Uber calls TikTok user’s theory that phone battery affects trip prices ‘completely false’

TikTok user Tony Aubé created a stir online by speculating that Uber was jacking up prices for some of its customers. The company has responded.

Uber has labelled a wild theory that it squeezes more money out of customers with low phone batteries “completely false”.

TikTok user Tony Aubé created something of a stir online last week by showing how the projected cost of a journey differed significantly between one of his phones with a full charge and another that was about to go flat.

The trip, in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, cost $8.10 on the phone with a full battery and almost 20 per cent more at $9.69 on the one that was dying.

Mr Aubé speculated that the company knew customers were “desperate” for a lift when their phone was flat, and strategically used that fact to exploit them.

“This is just so evil. I bet the guy who thought of that got a promotion,” he said.

A TikTok user has shared a wild theory about Uber pricing. Picture: TikTok/tony.aube

Mr Aubé encouraged viewers to make sure they charged their phones before trying to book a ride with Uber to avoid having to pay more - but they weren’t convinced he was right.

Of almost 900 people to comment on the video, several doubted the legitimacy of the theory, with one pointing out that Uber prices changed rapidly relative to demand.

Mr Aubé said he tested his theory four times in a 30-minute period and noticed the same trend repeat itself.

He claimed the same price showed up three times in a row after the phone with less than 10 per cent battery tried booking a trip.

In another reply, he confirmed that both phones tried booking a trip at the same time while logged into different accounts.

One person responded to the video claiming they worked for Uber and knew it had the capacity to check the battery percentage of phones.

Still, many doubted battery life had anything to do with Uber’s prices and called on Mr Aubé to test the theory more thoroughly.

Mr Aubé said his Uber pricing theory was “evil”. Picture: TikTok/tony.aube

“A better way to prove this would be to gather more people at the same time with different battery percentages and test it out,” one person wrote.

Another suggested it could have been the two phones ordering from the same location simultaneously that increased the price for one of them.

“Would love to see more testing on that. It could also be that you made two requests at the same time, increasing demand and therefore increasing rates,” they wrote.

A spokesperson for Uber Australia said the TikTok user’s theory was “completely false”.

“This is completely false. A user’s mobile phone battery has no impact on the price of their trip,” they told news.com.au.

“Uber provides every single rider certainty about the cost of their rides on our platform thanks to Upfront Pricing. As the name suggests, riders are able to see the total cost of a trip from their location to a destination before booking a ride.

“There are occasions when the cost of riding is higher than usual. This happens when demand from riders exceeds the supply of drivers-partners. In such situations, riders are still given an upfront price before they request their ride, giving them the freedom to decide if they want to use the platform.”

Originally published as Uber calls TikTok user’s theory that phone battery affects trip prices ‘completely false’