A couple from the US, who was in Guatemala for a vacation, was charged $29,994 (about Rs 24 lakh) for one Uber ride. The app-based cab service made a mistake in conversion and instead of charging the amount in Costa Rican Colón (which would have amounted to $55 or Rs 4,500), charged the fee in US dollars. The husband, Douglas Ordonez, realised the mistake when his transaction was declined because of insufficient funds when he was out to get a coffee in Guatemala.
Speaking to Business Insider, Ordonez revealed that they were on vacation to celebrate their fifth anniversary, and the Uber ride was booked by his wife Dominique Adams.
"I got the notice of insufficient funds and I knew we had money in the account, so I tried it again, and it said the same thing too. Then I checked my bank account and that's when I saw the 29,000 US dollar charge," Ordonez told the publication.
Adams said, "I took the Uber, everything was fine, I got the receipt emailed to me, and then that next morning is when we both realised that I was actually charged in US dollars."
The incident left the couple in a cash crunch for the rest of the trip because it was charged to their debit card.
"That's the worst way you could possibly start your 5-year anniversary, to have to deal with this and then in the back of my mind, try to enjoy everything else that's going on, knowing that this pressing matter should be resolved as soon as possible," Ordonez told Business Insider.
"I think we both kind of felt just completely helpless," Adams added. "Obviously, I knew that it was a mistake, but it's still shocking when you see that on your account and especially for that amount."
The couple said that the matter was resolved in a few days and the money was refunded but the incident put them off using the app especially because of how patchy their communication with Uber's customer care was.
"I will probably never use Uber ever again just knowing that their customer service is really horrible," Adams said.
Meanwhile, in a statement to the publication, Uber stated that it takes time for a refund to be processed, and can depend on individual bank policies.
"At Uber, we take every report seriously. As soon as we received the user's report, our support team promptly addressed the issue and released the authorization hold mistakenly applied due to a bank error in Dollars and not in Colones," a spokesperson told the publication.
Read more: When Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra had to hail an Uber ride
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