Uber drivers flouting ride-share app’s rules by demanding big fees to return lost items

ROGUE Uber drivers have been demanding exorbitant cash fees to return items left behind by passengers in their cars.

ROGUE Uber drivers have been demanding exorbitant cash fees to return items left behind by passengers in their cars.

One passenger said he has even stopped using the service as a result, after his sister’s phone was held for ransom.

Joey Durston claimed a driver demanded $50 to return his 19-year-old sister Madelyn’s phone.

Ms Durston contacted the driver but said “he outright refused” to give it back until she handed over the money.

The ride-sharing company recently announced Australians left more than 60,000 items in

Ubers last year — including a shotgun belt and an 18-carat gold smoke pipe.

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But Leader can reveal some drivers are breaching Uber’s rules by making passengers pay cash to get their possessions back.

She said when the driver came with the phone he “snatched the money” from her.

“It was incredibly unfair and terrifying and I felt like I had no control over the situation,” Ms Durston said.

“He wouldn’t answer any calls, I think he just couldn’t be bothered and didn’t want to come back.”

The pair reported the matter to Melbourne West police station and they helped get the phone and the $50 back from the driver. They said he wasn’t arrested over the incident.

Mr Durston said Uber’s support team were of no help.

An Uber spokeswoman said such actions weren’t acceptable.

She said passengers could offer a $20 payment through the app to have a driver deliver their forgotten item back to them.

Rogue Uber drivers have been demanding exorbitant cash fees to return items left behind by passengers in their cars.

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Lian, who didn’t want her surname used, said she had struggled to get her 18-year-old daughter’s purse returned after she left it in an Uber in January.

She said he eventually dropped it on their Bayswater North doorstep at 5am after police got involved, and had also asked for $20 cash.

“I don’t mind paying a small fee for items to be returned as it’s not the driver’s fault and they’re using their time and fuel to return it,” she said.

“After waiting almost three hours with no response to messages and calls, we contacted police and they called him.”

“If he ended up really busy that night and couldn’t drop it off in 20 minutes like he first said, that’s fine, just communicate it.”

But Melinda, whose husband is an Uber driver, said “careless” passengers were frustrating.

“People can be so careless with their possessions and then expect the drivers to go out of their way for no cost to get their stuff returned,” she said.

Another customer, Andrew, said he offered money after driving 15 minutes to pick up a phone his partner had left behind, but the driver refused.

In the US a $15 fee is charged to customers through the app once a forgotten item is returned.

Uber’s website says “drivers are independent contractors and (the fee) is to compensate them for their time”.

“Neither Uber nor drivers are responsible for the items left in a vehicle after a trip ends. We’re here to help, but we cannot guarantee that a driver has your item or can immediately deliver it to you.”

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