Overcharged by Uber
 

Took an UberX to the airport, 13 miles from home. Simple highway route. Got charged almost twice the amount and the map shows some "spaghetti" going back from the airport into Boston.
My hunch is: fraud by driver.
How do I get my money back? Clicking on "fare review" brings up some lame Q&A that doesn't help a bit.

In Boston, the rate that you are quoted isn't the actual rate you should pay.

It seems like you just had a ride on the Pike through the city, and that the driver didn't end the trip when dropping you off and instead drove back towards Downtown with your trip still in progress.

The Q+A should help you get the money back (it's annoying but it works), and if you want you can probably have the driver get a call from Uber HQ.

Uber will refund partial or even the entire trip. The great thing about these rideshare services is you're sent proof of the route you were charged for, which is great for route disputes like this.

I've had some asian Uber rides that were charged too high. Mostly these were when the Uber was waiting. Wait time is $2.75 an hour, and instead was charged for a 40 mile trip, instead of 7 miles. A quick note usually gets it corrected. Seemed it was a gps glitch.

That just shows you Uber is an immature technology. It shouldn't rely on a driver pushing a "trip finished" button. Either the trip auto-terminates because the GPS has determined you are at your location, or the user should terminate the trip at destination by paying.
This whole: "pay upfront whatever happens" is a joke.

Uber's support team is *incredibly* responsive for all types of issues, including these.

Just get in touch with them and I am fairly confident they'll fix it up. I believe there is a link for it in the e-mail you get, to open a case about the trip specifically.. otherwise: https://help.uber.com/

Yeah, but at Logan only the registered drivers can pick up at the airport, so I'd definitely shoot them an email. The driver is playing you for someone that is so naive that they won't even check their email to see the final fare. If it was a new driver driving Uber X in the city I'd say it could be a driver's mistake, but as of now only the registered drivers can pick up at BOS.

That driver definitely knows how to end the trip properly.

Was this the day the Sumner tunnel was closed due to a fatal accident? Just another thought.

Ditch a fantastic money-saving technology because one driver might have forgot to hit "trip end"? That's just plain silly. I've had plenty of occasions where I have asked the driver to wait at a destination and then continue on or to simply wait for one reason or another. I don't want the software "auto-ending" the trip to save me from myself.

When the trip ends, the driver evaluation screen ought to pop up within 10-15 seconds. If that doesn't happen, the driver hasn't ended the trip.

But, as others note, OP is complaining here because there is a simple solution which he won't use. Uber deals with these things in short order. Something simple like this will likely result in a credit for the entire trip in < 1 hour. The Q&A are there so that the software can figure out how to route the complaint.

I've had just a very few trips run sour, including once with the OP's scenario, and UBER fixes things very quickly. Ironically, my first issue was in Paris, so now the subject line of any inquiry reply is in French.

This is probably the least likely scenario.

Question: In the Uber receipt you received, is your drop-off location and time accurate? If it is, then the issue has nothing to do with the driver. If it isn't, then we can assume otherwise.

To get in touch with Uber Support, select any of the silly support options such as Route Feedback > My Driver Took a Poor Route and get the convo going. Most likely you will receive a fare adjustment without having to send in a follow-up.

So, it's 24 hours later and no reply from Uber yet.

Edt to add: just received a reply. Uber blames it on the driver and refunds me part of the fare.

I believe Lyft already has this technology. If I have my app open and the app sees that my location is stationary near my destination or if I'm heading in a different direction, even though the driver hasn't ended the trip, it ends the ride.

Sure, they're responsive, with irrelevant form letters, or if the rep is feeling ambitious, you might get a personal response in broken English that is irrelevant and still does not address your issue. Only through further kvetching will you receive a response from someone in the US who will actually read and address your issue. Thankfully, I don't have very many problems with Uber.

I've had a few hiccups with Uber as well, but let's be fair - Uber is handling customer support for 60+ million rides per month, yet I've always gotten a pretty rapid response to any issues. I'm pretty sure any issue raised with my local taxi commission would fall into a black hole.

I've had that experience when I actually ask a substantive question. But it seems that fare reviews are almost automated and don't seem to have the same back and forth.

+1 on all counts. 50% of the time I get a form letter that's barely tangential to my actual query. Instead of getting emotional, I just reply saying that my original question was not addressed, and eventually it gets to someone who reads my note and helps me resolve.

I generally agree with this as well. The only exception is UberPool rides. Occasionally I'll have a ride where my ridemate was totally out of the way or the driver just took a nonsensical route (sometimes driver error, sometimes drivers app had a mind of its own). I'll always get the form letter saying, "you're always charged the upfront price," and I reply back saying "yes I understand that - but that doesn't give you an excuse to unnecessarily add 20 min to my ride." (Normally after 1-2 more notes, I get a "real" person to reply.)

I think I am ready to quit Uber. Out of my last 6 rides, 4 had higher fares than the "upfront price" and none involved me making extra stops or giving the driver better directions. No notice saying traffic or anything else caused it, just a few bucks extra here and there. I think this is a major issue with Uber trying to pull one over. Whenever I message support, they offer the automatic $5 but it doesn't solve the issue. Also it now takes 20 minutes to get an Uber, even though it says it will arrive in 4 minutes almost every single time!

Uber (and to some extent Lyft) have been lying about arrival times from day 1. They don't want to display a realistic arrival time because they don't want to lose your business. Complain and you'll always get a canned response that they're always working on improving their algorithms.

As for them giving you a bogus estimate, I'm surprised they're not trying to dismiss it as "traffic." I would not be surprised if that "estimate" doesn't include the trust and safety fee, and/or any other fees tacked on.

Frustrating, but is "a few bucks extra" > $5? If not, then it's a freeroll on extra credit. Takes 30 seconds to submit the issue on the app. Solid hourly imo