Toronto student slapped with $600 Uber charge seeks help with crowdfunding campaign

[Metroplex79]

ARTICLE: Toronto student slapped with $600 Uber charge seeks help with crowdfunding campaign

I don’t feel bad for you. You had to accept two warnings and have fare estimate available as well.

Anyone who has used Uber is probably well aware of its surge prices, which take into affect when rides are in particularly high demand.

Halloween night, for example, would be a perfect example of a night in which a ride with Uber might cost a bit more than it typically would. And, unfortunately, one Toronto student had to learn this lesson the hard way.

After enjoying the Halloween festivities in Toronto’s Entertainment District, the student decided to use the Uber Black service to hitch a ride home to Brampton, a suburb northwest of the city. That was his first mistake.

Being that it was in deed a busy night, the normal fare was hit with a x3.6 surge charge. And as you can see from the picture above, the student, who City News has called Daniel U, had accepted the extra charge at 2:18 that evening. Mistake number two.

The grand total for his late-night ride home: $663. Oof!

In light of this, Daniel U is seeking help with the bill in the form of a Gofundme page, and needless to say, people aren’t exactly queuing up to help the poor guy.

At the time of this story’s publication, the page had only received one donation of $5. It appears that while some might feel bad for Daniel, others don’t have an ounce of sympathy to spare.

“Are you for real?” wrote one commenter on the Gofundme page. “You chose to take Uber, selected the most expensive type of vehicle, accepted a surge charge (which they ask you TWICE to accept) on Halloween and you want us to pay your bill?”

“I don’t feel bad for you,” wrote another. “You had to accept two warnings and have fare estimate available as well.”

Looks like Daniel will have to go back to traditional means of crowdfunding and ask his parents for a little help with the bill.

If you look carefully, his address is still visible.



It's bad to laugh at a poor student, but I was one once, but I never did anything like this.

[MULTIPLEX]

What is Über? Some sort of taxi service?

[Rev]

A spoiled millennial finally learns that actions have consequences. This is a valuable lesson for him.

[Metroplex79]

Originally Posted by MULTIPLEX

What is Über? Some sort of taxi service?

I'm sure someone else can give you a better answer, but the best analogy I can give is:

Ebay = any of the official taxi companies in the city
Craigslist = Uber

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Man, it's shameful when people do stuff like this. It's e-begging for a person who doesn't want to own up to their responsibilities.

This isn't someone in dire need of an operation, or someone through circumstances beyond their control, is getting the short end of the stick from life.

It's some stupid idiot who made a conscious choice, a choice that he could have backed out of at least twice. Now he wants the world to pay for it.

Unfortunately this is a trend I doubt will be going away any time soon.

[Chigimus]

Originally Posted by MULTIPLEX

What is Über? Some sort of taxi service?

It's a taxi alternative. Users download an app for their smartphones which is available on both the Android Marketplace and on Apple's App Store. Once initialized, users can either make themselves available as ride providers or to use the app to look for a ride.

If you choose to be the ride provider, you work for Uber as a driver for them with your own vehicle but on your own time. When you make yourself available to be "on-call", other users of the app looking for a ride will be able to see who's the nearest ride provider. You type in your pick up and drop off locations, the app will calculate the fare, the rider will choose to accept or decline. If accepted, the provider picks up the rider and carries out the taxi service.

Transaction of payment is completed through the app as well. No exchange of currency or use of credit cards are done in-person. Uber retains a fee, and the rest of the fare goes to your bank account or however they set it up for the provider to get paid.

The biggest problem with this business model though is that most users are completely oblivious of how their own car insurance policies would respond if there was an accident. Uber claims they have insurance in place, but it's worded to protect themselves as a company and does not hold itself responsible for the actions of their "volunteer" drivers.

So in other words, whether you use Uber as a driver for them or as a passenger looking for a ride, if an accident happens, it's likely that neither person will be properly covered. For the person who owns the vehicle, the reason why their own insurance won't cover an accident is that working for Uber would have the usage classified as a commercial exposure and most people have a policy written under the personal lines side of the business. The type of coverage (and premium charged) is very different and inadequate for your average joe to be using their own vehicle for Uber purposes. So if you get injured (or worse) while riding with or driving for Uber, you're likely going to be left on your own with a huge loss if an accident happens...

[Gumby]

It's the persons own fault for using Uber in the first place.

[lars573]

So i clicked on that gofundme link and it's gone. Guess gofundme though it wasn't worth while.

Originally Posted by MULTIPLEX

What is Über? Some sort of taxi service?

Yes. It's and app based ride service. That's side stepped most taxi/limo regulations (on driver and vehicle quality). I suspect their free ride () won't last forever though.