Although most people expect to pay a bit more for Uber car service, the sheer convenience, privacy, and perceived sense of safety appears to many to be worth the cost. However, when people don’t double check the price in advance, they could be in for an Uber-high hit on their pocketbook!
Just ask Bonnie Lieb of Virginia. She thought she was agreeing to a $250 dollar ride to the airport from her home. Imagine her shock when she sat down in the lobby after check-in and found a receipt on her cell phone for $640.94! This means that Bonnie’s 30 mile ride cost her a bit more than $21 per mile, a bit steep for most people. After speaking to the corporate office, Bonnie discovered that the $250 she thought she would be paying was for Uber’s cheapest ride, however, Bonnie ordered an SUV, which is Uber’s most expensive option.
Uber uses what they call “surge pricing”, which means that at particular times or events, such as Christmas day or, in Bonnie’s case, immediately after a huge snow storm, prices are increased. Rep’s at Uber say that they urge people to check the fare estimator as well as, if possible, asking to be notified when the surge price drops and returns to normal.
Many customers, however, are very unhappy with Uber’s surge pricing policy. Some claim that surge pricing is the same thing as price gouging. It’s as if there were a drought and Uber suddenly changes the price of their water (if they sold water) from $5 a gallon to $25 a gallon until a thunderstorm hits, when water returns to $5. Uber defends their pricing policy saying that they don’t see it as gouging, but a means of attempting to get people to use other means of transportation so that their vehicles can be freed up for clients who have no other options.
Although Bonnie says that she just plain overlooked the base $140 charge for an SUV, she still feels that Uber is price gouging. Uber did give Bonnie a credit of $140 towards her next ride but she has said she isn’t sure if or when she will ever use Uber again.
Source: Chicago Tribune
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Although most people expect to pay a bit more for Uber car service, the sheer convenience, privacy, and perceived sense of safety appears to many to be worth the cost. However, when people don’t double check the price in advance, they could be in for an Uber-high hit on their pocketbook!
Just ask Bonnie Lieb of Virginia. She thought she was agreeing to a $250 dollar ride to the airport from her home. Imagine her shock when she sat down in the lobby after check-in and found a receipt on her cell phone for $640.94! This means that Bonnie’s 30 mile ride cost her a bit more than $21 per mile, a bit steep for most people. After speaking to the corporate office, Bonnie discovered that the $250 she thought she would be paying was for Uber’s cheapest ride, however, Bonnie ordered an SUV, which is Uber’s most expensive option.
Uber uses what they call “surge pricing”, which means that at particular times or events, such as Christmas day or, in Bonnie’s case, immediately after a huge snow storm, prices are increased. Rep’s at Uber say that they urge people to check the fare estimator as well as, if possible, asking to be notified when the surge price drops and returns to normal.
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Many customers, however, are very unhappy with Uber’s surge pricing policy. Some claim that surge pricing is the same thing as price gouging. It’s as if there were a drought and Uber suddenly changes the price of their water (if they sold water) from $5 a gallon to $25 a gallon until a thunderstorm hits, when water returns to $5. Uber defends their pricing policy saying that they don’t see it as gouging, but a means of attempting to get people to use other means of transportation so that their vehicles can be freed up for clients who have no other options.
Although Bonnie says that she just plain overlooked the base $140 charge for an SUV, she still feels that Uber is price gouging. Uber did give Bonnie a credit of $140 towards her next ride but she has said she isn’t sure if or when she will ever use Uber again.
Source: Chicago Tribune
