Problem with Uber Driver

[nuclearshark]

Hello folks,

 

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong sub forum for this. Please move if it's in the wrong place.

 

This evening I hired an Uber after seeing a film in a local Cinema. The App advised me a driver was 20 minutes away, which was plenty of time to grab a takeaway to eat when I got home. The driver accepted the job and knowing the takeaway takes 9 minutes to process my order thought it would work out perfectly.

 

20 minutes came and went and then I had a phone call from the driver telling me he was not willing to do the job as he wanted to go back to the city he was based and was "not prepared to do the job if he had to drive 10 minutes in the opposite direction for a 7.00 Fare"

 

Whilst I can understand the business sense in that having run my own IT Business in the past, I was left at a loss as to why he took the job to begin with and then choose to wait 20 minutes until telling me he wasn't prepared to do it. If he didn't want to do the job he should not have taken it to begin with OR told me straight away!

 

On the phone the driver was incredibly rude and I did try and say he made an commitment and he needed to honor the journey. just like if I buy a train ticket, the rail company must get me to the destination on said ticket. However the driver was having absolutely none of it and hung up without an apology.

 

After much frustration with the App an Uber appeared from nearby and collected me but this was some 40 minutes later and by which time my food was completely cold. As I did not have a plastic knife and folk I couldn't eat my food while waiting.

 

Needless to say I am disappointed with having to wait nearly an hour for a 2 mile journey, and getting a cold meal and wish to make a complaint so the driver is educated not to take jobs he's not prepared to do. I also would like my account set so I don't get that driver again.

 

However I'm struggling to find where to start with a complaint as Uber's complaints procedure seems very unclear to me. I've found a place to "Report a Serious Incident" however I wouldn't deem my issue to be serious compared to an accident in their vehicles or worse...

 

Ideally I'd like a refund for the journey and compensation for my cold meal which amounts to 5.89 and 8.95 retrospectively. Do you think this is reasonable and where do you advise I should start please?

 

I want to be clear I'm not after masses of compensation. However as someone who cannot drive due to disability, It is extremely frustrating to have to rely on services such as Uber or local Taxi companies who are not prepared to honor their commitments.

 

Could anyone advise me what they think would be reasonable, give then above situation and circumstances?

 

Thanks,

 

Shark

[king12345]

Unfortunately you'll have to follow uber complaint procedure.

I bet that they have something in their t&c about not being responsible for drivers not turning up.

In fact, uber drivers are self employed as far as I know.

Next time use a local mini cab company.

The controller will get you a driver who will definitely do the job instead of think about it and then leave you stranded.

[sangie5952]

In fact the employment status of Uber drivers is in question at the moment, although it won't help you right now - arguing with the company is going to take more effort than I suspect it is worth. As someone who is also disabled (although I can drive there are sometimes reasons why it isn't practical or possible), I second the suggestion that you use a local company. Although only am occasional customer, my local company remember who I am, and on the one occasion when I screwed up (not them) by forgetting that my hospital appointment whilst I was unable to drive fell on Eid - when our taxi services nigh on close totally - they made sure that I got a driver in time by chasing someone out who wasn't even working just to do one job!

[nuclearshark]

I've made a complaint with Uber and requested a copy of their complaints procedure. They have refused to provide it thus far claiming it's an internal policy document and cannot disclose.

 

With regards to my request for compensation for delay and cold meal. They have written this and I quote verbatim:

 

We appreciate that you have asked for compensation, however, rather than offer good will gestures, we would reassure riders that we are doing everything to prevent such instances from occurring in the future. We do understand that this is probably not the answer you would have liked so we do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

 

Now I don't know about anyone else... But that says it all really... This has (for me anyway) done the exact opposite and made me feel like they've brushed the complaint to one side.

 

I agree it's probably more effort than it's worth. But I want to continue this through on the principle that if I was a customer who failed to turn up, they would no doubt charge me a cancellation fee or some other form of admin fee. So should the customer be paid compensation for a no show? I think that's fair and i'm not asking for 100s of pounds.

