Uber Fail! Woman Gets Charged $12K for a 35-Minute Ride

Uber definitely took Jaime Hessel for a ride. (Photo: Getty Images)

Uber is supposed to make your life easier, not more frustrating, but that was certainly not the case for Jaime Hessel on March 28th. Her Uber ride quickly turned into an uber nightmare when she got charged about $12K for a drive just under seven miles. 

Hessel got into the car in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and asked her driver to take her to Midtown East, Manhattan—a drive that lasted 35 minutes and 29 seconds, according to Gothamist. It was snowing, so Hessel did acknowledge that there would be a surge in pricing. As they made their way, her driver seemed distracted, and started making both phone calls and wrong turns. When the ride was over, her grand total was $56.40, which she then contested due to the driver’s negligence, claiming that he took more time than necessary to get her to Midtown.

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That’s when her troubles really started. Uber got back to her on April 3rd, explaining that they agreed with her complaint and would credit her account $15 (about one quarter of the actual fare). “They were really quick about it, and I was impressed,” Hessel told Gothamist. “They said, ‘We reviewed it, and you’re right. He definitely took extra time that was unnecessary, we’re going to credit your account $15.”

But when they went to actually do the transaction, they somehow ended up charging her $12,000, instead of refudning her the intended $15. Hessel was understandably disturbed, as evidenced by her email to Uber support:

Jaime Hessel’s email to Uber support. (Photo: Gothamist)

Of course, the overcharge was an accident. The company blames the mistake on a misplaced decimal point, and has since sent Hessel an apology, and refunded her the intended $15. Meanwhile, Hessel’s card was never charged the big amount, because the card they had on file was expired and they would’ve needed her new credit card info anyway.

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Still, Hessel believes that she should at least be refunded the entire cost of the ride. “From what I’ve gone through, I should have gotten the ride for free,” she told Gothamist.

For that reason, Hessel is wary about using Uber again, if nothing else for the inconvenience the whole situation caused her. “I don’t know if I’ll use it again,” she told DNAInfo. “Maybe I’ll do it if it’ll be somebody else’s credit card.” In the meantime, she’ll likely be sticking with basic yellow cabs and the subway in the future.

Hessel may be going back to the basics from now on. (Photo: Thinkstock)

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