'The last thing I expected': Man SHOCKED after Uber charges $39K for 15-minute ride
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Uber recently shocked a British man by charging him close to $40,000 for a 15-minute trip due to a technical glitch. According to New York Post, trainee chef Oliver Kaplan ordered an Uber after finishing a shift near Hyde in Greater Manchester. The driver took him to a pub in Ashton-Under-Lyne, around four miles away. Kaplan claimed he received a quote for the trip between $11.05 and $12.16, but Uber told him the following day that his bank account lacked the cash to cover the overall cost of $39,152.
Oliver said to The Independent, “I ordered an Uber like I do most nights on the way home from work and everything seemed normal. The driver arrived, I got in the Uber and he took me exactly where I was meant to be going. It was a 15-minute journey - tops - and the bill was said to be between £10 and £11, charged to my debit card. But when I woke up hungover the next morning, the last thing I expected was a charge of over £35,000!” Kaplan immediately called Uber's customer support department via the app to inquire about the excessive bill.
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"It said the amount couldn't be taken because I had insufficient funds," he alleged, adding that Uber personnel were first puzzled by the number. Kaplan finally learned that the destination for the trip's drop-off had been changed to Australia. It's unknown what prompted the mix-up, but it's suspected that a malfunction led the location to alter from Witchwood, the bar in Manchester, to Witchwood, a park in Victoria, Australia. As Kaplan did not have the $39,317 in his bank account, Uber was unable to withdraw the payments. The fare was then changed to the original rate by the company.
Kaplan explained, “It said the amount couldn’t be taken because I had insufficient funds. If I had have had that sort of money, I would have had to chase them for a refund - it could have landed me in all sorts of financial trouble. I’m still wondering how the location was even set to Australia in the first place, seeing as it is on the other side of the globe. Thankfully they were really good about it, and made it right straight away - but it was a stressful half an hour, to say the least.” Later a Uber spokesperson told The Independent, “As soon as this issue was raised on Oliver’s account we immediately corrected the fare. We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused."