Uber driver ‘took advantage’ of Welwyn Garden City man falling asleep to charge £120 more
Nicholas with his daughter, sister and niece. Picture: Nicholas Moon. - Credit: Archant
A man from Welwyn Garden City is claiming that his Uber driver took advantage of him when he was asleep and ended up charging him £120 more than the quoted maximum rate.
Nicholas Moon was coming home from his Christmas work party in the early hours of Friday, December 13 from Central London when he missed the last train.
When he was looking for a taxi home from Pancras Road, he thought it was fair that Uber quoted him around £80 maximum rate at a 2.0 Surge for the 24.26 miles, 49 minute journey to his Peartree home.
Nicholas told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: "While I had a few drinks, I was not obnoxiously drunk and fully aware.
"My Uber arrived, a white BMW 5-Series driven by Patryk from Enfield ,and after a few minutes of conversation with my driver, I fell asleep in the front seat of the Uber.
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"I eventually made it home, but I was not happy on receiving the detailed receipt or the fact that we appeared to have only started heading home once I woke up the other side of Hertford, a town past my destination address."
He thinks that the driver took him out of the way on purpose, as he went out from London towards Uxbridge then took the M25 towards St Albans then went across to Potters Bar but did not take the A1(M) towards Welwyn Garden City. Instead the driver took the A10 to Hertford.
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In the end, he went on a 65.88 mile ride - more than double the estimated route - that took one hour and 30 minutes and cost £206.48.
He said he was given credit for Uber worth £100, after he complained a few times, but was not refunded the full £126.48 difference on his journey.
Even after he complained a few more times, he was not given any explanation for the charge or the wrong route. He then contested it through his PayPal's fraud service and was given £100 back.
Asked if he would be using his credit from Uber, Nicholas firmly replied "no".
"I'm not going to use them again," he said. "They haven't been very helpful and now I'm aware [from social media] that I'm not the only one this has been done to."
He said in future that he would be sticking to a black cab service or getting a local reliable taxi firm.
Uber was approached for a comment but have so far not responded.
