US Couple Said Uber "Charged 600% More" For Ride, Company Responds

A US couple was recently charged $29,994 (approximately Rs 24 lakh) instead of $55 (Rs 4,500) for their Uber ride while they were on vacation in Costa Rica, as per a report in the New York Post (NYP). Douglas Ordonez and his partner Dominique were celebrating their fifth anniversary when they were "left with a negative balance". The incident happened as the cab service made a currency conversion mistake. Instead of charging the fare amount in Costa Rican Colon, the company charged the fee in US Dollars. 

Mr Ordonez took to Twitter on June 30 and said, "Uber charged me $29,994 USD for a Uber ride in Costa Rica. They did not convert that into the Costa Rican currency $54 USD. Altura credit union allowed this charge to process and Uber is not complying. Now I'm in Guatemala with a negative balance on my 5 year anniversary." He shared a screenshot of what appears to be a bank statement which shows a negative balance of $22,697 (approximately Rs 18.7 lakhs). 

The ride-hailing platform replied to him and apologised for the situation. They added that the company has a "specialized team looking into this."

Hey Douglas - so sorry about this situation! We have a specialized team looking into this and we'll be in touch asap.

— Uber Support (@Uber_Support) June 30, 2023

Meanwhile, the couple took to TikTok to narrate their ordeal. Ms Dominique showed screenshots of her transactions and conversations with Uber and Altura, as per NYP. The video was captioned, "@Uber charged me $29,994 for a single ride! Correct conversion should have been $54, but was charged 600% more. She said, "I always use my credit card for international charges. Unfortunately, I was rushing & didn't realize my debit card was attached to my @Uber account."

The couple said that they reached out to Uber and Altura Credit Union for several days. However, the cab-sharing company replied, "(Uber) replied w/'Do not worry,' but did not provide any further assistance. I cannot find a customer service number anywhere. They have ignored my messages & I have only received pre-generated messages. (Altura Credit Union) said there is nothing they can do about it at the moment as I have to wait another 4 days for the amount to possibly convert to the correct amount."

In another video, she explained that the bank stated that it was her fault "because I put a travel notice on my card, and because of that the charge was able to bypass all of the security measures, all of the policies that were in place."

The couple said they were unable to access their funds while they were abroad and had to wait for the bank to fix the problem before continuing their trip.

On July 3, Mr Ordonez posted another update on Twitter and said Altura Credit Union and Uber kept on shifting the blame and the amount was finally adjusted after a long-four day wait. "$29K UPDATE. @AlturaCU and @Uber_Support are blaming each other. @AlturaCU stated that the 29k amount bypassed security & daily charge limit because we put a travel notice. ABSOLUTELY NO REASON why this amount should have cleared. After 4 full days the 29k was finally adjusted," he added.  

$29K UPDATE. @AlturaCU and @Uber_Support are blaming each other. @AlturaCU stated that the 29k amount bypassed security & daily charge limit because we put a travel notice. ABSOLUTELY NO REASON why this amount should have cleared. After 4 full days the 29k was finally adjusted. pic.twitter.com/lMPr76ol18

— Douglas Ordonez (@DOJ_111) July 2, 2023

Further, Ms Dominique informed on TikTok that the charge was reversed and she "ended up getting all my money back", as per the outlet. Uber also informed the outlet, "Ms. Ordonez points out in subsequent posts on Twitter and TikTok, the issue has been resolved with her bank." Altura Credit Union also apologised to the couple via email regarding the conversion mix-up.