Update, 12 December at 2pm
Uber has issued a response about the incident that took place over the weekend. Samantha Allenberg from Uber said, “We are deeply committed to the safety of all who use the Uber platform. Upon learning of this, our incident response team who are trained to deal with any critical safety issues were already in contact with the rider to offer our support.”
“As a general point of principle, if there is any allegation of wrongdoing by a driver using Uber they are immediately prevented from accessing the app until an investigation can be concluded.”
Initial Report, 11 December at 10am
According to reports, a woman had a harrowing experience after using the Uber service earlier this week.
The woman who wished to remain anonymous stated that she found something was amiss when she realised that her usual trip home, that lasts about 38km, and takes about 35 minutes, was actually on 49km and was still about 10km away from her home.
The woman acted swiftly, sensing danger and jumped out of the vehicle at a traffic light and approached three female security guards near a boom gate near OR Tambo.
Click here to read: Uber suspects let go
It is reported that the woman requested the driver through Uber to take her home from Sandton at 10.25pm. He drove to Woodmead, Edenvale, back to Sandton, then to Jet Park and the airport, where she got out at about 11.23pm.
The security guards at the airport then assisted the woman by getting another taxi for her.
However, things turned sour, after agreeing a fee with the new driver of R100. As she approached home, the diver then raised the fee to R150.
Also read: Uber suspects rearrested
The woman told the Kempton Express, “As soon as we approached my street, he said he wanted R150 cash, which I did not have on me. I started getting scared. I told him we agreed on R100 but also questioned the fact why he did not want to use official channels. I had security and the groundkeeper fight him off because he wanted his photos deleted – more so than receiving his ill gained R100. I ask you, Uber, how dare you charge me R413 for a trip I couldn’t cancel in an emergency, not forgetting his stop at a petrol station to fill up on my trip, only for me to tell him he was driving the wrong route?”
This is a developing story, updates will follow.
Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.
Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here, or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.