 

So should I complain to Passenger Focus or Trading Standards?

 

Using a local company is indeed an option however I try and avoid this as they are just as unreliable and their controller is irritatingly unhelpful. Not to mention they are also 3x times the price of an Uber after 22:30. But there is that saying of "You get what you pay for"

 

The town I used to live in (having only very recently just moved) has an excellent company who always went out of their way to accommodate. Had I have known what the local company here was like, I almost certainly would have reconsidered another town.

[honeybee13]

Passenger Focus is for train, bus and tram passengers, NS.

 

Can I ask what outcome you're looking for please?

 

HB

[nuclearshark]

Hi Honeybee,

 

I wanted Uber to cover my costs of a wasted takeaway meal after leaving me stranded for 1 hour and to offer the cost of the Uber that eventually picked me up. I'm happy to accept the hit of the £5.89 fare as I'd have paid that anyway. However having a takeout meal that I then had to throw away just seems like a sour deal to me. That amounted to £8.95.

 

I'd feel much more like that took this seriously than just being palmed off with a template email.

 

NS.

 

*editted to add, I'd also like Uber to blacklist this driver from my account so I don't have my jobs allocated to him in the future.

[king12345]

Hi Honeybee,

 

I wanted Uber to cover my costs of a wasted takeaway meal after leaving me stranded for 1 hour and to offer the cost of the Uber that eventually picked me up. I'm happy to accept the hit of the £5.89 fare as I'd have paid that anyway. However having a takeout meal that I then had to throw away just seems like a sour deal to me. That amounted to £8.95.

 

I'd feel much more like that took this seriously than just being palmed off with a template email.

 

NS.

 

*editted to add, I'd also like Uber to blacklist this driver from my account so I don't have my jobs allocated to him in the future.

 

So after this experience you will still use uber.

Doesn't make sense.

They left you stranded and you wanna give them more business???

Local minicab companies are easily found on google and surely they don't charge more than uber.

[nuclearshark]

Sadly where I live they do charge more than an Uber after 22:30 - The journey home costs around £6.00 with an Uber and a local firm charge at least £11.00 and on 2 - 3 occasions the drivers have tried (and failed) to overcharge.

 

Not to mention there is only 1 large firm open in the evening here and their controller is useless and has caused me to miss 3 trains this month alone. That said on 2 occasions where I had a booked train only ticket they did reimburse me the cost of the rail fare.

 

There is another company who are very helpful but they don't open in the evening on Friday and Saturday and all day Monday. I've started using this firm when I can and I always get the same driver which helps.

 

With regards to Uber. I don't particularly want to give them my business at all after this. Infact I'm dead against it. However I do need to make the best of a bad situation.

 

In their last email they've told me I've reached the highest level of customer support and invited me to commence legal proceedings if I'm unhappy with the outcome.

 

That said their most recent email really does say it all. They can charge us a cancellation fee if we don't turn up. However when they don't turn up it's tough luck...

 

I'll probably have a rant to their CEO and Trading Standards. I also paid via PayPal so I am tempted to chargeback the amount paid for that journey and see what happens.

 

I can see your viewpoint that it's bizarre that I would use Uber again after this experience and I do honestly question myself for considering it. However there is a certain airline and railway company who's names I won't mention who have left me in even worse situations. To this day I continue to use both as I don't have a choice if I need to get to the areas they serve.

[nuclearshark]

Just a quick follow up. After sending an email to the Chief Executive I received a phone call from Uber. They have agreed the situation was a poor experience and that it should never have happened. They also agreed that if the situation was the other way around I would be liable for cancellation fees and that was unacceptable.

 

They have refunded the £5.89 journey fee for the journey and are following up with an internal investigation to see if they can refund the £8.95

 

Whilst not 100% what I was after, I feel this goes a considerable way to resolving the issue to satisfaction.