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    DentontheinsideJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:35pm

    you know, I know that objectively the same risk of sketchy violence exists in Cab’s or Uber Cars, but Jesus the shit they try to pull with this “Surge” pricing.

    I had a stealth Uber attempt in Boston a month ago. Waiting for a Cab to go to a Celtics game from South station. For those not familiar, this is a very short cab ride, you can expect a cabbie to hit you for about 10 bucks, 15 after tip.

    A bunch of us are waiting and this guy in a peacoat walks up and says “I have a Cab free over here” Great! my friends and I start heading that way. Halfway over I ask “where’s the Cab?” and he says “oh, im with Uber” ok i think, no problem “I’ve never taken Uber before, what is the ride going to cost?” I ask as we start to get in.

    “90 dollars”

    Wait, what?

    “uh...that seems a little high to take us a few blocks.” says my naive ass

    “Look man, It’s a busy Thursday night, you wanna fight with everyone for a Cab and miss the game, or get in the fucking car?”

    We got a cab 5 minutes later, made Tipoff with time to spare for the low, low cost of 16 bucks.

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      lilplatinumdrDentontheinside
      4/21/15 5:43pm

      If he picked you up or quoted you a fare, he wasn’t an Uber driver (or was an uber driver trying to moonlight on his own).

      Then again, everything else is stupid and broken in Boston so maybe it works differently from everywhere else there too.

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      Tucker973Dentontheinside
      4/21/15 5:44pm

      Um, well, since that simply isn’t how Uber works at all, that was just some random shady guy. You said you’re not familiar with Uber, so I understand the confusion, but you need to use the app to request rides. Drivers don’t just wander around trolling people like that. It’s a good thing you didn’t get in the car, because that was not an Uber driver.

      I’m not saying Uber doesn’t suck for its own reasons, but your anecdote is not related to Uber.

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    Ned FreyJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:58pm

    Who are all these people posting comments here claiming that it’s NO BIG DEAL that Uber tried to bill this woman $16,000?

    That is a very big deal. That’s totally fucked up — even if it was caused by a “clerical error.” The fact that she couldn’t get anyone to respond to her complaint, or acknowledge there was a problem, after such an outrageous billing snafu is simply astonishing.

    Who are all you people commenting here — Uber employees? Did the company instruct all of its workers to create Gawker accounts and come post here or something?

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      meowmeownowNed Frey
      4/21/15 6:08pm

      i think yes. there is no way that this many people are genuinely furious about “Uber’s at it again!” posts.

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      dvdoffNed Frey
      4/21/15 6:14pm

      But the end users love Uber!

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    NefertittiesJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:35pm

    Uber is going to be the new vaginal mesh of class actions. It was fun while it lasted, vaginal mesh, but you knew your spotlight was dimming...

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      BrballadNefertitties
      4/21/15 6:13pm

      So someone in this thread works for Uber

      Hey uber what's the going rate to AstroTurf?

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    MeSoStuanchyJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:31pm

    The company has since informed Gothamist that they’re refunding the entire cost of her ride

    So, what’s the point of this article? A company made an error and fixed it? Gawker’s hard on for Uber continues

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      DarthPumpkinMeSoStuanchy
      4/21/15 5:41pm

      Well, there was the whole thing about the crazy Uber driver who reversed down an onramp, missed turns, and sat around for five minutes.

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    nwembedJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:31pm

    I understand this is ridiculous - and I can’t say I would use Uber anyway - but this is just a screwup with a credit card that any company could make. It’s a Gawker version of the clickbait story about that $62K beanie baby.

    She’s obviously not ever going to pay $12K for a taxi ride - it’s silly for anyone to even take this seriously. You don’t even complain to the company in a case like this. Call your credit card company, dispute the charge, end of story - yeah, it’s probably best to put your disagreement on the record in the form of a complaint call, but you’re not really going to have to do too much else.

    In most cases of screw-ups, the credit card company itself will fix things like this - they have no interest in abetting these mistakes.

    Uber charges weird prices for normal, so that’s what to pay attention too...not outlier cases like this.

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      howdoeskinjawork77nwembed
      4/21/15 5:32pm

      Thank you. Just call Amex and they’d never let the charge go through.

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      howdoeskinjawork77nwembed
      4/21/15 5:34pm

      Also, that “car ride from hell” sounds like the typical uber experience. Drivers are rude, don’t know where they are going, and take you on stupid routes. She should have complained, but really, “car ride from hell” sounds more like “unpleasant experience.”

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    dothedewJay Hathaway
    4/21/15 5:29pm

    the “car ride from Hell”

    Richard Lewis would like his royalty check please.

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      SoapBoxcarWillieJay Hathaway
      4/21/15 6:40pm

      It always bothers me when something bad happens with the Uber ride, or at the most extreme, the ride basically never happens because: 1) the driver shows up at the wrong address, 2) the car isn’t clean, 3) you get in, but the driver has no idea where anything is or refuses to make multiple stops, so you get out before the car goes anywhere 4) any one of the million other things that can go wrong, and Uber still charges your card. Then when you complain, they issue you a credit for the amount rather than just refunding the charge.

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        InternetDoctorMDSoapBoxcarWillie
        4/21/15 7:06pm

        That’s reason enough not to use them.

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      FugazyJay Hathaway
      4/21/15 6:31pm

      I wouldn’t take an Uber with your dick.

      I refuse to patronize any of the bullshit “share economy” dotcoms that skirt labor, housing, and safety laws to abuse workers and subject people to dangerous situations.

      If I need a ride, I take a cab. If I need a place to stay, I book a hotel room.

      Fuck Travis Kalanick. Fuck Brian Chesky.

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        yoyoyomamamamamamaJay Hathaway
        4/21/15 5:33pm

        Uber is the gift that keeps on giving. Meanwhile, people in Wyoming read on with detached bemusement.

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          PBMCJay Hathaway
          4/21/15 5:33pm

          Uber Tried to Charge a Passenger $12,000 because of a technical flaw caused by an expired credit card

          Not such a sexy headline now, is it?

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            BostonTerrorPBMC
            4/21/15 6:24pm

            Um please explain how the credit card caused itself to be charged 12,000 or whatever number that was, because I am pretty sure thats not what happened.

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