Really, Uber?

Another Branson Parent (what the grown-ups called ourselves at the kids' high school) had an awful experience.  She's far from hysterical.  She's traveled a lot.  I like her.  She's got a cautionary tale that I'm happy to share.  Here are her words, with minor editing.

*****

So, I was in LA to help my daughter move. She is in Manhattan Beach which is 15 minutes in normal traffic south of LAX.  

After going out to dinner in Manhattan Beach with a friend, I ordered an Uber. I was staying at the LAX Hilton.  Upon his arrival, I checked that the driver had my name, that I had his name and that his license plate was the same. He seemed like nice guy.

After about 15 minutes I noticed we were changing from the 405 - which goes right to LAX - to the 118 - going east-away from the airport. We got way into a strange dark neighborhood.  He exited and drove into a housing development with no street lights. 

He pulled over and said," I don't know what happened". At the same time I pulled up the directions on Google Maps and turned on the audio directions and called my daughter. She drives to the airport all the time and said, "Wow, he is all the way of east LA!" 

I told him to follow my directions.  I watched his map while we were driving; it did not look like the normal Uber app. We directed him back the way we came and eventually we got to the LAX Hilton, which is literally down the street from the terminals.  I had given Uber the exact address when I ordered it. 

He had the nerve to say, "give me a tip on the app" when I got out of the car! 

Vulnerable, frightened, and furious, I was not in the mood to pay more for that trip.

I protested on via Uber's app when I got home, 6 days after it happened. They responded that they would look into it. On the app, my charge went from $46.39 to .01 so I thought they would not charge me. 

Then I got the credit card bill -  they charged the entire fare. So I protested again and they said "Sorry, we pay our drivers within 30 days so we have a 30 day limit on protests". I told them I had protested after 6 days. "Sorry, there is nothing we can do".

Nothing they can do?  I want to know that they have disciplined the driver and I want other people to know you can follow all the safety recommendations and still get in a scary situation.... and that Uber will charge you the full fare to do so.

It would be great to let more people know about this.