Taxi users ubermad over New Year’s fares

Young Brazilians celebrate New Year’s Day by tumbling into the sea at Boa Viagem beach in Salvador, Bahía, Brazil IT was supposed to end with a hangover, not an overdraft.

But a night of New Year’s revelry ended with a sobering surprise for a Cape Town businesswoman whose taxi ride home cost her more than R5 000, courtesy of online taxi service Uber.

Samantha James of Somerset West said her 2.30am trip home from Camps Bay — a distance of 59km— cost about R86 per kilometre, or R5 066.

“We could have stayed in a five-star hotel for that,” fumed James, who was a first-time Uber user and did not know about the company’s “surge rate” policy which hikes tariffs according to demand.

“I didn’t know what a ‘surge’ was — I thought it was a code to check my name against my credit card,” James said.

Uber customers are alerted to surge rates through a cellphone application, but do not necessarily know the full fare until it is debited to their credit card.

“After the driver dropped us off we were sitting at home guessing what the fare would be,” said James. “My husband said, ‘ What do you think?’ I thought the fare would be about double the normal rate of around R745.

“A few minutes later we heard the ‘beep beep’ of the credit card debit, and saw the total cost. I couldn’t believe it,” James said.

“For me it is not so much about the money . . . It is just not right. They should not be allowed to get away with ripping people off like that,” she said.

Ironically, the couple had spent their ride swapping gushing tributes about the Uber service.

“The driver was great. He arrived in three minutes and we thought it was absolutely awesome. I was so excited the whole way home,” James said.

“I said to my husband this is absolutely unbelievable.” Unfortunately so was the fare. James was not the only Uber casualty on New Year’s eve. The company received a tongue-lashing on social media from other disgruntled customers. One teenager was report- edly charged R2 800 for a trip from Clifton to Muizenberg. Another was charged R630 for a trip from Sea Point to Oranjezicht.

In response the company tweeted a brief explanation of its surge rate policy: “Surge pricing is dynamic. Prices increase incrementally as demand outstrips supply & reduce back to normal when demand decreases.”

Another message read: “Demand is through the roof and surge pricing ensures you’re able to receive a ride exactly when you need one!”

Responding to criticism about New Year’s Eve prices, Uber said in a statement that expected increases had been

A few minutes later we heard the ‘beep beep’ of the credit card debit, and saw the total cost. I couldn’t believe it

clearly communicated to customers. The company’s business model differed from that of other taxi services, partly because it relied on independent drivers.

“Dynamic pricing is communicated repeatedly to a user — and requires confirmation — before the user can request the trip,” the statement said.

“Dynamic pricing is a model that allows users to get a ride when they need it most — especially on the busiest night of the year, New Year’s Eve.

“During times of peak demand — when there are not enough drivers on the system — fares algorithmically increase so as to incentivise more drivers to come onto the platform and help reduce demand,” the statement said.

Founded in 2009, Uber operates in about 200 cities.

James said the company offered her a 20% discount after she expressed her discontent. However, she had not decided whether to accept as she intended to lodge a complaint with consumer authorities.