While on vacation, a US couple discovered that an Uber ride they had taken to explore the city of Costa Rica had almost completely depleted their bank account. According to reports, the pair scheduled a ride in the city for an anticipated fee of $55 (Rs 4,500). When they checked their bank account after the ride, they were astonished to see that Uber had charged them almost 600% more than the real cost, which resulted in a debit of $29,994 (roughly Rs 24 lakh) from their balance.
Details on due to a 600% rate increase caused by an Uber software bug, a couple was forced to spend around Rs 24 lakh for a single Uber trip
The New York Post reported that Douglas Ordonez and his companion Dominique, who were in Costa Rica to mark their fifth wedding anniversary, had reserved a cab in the city. But when they checked their bank account after the ride, they were horrified to see that they had been charged “$29,994 USD for an Uber ride in Costa Rica.”
Even though they often use credit cards for foreign purchases, the couple went on to say that they were unaware that their debit card was linked to their Uber account for this particular journey. As a result, the funds were immediately taken out of their account following the trip, leaving them with a negative balance. Ordonez shared a screenshot of what appeared to be a bank statement, explaining the situation and displaying a negative balance of $22,697 (about Rs18.7 lakhs).
Although a representative from Uber contacted the couple over Twitter and promised to look into the situation, the pair went on to explain why there had been no prompt reaction from the cab-sharing firm and voiced their dismay. “Uber didn’t offer any additional assistance. Nowhere can I find a customer care number. My mails have gone unanswered, and the only messages I have gotten are automated ones. I have to wait another 4 days for the amount to potentially convert to the correct amount, therefore Altura Credit Union told me there is nothing they can do about it at the present,” the pair wrote in another post.
The couple allegedly got their money returned a week and a few days later, per the article. Dominique added that the bank claimed responsibility for the problem with the currency exchange, adding that “I put a travel notice on my card, and because of that, the charge was able to bypass all of the security measures and policies that were in place.”
While stating that it would address the issue as soon as possible, Uber also adds, “At Uber, we take every report seriously. The permission hold that was incorrectly issued owing to a bank error in dollars rather than colones was immediately released after we received the user’s notification, according to a statement from Uber provided to Business Insider.
