Here’s a story for anyone who ever takes an Uber ride at the end of a particularly heavy night out.
The advice, if the story of one Kenneth Bachman is anything to go by, is to make absolutely sure you’ve requested the correct destination for your ride. Because a simple slip up could cost you big.
Kenneth, from Gloucester County, New Jersey, was out partying last weekend with friends in Morgantown, West Virginia. Apparently intending to stay at accommodation nearby, he requested an Uber ride and … well, he doesn’t remember too much after that.
What he does remember is waking up in an Uber car. That’s the good news. The bad news — for Kenneth, that is — was that he was already several hours into a five-hour trip back to his home in Gloucester County. Three hundred miles away.
“Basically, I kinda just blacked out,” Kenneth told CBS Philly. “The last thing I remember was being at the bar and then I just woke up in the Uber.”
Not wanting to be dropped off by the side of the road in the middle of the night, he figured he and his hangover may as well go all the way home.
The fare reached an eye-watering $1,635, partly because of surge pricing and partly because he’d accidentally ordered one of Uber’s larger XL cars instead of a regular UberX. But mostly because it was a 300-mile ride apparently selected in error by a crocked Kenneth.
The New Jersey man later disputed the fare with Uber, saying he never would’ve ordered a ride taking him hundreds of miles, but he’s since dropped the claim, according to NJ.com.
With his head now clear, Kenneth is making preparations to return to Morgantown to pick up his bags. If he wants to save himself a few bucks this time around, he can walk there in 105 hours or cycle in 36. Or try hitchhiking.
Kenneth’s sorry tale reminded us of another recent episode where an Uber rider was hit with an even bigger fare for a journey that lasted just 20 minutes. Toronto-based Hisham Salama was charged an absurd 18,518.50 Canadian dollars (about $14,400) for the ride, but in this particular case Uber admitted there had been an error and refunded the rider.
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