Undoubtedly the biggest global transportation technology company around the world, Uber has been my travel partner anytime I visited the national capital of Ghana, Accra until my recent terrible experience.
I mean, how I was ‘forced’ by the company to pay a 5 cedis penalty for a cancelled trip after a driver stood me up for several minutes without any hint of his location still beats my mind.
My story
On Friday December 8 2017 at about 15:00GMT, I requested a ride after visiting a friend in Labone. As usual, an Uber driver called and asked exactly where I was. I gave him a landmark which he told me was not too far from where he was and that he would arrive in just a minute.
I quickly exchanged pleasantries with my friend so I could leave and not keep the driver waiting. Perhaps, I should have sat for a little longer. I moved out and saw no car. A minute turned 10 and more. I wondered where exactly the driver was an decided to place a call through. At both calls, I was told the phone had been switched off.
I had no option than to cancel the trip and find a normal taxi that was driving by. Minutes after hopping into a taxi, I receive a call from the Uber driver who apologizes and tells me he had network challenges and that he’s on his way. As calmly as I could be, I took a deep breathe and told him I had cancelled the trip and jumped into a new car. He apologized again and hanged up.
Minutes later, almighty Uber sends me a notification that I was required to pay a 5 cedis penalty for cancelling the trip. Like seriously? For standing me up for several minutes? Did I not deserve an apology rather just as the driver did instead of a 5 cedis penalty?
Well, I thought this was no serious issue and I could report to get it resolved until I tried to use the service later in the evening.
There was no way I could use the service without paying the 5 cedis penalty. I mean how could they FORCE me to pay a penalty for something I didn’t cause?
I had no option since I needed a ride urgently to attend another meeting. A trip that actually cost 27.56 cedis at request had me paying 32.56 cedis since I chose the only option available to me and that was paying the penalty to the next ride.
In a quest to find answers to this from Uber, I sent out a tweet inquiring why I needed to pay a penalty of that amount. (Mind you, I don’t have a problem dishing out 5 cedis but the mere fact that I am the one to be apologized to in this case for standing me up in the scorching sun.)
Dear @Uber @Uber_Support why do I need to pay a GHc5 penalty simply because a Driver overly delayed, had his phone off and I cancelled a trip? Ain't you supposed to compensate me instead for wasting time?
— The Youth President (@nydjlive) December 8, 2017
As diplomatic as Uber support via Twitter could be, the account manager asked that I sent my email address via DM so they could attend to the issue. I did just that hoping something could be done before my next Uber ride but I don’t know when exactly, that could be resolved.
We're here to help! Send us a DM with your email address so we can assist.
— Uber Support (@Uber_Support) December 8, 2017
Thank you for providing your information. We’re currently looking into this and will follow up shortly.
— Uber Support (@Uber_Support) December 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/Ubertruther/status/939171106417623041
It’s been several hours since the report and perhaps I would have to wait till old age for any resolution to be made just as a tweep shared with me after sending the DM to Uber support. (Check the gif above)
Funny enough, I’m not the only person to have suffered from this experience as others shared their experience on my timeline on Twitter.
So I cancelled my trip and pick a taxi and was charged for that another day for it
— MR.AMEGAH-OWENS (@OCedrych) December 8, 2017
I have encountered more than five times, I was supposed to show up for a friend's movie premiere and time was against me
— MR.AMEGAH-OWENS (@OCedrych) December 8, 2017
I encountered the same problem and haven't used their service again
— Kobby Mendel Tumfour (@ktumfour) December 8, 2017
Same thing happened to my 2 aunts so they have deleted the app lol
— Pistis (@angeley_adwoa) December 8, 2017
Like I stated earlier, paying the 5 cedis penalty was not a problem for me but imagine the number of people who might have had the same terrible experience. Obviously, there must be a way to curb people cancelling requested trips anyhow but must it be this way?
Have you ever had such an experience with Uber? Do share with me in the comment session below.
