An Uber user has shared an infuriating exchange between themselves and the riding service, saying the company charged them $157 for a trip he never took and for an unjustified cleaning fee.
The rider, identified online as Farrowman, took to Imgur to share screenshots of what he said was a conversation between himself and Uber. The screen grabs show him trying to explain that he was never on the ride and trying — to no avail — to get a full refund.
In his first message, Farrowman tells Uber he has ‘no idea’ what the charge is for, adding: ‘I never took this car / trip. I saw this charge on my credit card today and have no idea what it is for. Please refund me the amount charged.’
Speaking out: An Uber user has shared an infuriating exchange between themselves and the riding service, saying the company charged them $157 for a trip he never took
Instead of refunding Farrowman, Uber launched into an explanation about a cleaning fee that constituted part of the amount charged to him. The employee attached two photos from what they called ‘the incident’, which depict a soiled car.
‘When this happens, drivers are unable to accept trips and must spend time cleaning up messes instead of picking up riders,’ the employee wrote according to the screenshots.
Farrowman thus told the company he could not possibly have caused the mess in question, since he was never in that car.
He also pointed out that the alleged trip was supposed to have taken him from Romulus to Royal Oak in Michigan in just three minutes, which is impossible. The 32-mile trip takes closer to 45 minutes.
Still, Uber responded with another explanation about how cleaning fees work, instead of addressing Farrowman’s claim that he wasn’t in the car to begin with.
Exchange: The rider, identified online as Farrowman, took to Imgur to share screenshots of what he said was a conversation between himself and Uber
‘I understand how your cleaning policy works,’ Farrowman responded. ‘I am saying that I do not know where this charge came from as I was never in that car. I could never have made this mess because I was never in the car. This is either an erroneous charge on the part of the driver or fraud on the part of the driver. Please refund the full amount charged.’
At this point, Uber said they had ‘fully refunded the cleaning fee’ corresponding to the trip. A message from the company indicates: ‘Adjusted fair to 6.90.’
Farrowman clarified that he wanted the entire to be refunded to him, ‘not just the cleaning fee’, adding: ‘I never rode in this vehicle, I never took this trip.’
Uber then replied: ‘Unfortunately, we are unable to adjust a fare more than 30 days after a trip ends.’
Farrowman was confused and pointed out that Uber had just adjusted the fee by refunding the cleaning fee.
Another message from Uber states: ‘Mike, we would be unable to adjust a fare more than 30 days after a trip ends.’
Farrowman tried once more to get his point across, telling the company: ‘You clearly CAN adjust fares more than 30 days old because you just did (you adjusted the fare by refunding the cleaning fee.)’
However, Uber didn’t budge, reiterating that they were unable to refund him because the trip had ended more than a month prior.
The rider thus asked Uber to just leave the fee as it is, adding: ‘Simply give me the money that this drover stole from me using your platform. I do not see why I should be charged for a trip that I did not take.’
Uber stated once more: ‘Because this trip happened more than a month ago, we’re unable to make any adjustments at this time.’
Negociations: The screenshots show Farrowman trying to get Uber to refund him the full cost of the trip, to no avail
Farromwan explained below his screenshots that he didn’t notice the $157 charge because it occurred right before an actual Uber charge for a ride he ordered.
‘I was only alerted when I saw that my credit card bill was suspiciously high about 30 days later,’ he added.
The Uber rider later announced that he was able to get a refund through his credit card company.
‘They said that they receive lots of fraud claims associated with Uber,’ he wrote. ‘Guess they can blacklist me if they like, won’t be using them anymore anyhow.’
The DailyMail.com has reached out to Uber for comment.
Farrowman is one of several Uber users who have claimed that drivers from the company have tried to claim extra cash from them.
Some riders have warned against a tactic known as ‘vomit fraud’, which is being used frequently in several cities, including Miami, where drivers will falsely claim that riders vomited in the back of their vehicle.
This allows them to bill customers anything from $80 to $150, depending on what the driver states happened.
Passengers only know they’ve been a victim of the scam long after their ride has finished.
The first the passenger knows of anything untoward is when they receive an email from Uber reporting an ‘adjustment’ in the bill and the unwelcome addition of a ‘cleanup fee’.
Dialogue: First, Uber responded with explanations about their cleaning policy
Getting the charges reversed is easier said than done given the only way Uber’s customer service can be reached is by using the ‘help’ button through the app.
The first reply from Uber is usually a standard response from a customer service rep: ‘I understand that it can be disconcerting to receive adjustments to the tariff after your trip ended … In this case, your driver notified us that during your trip there was an incident in the vehicle and therefore a cleanup fee of $150 was added.’
The email is further compounded with pictures of the ‘evidence’ — vomit in the vehicle that had been sent by the driver to the company.
Uber’s policy is to charge $80 if a passenger vomits or spills a drink on the seats or any surface difficult to clean. But the charge can increase to $150 in cases of ‘significant quantities of body fluids including urine, blood or vomit in the interior of the vehicle’.
The charging of extra fees is to compensate the drivers for the time and money they would need to spend cleaning their vehicles. But now more riders are reporting that drivers are sending in the photos even when there was never any vomit.
It takes customers at least three or four emails to customer service in order to resolve the issue — all the while their money is held ransom by Uber while they investigate.
Several victims told el Nuevo Herald about their vomit fraud cases.
‘I requested an Uber. At one point the driver told me a road was closed and that he could drop me off near my destiny to avoid an extra charge. I agreed and got off,’ Miami resident Andrea Pérez said.
But the next day Uber emailed her a bill with an additional $98 cleanup charge complete with a picture of vomit on the seat of the car she had been riding in.
‘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.’
Despite going back and forth, Uber never agreed to reimburse her money and she ended up having to file a dispute with her credit card company.
Another Miami resident, William Kennedy, was a victim of vomit fraud twice in one night.
Two $20 trips both had another $150 added onto them after claims he had thrown up in both cars.
‘It was a total fraud by two different drivers. They have everything planned for the fraud,’ Kennedy said to the Miami Herald.
It took ‘numerous emails’ to persuade the company to agree to cancel the charges and reimburse $300 to his credit card.
Other drivers are getting even greedier and charging passengers for trips they never even carry out – and then adding a ‘vomit incident’ to further boost their returns.
Uber says that it is ‘actively investigating reports in which fraud can be detected’ and that it will ‘take the appropriate measures in those accounts.’
A spokesperson for the company said, ‘with 15 million trips a day, Uber is unfortunately not immune to these types of incidents. Participating in fraudulent activity of any kind is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines. We are constantly evaluating our processes and technology related to these claims and will take appropriate action whenever fraud may be detected.’
It is not clear how many fraud cases have been reported or whether drivers are automatically suspended by the company.
Often the fraud relies on customers who don’t check their credit card statements or emails in which case the driver easily pockets the $80 or $150.