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I am still basking in the glow (both literally and figuratively) from my first ever cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Lines mega ship the NCL Joy. I will be blogging all about that sailing over the next few weeks on FrequentFloaters.com but I want to touch on a frustrating side of the land part of the equation.
I stayed at the Hyatt Place near the Miami airport, that also required an Uber from the airport since they no longer offer a free shuttle, and had a lovely Uber XL ride to the ship from my hotel. It ran me about $30 and that is a price I can live with for individual car service and a larger car (it was a van) to get me and my many bags to the ship.
But on the way back from the ship to the airport I had some issues with my first scheduled Uber XL driver. He could not seem to find the Norwegian B terminal (all the ships are all in a row, BTW) and after calling me to tell me he was lost, he canceled the ride.
I have had any number of Uber drivers cancel on me — so, that was not an issue and we had plenty of time to make it to the airport. No stress! But after we were at the airport relaxing in the Delta Sky Club I got this:
Uber charged my credit card a cancellation fee WHEN THE DRIVER CANCELED MY RIDE!
Seriously, Uber? Grrrr…
I have stuck with Uber over all these years because of the Amex Platinum card monthly creditsthe Amex Platinum card monthly credits, the reliability of getting a ride, the decent prices vs. pre-booking with other firms and the over satisfaction with drivers and cars. But this kind of company action really is irritating.
Now I know App credits are fine as I will spend them — but I had to complain to get even that rather than simply the driver cancels and the moment passes in time.
Have you ever been billed a fee when your Uber driver canceled the ride? Have you had it with Uber and are using something else or are you like me stuck with what seems to work the best for now? – René
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I switched to Lyft after they partnered with Chase… I do maybe 4-8 trips a month with them, and I have NEVER looked back.
Are any of them perfect? Nope… Some of that is the shady drivers and riders… Companies (Uber and Lyft) taking a long time to acknowledge the new crafty new ways both Drivers and Riders try and scam the system.
Again, not calling all drivers or all riders shady…. Nor am I defending the companies themselves, but being in tech, from the view of the company in the middle, both sides can sometimes be trying to game the system…. resulting in a not so great experience for both the drivers and riders….
Remember, a few bad apples can destroy the overall experience for everyone….
Yep, have had that happen too. I’ll then look at Lyft and use them when Uber does a Delta on me.
One night in Manhattan, I had just come out of a restaurant and pulled out my phone to check email. An Uber guy pulls up and says that he’ll give me a better price on my ride if I hire him directly and not in the app. I told him that I had not summoned a ride and I was only checking email on my phone. He was persistent and repeated his offer. I repeated that I was just checking email. The guy launched into an expiative filled rant. Then, he sped off.
That interaction left me with a less than positive impression about Uber. If I ever need a ride, I now use the Curb app. In Manhattan, I found that Curb is far superior and there’s no surge pricing.
At the risk of sounding paranoid, do you think the driver was really an Uber driver? Or just trying to get you in his car for some kind of scam?
Thanks for the tip about using Curb in NYC!
Now that you mention it, I guess anyone can buy an Uber window sticker. Interesting.
On a completely different and unrelated note, AA has dropped Saver/Anytime awards and has gone to dynamic award pricing. Partners will have a hard time finding award space on AA. And, on my primary AA route, point prices aren’t looking pretty. We’ll see how things play out over time but that route might need to move over to Delta. Sorry for the tangent topic.
As Chris says below, he may not be affiliated with Uber at all. Actually I’d say there’s a good chance he’s not.
Curb (and Arro) don’t have surge pricing because they use regular yellow (or green) taxi cabs. It’s pretty much the best of both worlds, because it summons the cab to you and you can pre-pay (and have a set price), but the downside is that if you’re somewhere without a lot of cabs, it can take a while to get a ride.
Misery loves company! I had no choice but to switch to Lyft many years ago due to identical treatment. Granted, Lyft is not a global service but Uber had too many shortcomings and outrages for me: 1) My account was frozen without warning or explanation several times and, much like Frontier Air, there’s no telephone number. I had to send a tweet and wait (while stranded at the airprort); 2) I had a driver claim to have attempted to pick me up but actually went to the MCO Departures level rather than Arrivals and charged me a no-show fee. In that case, GPS proved my side of the story but it became clear that rank incompetence and blatant disregard for customer service were the bywords of this company. Good riddance! It’s great to have you blogging more often once again, too!
@Corbett – Thank you your most kind words!
I’ve literally chased an Uber around the block in NYC as he kept moving away from me hoping I would cancel and he’d get paid to NOT drive me anywhere. I’ve had another, also in NYC, parking 6 blocks away and say he was lost. Multiple messages back and forth telling me he couldn’t get to me. I was messaging him back to cancel me, but he refused. It seems like a lot of drivers are trying to get the cancelled ride fees rather than driving…
In MIA my favorite Uber/Lyft trick is that nearly every driver I’ve ever had is “hearing impaired”. Not a single one of my “hearing impaired” drivers has actually had a hearing problem, they simply put this in because they have spoken little to no English. My last driver had just arrived from Venezuela the week before and didn’t speak a word of English beyond “hello.” Fortunately my Spanish was sufficient to get me dropped off at the correct terminal at MIA.
I’ve had similar issues with drivers cancelling and trying to bill. Most work out fine. But, really difficult to get any help or even access to Uber HQ when there are issues or you need them. Like you, stayed with them because of AMEX Platinum – helps justify the giant annual fee, but if i go Lyft, might not be able to justify having both AMEX Platinum and Delta Reserve anymore.
I’ve had similar issues with drivers cancelling and trying to bill. Most work out fine. But, really difficult to get any help or even access to Uber HQ when there are issues or you need them. Like you, stayed with them because of AMEX Platinum – helps justify the giant annual fee, but if i go Lyft, might not be able to justify having both AMEX Platinum and Delta Reserve anymore.
So looking forward to closing my AmEx gold that offers the Uber credits. Uber driver did the same last week while in Ca at the airport he drive up and canceled the trip bc he didn’t like that we were a part of 4 (3A+1c with carry on only) he didn’t want a front seat person. What is warning is that had obviously accepted the ride bc he drove up then changed his mind. I was charged it was a hassle having to request a refund. Really I shouldn’t have to do this, your driver canceled on me! They credited me back but I should not have even been charged. On the contrary if their driver cancels like this they should give the customer a credit. Had the customer cancel like refused the ride one would be charged! The tiles have to work both ways not only be favorable to the business. Called a Lyft ride next and had no issues. I am looking forward to concluding my services with Uber they have stranded me more than once. Post pandemic the prices have increased substantially however the service is now mediocre.
I had a situation with Lyft where the driver accepted the trip but never picked me up. I was going from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami in rush hour. Even though I sent Lyft screen shots from the app showing zero miles and zero minutes elapsed, Lyft insisted the trip occurred, was completed, and that I had to pay for it. After going around in circles with Lyft for half a day, I sarcastically told them while I was sure the driver was good, they weren’t good enough to violate the laws of physics and move me between two South Florida cities with no time passing and no mileage accruing. I ended up filing a stop payment on the charge with my credit card company.
Have had ongoing issues with my Uber account and unable to reset even with re-installment of the app.. SO gave up and now using LYFT with no problems with it but one ride had a dirty car but no other problems. Rene enjoying your comments.
My problem with Uber is that they often DO NOT take the $15 from my Uber Cash (from Amex) first off the top when charging..This has happened at least 3 times. After the error of charging my credit card the full amount, they tell me they cannot reverse it. And you can never talk to a real person. Sucks.
I stopped using Uber years ago for canceling my way to often.