Uber passenger calls out Uber driver’s ‘greedy’ fee trick

An Uber passenger has warned users of the app against following what is often a costly direction from the company’s driver-partners.

Uber drivers have adopted an exploitative tactic that involves pressuring passengers into paying expensive cancellation fees, an upset customer has alleged.

By messaging passengers requesting they cancel their ride, drivers try to pass on the fee – typically about $8 – to people they can no longer service.

By doing so, they leave passengers with little choice but to cancel the trip in order to book another one, oftentimes exposing them to increased fare prices.

The issue was raised this week by a passenger who was asked by an Uber driver to cancel a trip they booked in Brisbane on Monday.

“Hi sorry it’s [a] long way it’s not worth with fuel price please cancel it thanks,” read a private message from the driver, uploaded by the passenger to Facebook.

The passenger responded by telling the driver he was not comfortable cancelling the ride because it was going to set him back $8 on top of a replacement ride.

“You cancel please mate, it won’t cost you anything – I’d rather not spend $8 on a cancellation and plus the surge price when I need to get home. Thank you for understanding,” his response read.

An Uber passenger didn’t want to cancel the ride because of the $8 fee. Picture: Facebook

He later warned fellow Uber customers against getting caught out having to pay cancellation fees for rides they didn’t actually want to cancel.

“Just a tip for anyone catching Ubers. Reject drivers trying to exploit the system,” he said.

“If you do what they say and cancel, you’ll pay the cancellation fee, and then the same trip would almost double because of ‘surge pricing’ due to supply being less than demand.

“These greedy drivers need to stick to taxis.”

Other Uber users claimed they had previously paid a cancellation fee because their driver could no longer complete their trip.

“I’ve had this happen in Melbourne, we got in the Uber and he said, ‘if you guys just want to pay cash, I’ll do it cheaper’, so I was like yeah cool [and cancelled the ride]. I’d had a few drinks and didn’t even think about the cancellation fee. Worked out more expensive. Dodgy,” one wrote in a comment.

Someone else claimed they got charged “for an entire trip one time I didn’t even take”.

Others argued the problem was rampant across the whole industry, and they had experienced similar issues with standard taxi drivers.

An Uber spokesperson said drivers didn’t earn money on trips they accept and then reject before starting.

“If a driver-partner cancels a trip, for example because after accepting they realise they’re driving in the opposite direction to the pick-up location, Uber’s platform matches a new driver-partner with the rider,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.

The driver was only nine minutes away when they asked that the trip be cancelled. Picture: Facebook

While Queensland driver-partners can see the rider’s trip fare before the trip starts, they must be part of the Gold tier Uber Pro driver-partner program to see the duration and direction of a trip before accepting it.

“We are conscious of the impact increased demand has on the rider experience, and we’re focused on doing more to make sure the platform can meet rider expectations. This includes addressing situations where a ride did not go as smoothly as they would have liked, and actively looking for new drivers to partner with to meet demand,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re also proactively letting driver-partners know about the negative impact cancellations can have on the experience of riders and other driver-partners.”

In instances where drivers cancel a trip, the app will automatically match the rider with a new driver.

Riders are only charged a cancellation fee if they cancel a ride more than five minutes after they have matched with a driver, with the time restarting if a driver cancels and is replaced.

News.com.au understands technology built into the app is designed to not charge riders a cancellation fee in certain instances, like if the driver is running late, currently dropping off another rider or has not made progress towards the pick-up location.

Riders have the option to dispute a cancellation fee in the app by opting for the charge to be reviewed.

They have also been encouraged to report activity they believe to be fraudulent.

Drivers could be permanently banned from the app if they caught out for something serious or repeated bad behaviour.