What Happens When You Need a Refund on Uber?

Uber route mapLast weekend, I got the surprise pleasure of heading out to Orlando and getting to spend a bit of time at Walt Disney World. Naturally, since I flew out and have still not rented a car in my life, my brief visit consisted of quite a few Uber rides (gotta get that 2% cash back!). As they always have in my experience, most of these went swimmingly… but I did run into one problem.

On Sunday morning, I stood out front of my hotel and requested my ride. Not really knowing my way around Orlando, I thought the route we were taking toward Magic Kingdom looked a bit different but not enough to worry. Moreover, I spent most of my time in the car playing on my phone since my driver was far less chatty than what I’m used to.

Anyway, long story short, we ended up reaching an entrance to Walt Disney World that was blocked off, presumably due to the runDisney marathon being held that morning. After lots of circling and calls made to friends to offer insight, I was finally able to direct the driver back to the proper route and made it to my destination in a mere 95 minutes (it was meant to be a 20 minute ride). While I was surprisingly chill about the whole thing once I made it the park safely, that peace faded when I learned that this roundabout trip cost me $60 instead of the $18 it was initially quoted.

Given that this was my first experience with such a thing, I was relieved to see that there were prompts in the Uber app to request a refund. Unfortunately, me mentioning that the problem with the route involved road closures forced the app to initially deny my request for a refund. However, I was able to scroll down to the “I had a different issue” prompt where I just asked Uber to contact me.

Less than a half hour later, a push notification from the Uber app informed me that the company had e-mailed me. From there, I was able to go into detail about the experience and why I didn’t think the $60 fare was just. Soon after that, they responded with an apology and let me know they had adjusted my fare back to the $18 as I had requested. Being the nice guy that I am and still feeling a bit bad that my driver spent 90 minutes with me for $18, I did still end up tipping him my customary $5 as well.

The moral of the story is, while my issue was fairly minor considering some of the horrific headlines you see from time to time, Uber was very helpful in getting my problem resolved. It’s also worth noting that, while it became all too clear that there was a problem with the route I was on, others paying less attention might have gotten ripped off and not even really known it. That’s why it’s nice to know that there is an easy way to view your route (you can see my craziness up above), fare, and request a refund if you’re Uber ride doesn’t go as planned. Hey — it was still cheaper than a taxi!

Author

Kyle Burbank

Kyle is a freelance writer and author whose first book, "The E-Ticket Life" is now available on Amazon. In addition to his weekly "Money at 30" column on Dyer News, he is also the editorial director and a writer for the Disney fan site LaughingPlace.com and the founder of Money@30.com.

Other Articles by Kyle Burbank

Starbucks Summer Game

Starbucks' Summer Game is Back and You Could Score Free Stars

I feel as though I'm kind of going back to my roots with this week's Quick Tip: discussing a new Starbucks promotion. If you're newer to my site, pre-pandemic, my wife and I would go to Starbucks every weekend as a means of hanging out with our favorite baristas, enjoying...
illustration of a sad woman starring at a wall

Cutting Your Loses: My Brokerage Battle and How I Finally Fixed It

Late last year, word came down that the app Bumped — which allowed customers to earn stock in the companies they made purchases from — was shutting down. As bummed as I was at the time, it turns out that this announcement would only be the start of my troubles....
Sapphire Lounge entrance

Travel Tuesday: Understanding Chase's New Sapphire Lounge

When Chase announced that it was opening a number of airport lounges in partnership with The Club, there were several questions I and others had. At the top of the list, with The Club being a staple of Priority Pass membership, it seemed fair to assume that those with Priority...

Hi my name is Jerry, yesterday I was charged $25.98 for a ride that was approximately (3) miles. I went from 15th st to Chinatown in NYC, I feel that there was an error made and I’ll appreciate you looking into this matter because I feel like i’m entitled to a partial refund, thank you in advance for your understanding

Hey Jerry, sorry to hear about your issue. Unfortunately, this site is in no way affiliated with Uber so I can’t help you out. I’d try going into your Uber app, selecting your ride, and filing a complaint that way. Good luck!

Comments are closed.

The "Email" field is empty, you must enter some text to proceed.The text you entered in the "Email" field appears to be invalid, please edit it and try again
Get Posts in Your Inbox
Featured Articles
Starbucks Summer Game

Starbucks' Summer Game is Back and You Could Score Free Stars

I feel as though I'm kind of going back to my roots with this week's Quick Tip: discussing a new Starbucks promotion. If you're newer to my site, pre-pandemic, my wife and I would go to Starbucks every weekend as a means of hanging out with our favorite baristas, enjoying...
illustration of a sad woman starring at a wall

Cutting Your Loses: My Brokerage Battle and How I Finally Fixed It

Late last year, word came down that the app Bumped — which allowed customers to earn stock in the companies they made purchases from — was shutting down. As bummed as I was at the time, it turns out that this announcement would only be the start of my troubles....
Sapphire Lounge entrance

Travel Tuesday: Understanding Chase's New Sapphire Lounge

When Chase announced that it was opening a number of airport lounges in partnership with The Club, there were several questions I and others had. At the top of the list, with The Club being a staple of Priority Pass membership, it seemed fair to assume that those with Priority...
TD Clear Visa Card

TD Bank Has a Pretty Dumb New Idea for a Credit Card Product

Doing what I do, I've seen several new credit card products come down the pike in recent years. Some of these are fairly boring (like 2% flat rate cards — they have a use but they're not exciting), others as more interesting but not for me (see: Ness Card), and...