‘This is why I deleted Uber’: Customer books $12 Uber. Then they charged her $23 instead

Photo byNatee Meepian/Shutterstock @yomrants/Tiktok

‘Use Lyft it’s always 3-10$ cheaper.’ This rider says Uber charged her double what she agreed to pay. Commenters urge her to use Lyft instead.

“Why is Uber just allowed to charge however much they want and no one questions them about anything ever?” TikToker Myah Elliott (@yomrants), who has nearly half a million followers, said.

In a video, Elliott explained that it was almost midnight and she had missed her bus. So she decided to book an Uber.

The app said it would be $12 for a 12-minute ride, which was fine by Elliott.

But the next morning, Elliott is taken aback when she sees her Uber receipt the next morning.

She said they charged her nearly double the original cost.

“As a result of expenses associated with California’s commercial auto insurance requirements, the Booking Fee has increased,” the receipt stated.

Elliott assumed the increase would mean a few extra bucks, not double the price.

“Why is this auto instance expense not included when I paid for the Uber initially,” she asked.

Elliott expressed her heightened frustration due to her inability to communicate directly with an individual regarding the issue and contest the accusation.

Furthermore, Elliott's nationality is Canadian, which means the fare, considering the exchange rate, would probably have been around $31-$35 for a 12-minute journey.

As of Sunday, the trending video had accumulated around 15,000 views.

What is this charge?

The NewsBreak searched online for a clear explanation of this charge that is specific to California, but all they discovered was a Reddit post discussing the issue. No news reports have gone into detail about this, and Uber's site doesn't highlight the difference between California and other states.

The Reddit post revealed that other passengers have encountered this additional fee after agreeing to the ride at a lower price.

One Redditor, who travels to Los Angeles often, said that they’ve noticed a jump in Uber costs within the last year.

“Noticed my rides along the same routes I usually take have been significantly more expensive since the last time I was here in July, and just today noticed the increased fee message on my receipts,” they wrote. “Last night I got charged a $20 booking fee for what would have been a $31 trip.”

Many agreed that the booking fee was too high. Others said their main issue is that Uber doesn’t disclose the fee upfront and forces riders to agree to pay an unknown amount.

What's Uber’s policy?

Uber’s website doesn’t specifically address how California’s commercial auto insurance requirements differ in cost from other states. Instead, they give a general overview stating that personal auto insurance doesn’t cover ridesharing, so Uber maintains commercial auto insurance coverage (which is required by law) for drivers and builds the cost into rides.

Passengers can view the breakdown of costs in their weekly statements.

A report from TechCrunch mentioned that Uber has claimed the cost of commercial auto insurance in California is "unjustifiably high," with costs being "up to thirty times more than taxis and thirty times more than personal vehicles," according to an Uber representative who responded to an email from TechCrunch.

“As a result of these lopsided requirements, personal injury attorneys have created a cottage industry specializing in suing rideshare platforms like ours, pushing Uber’s California state-mandated commercial insurance costs to rise by more than 65% in just two years,” the person added.

Because of this rising cost, Uber increased the minimum age for California drivers to 25, up from 21.

Commenters react

“Use Lyft it’s always 3-10$ cheaper?” a person advised.

“if u dispute they [either] refund or give u credit!!” a commenter suggested.

“They should have let you know before hand. That’s crazyyy,” another said.