The high price of puking in an Uber
That stench inside the Uber mini-cab might be fart spray. And the vomit some passengers claim they are being charged lots of money to clean up might be a scam. The Miami Herald reports:
“I requested an Uber from Wynwood to the Edgewater area. At one point the driver told me a road was closed and that he could drop me off near my destination to avoid an extra charge. I agreed and got off,” Miami resident Andrea Pérez said about one trip last year.
But the next day Uber emailed her a bill with an additional $98 cleanup charge. It included a photo of vomit on the seat of the SUV she had used.
Real vomit? That fake vomit looks the business. And cleaning effort can be affected by the vomit’s constituent parts: milk sinks into the upholstery. In 2016, New Yorkers claimed they were being scammed by Uber drivers using fake vomit to charge high prices for cleaning their cars.
Says Andrea:
“I immediately contacted Uber through the app. I told them that I was alone, sober, that I was not carrying any drinks and that it was impossible for me to have caused that damage,” she said. “But every new email from Uber came from a different representative and always favored the driver.”
Get that puke down to forensics.
The upshot is that Uber refused to reimburse Andrea the cost. But her credit card company did get back her $98. Uber canceled her account. And the rest of us should take care: if your Uber puke is only on the car’ easy-wipe plastic parts and contains no hint of your kebab, cry foul.
Posted: 24th, July 2018 | In: Money, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
