short years it’s been around.
However, that change hasn’t come without its share of controversies. And while some of the app’s most unfortunate incidents can be blamed on specific drivers , passengers have noticed some shadier aspects of the company itself in how it charges customers and in which riders are prioritized for service.
And although we’ll see that he was able to find some relief, one passenger seemed to run afoul of the company’s pricing policies at the worst possible time.
When he was making his way home from the airport, Andrew Peters of Richmond, Virginia had no idea what he would be returning to.
According to Insider , he left Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. after a trip to San Francisco and his Uber driver pulled onto the I-95 on January 3 to take him back home.
Unfortunately, neither of them knew that once they reached Virginia, they would be stuck in traffic after a massive snowstorm left thousands of drivers stranded for up to 24 hours.
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And while fortune smiled on Peters enough that he didn’t have to wait quite that long, his experience was still no picnic.
As WTOP reported a common concern among these drivers was that food, water and fuel reserves quickly dwindled in the freezing temperatures and Peters’ case was no exception.
As he said, “It was kind of scary. We didn’t have any food or water.”
But when he finally returned home nine hours later, Peters found that his ordeal wasn’t over yet.
That’s because he found that the $200 bill he initially paid soon ballooned into a $600 charge from the company.
As Insider noted, this was likely due to a policy listed on Uber’s website stating that users could face fare increases during times of heavy traffic to compensate drivers for their additional time.
But while Peters appeared to struggle to find someone at the company who could help him dispute this charge, it seemed that this no longer became necessary after WTOP’s initial report.
As a representative from Uber told Insider, “We have refunded Mr. Peters after this terrible ordeal and are so glad that he and his Uber driver got home safely.”
