20/07/2024
A reason not to use Uber.
RIDESHARE GIANT UBER DISAPPOINTS WITH FUEL SURCHARGE
Joseph Lam
Uber will still slug customers with a fuel surcharge even if they select the company’s electric vehicle option if their driver arrives in a hybrid vehicle.
The fees have caused quite a stir in recent weeks, with customers of the world’s largest rideshare being stung for fuel after a glitch applied “temporary fuel surcharges” on vehicles that run on electricity.
Those fees, which have now been refunded, were handed out across the nation with Anna Vo, who lives in Brisbane and often chooses Uber Green, refunded 36c last week after receiving an incorrect charge. In Melbourne, Felicia Coco was also refunded 26c after being wrongfully charged despite riding in an electric vehicle. In Sydney, Atlassian Futurist Dominic Price was also wrongfully charged and has been charged on several occasions after Uber claimed to have fixed the glitch.
Mr Price said that even two weeks after Uber said it had fixed the glitch he was still being charged the fuel surcharge despite only choosing Uber Green services.
“That’s two weeks ago. Every Uber trip I’ve taken since has been Uber Green and every one has a fuel surcharge. Not much, but it’s the point that counts,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
“And there is no way through the riddle of “Help” menus in the app, to query this. Zero.”
Mr Price, like many customers who were wrongfully charged, received surcharges to the amount of less than a dollar.
But it’s the inconvenience and the fact that customers were being charged for what is being offered as a travel option that is better for the environment which appears to have affected customers most.
Mr Price described the Uber issue as a lesson in “how customer service goes wrong”.
“Do you write an email and chase 22c? Is this Uber equivalent of late fees. Making money for nothing and pi***ng off your customers? Should I not care?” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Many consumers who chose “greener” options including rideshare trips are often doing so at a premium or at an inconvenience to themselves, such is the case with rideshare services and a significantly lower number of electric vehicles available to complete trips.
Uber said its fuel surcharge goes directly to its drivers and that when it discovered the glitch applying the charge on trips in EVs, it paid refunds out of its own pocket.
“Due to a technical error, a temporary fuel surcharge was incorrectly applied to some Uber trips that took place in an electric vehicle. The surcharge only applies to trips completed in vehicles that consume petrol, including hybrids,” a spokesman said.
“As soon as we became aware of this issue, we took steps to fix the error and refund impacted riders as quickly as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and can confirm this error has been fully resolved within the Uber app.” The glitch arrives as many Australian consumers are already concerned about green washing – a process when companies market or publicise their products as being better for the environment than they actually are. The Australian is not suggesting Uber is greenwashing its services. While Uber claims to have fixed the glitch, it has confirmed to The Australian that the same fee will still be applied to customers who chose Uber Green but are picked up by a driver in a hybrid vehicle. Similarly customers who order Uber’s regular services but are picked up in an electric vehicle will not pay the fuel surcharge.
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