While Saturday Night Live, that barometer of America s sense of humor, continues to take shots against ride-sharing monster Uber, the San Francisco-based company stands accused, yet again, of behaving badly.
And this time, if you ll pardon the expression, they re doing it Down Under.
News reports, including one from the BBC, say Uber jacked up its fares during the highly publicized hostage situation that unfolded Sunday and Monday in a cafe in Sydney s Central Business District, or CBD. Users were outraged, accusing Uber of taking advantage of a very scary situation to suddenly raise prices as people were trying to get the hell out of downtown. Some riders said were forced to pay as much as four times the normal rate to get a ride.
Twitter users had accused the firm of exploiting a potential terrorist situation for its own financial gain.
Minimum fares rose to A$100 (£53) at one point with one customer he d been quoted A$145-185 for a journey from Sydney s CBD to the airport – a 13-mile journey that would normally cost about A$40-70 depending on the time of day.
Another customer said this was almost price gouging at its worst .
Uber, in its defense, attributed the spike to its so-called surge pricing, a controversial practice by ride-share companies that can increase fares when drivers are most in demand and riders most in need of getting somewhere. Uber offered a public mea culpa, saying surge-pricing was needed to encourage its drivers to quickly come into the CBD and help get people out of the danger zone:
Uber has responded to the criticism by offering free journeys out of the city s central business district (CBD).
It has also refunded some passengers.
But the rapidly expanding cab firm also tweeted that higher rates were still in place to encourage drivers to get into the CBD .
on Sunday, Uber explained that surge pricing is used to encourage more drivers to come online and pick up passengers from the area.
Credit: PGBnews.com
