A woman in Philadelphia was reportedly charged over $28,0o0 for an Uber ride due to a computer glitch that impacted at least a “handful” of customers, according to the ride-sharing company—a move that inadvertently puts to shame any complaints about excessive surge-pricing.
Philly.com reported the company initially told the woman, who declined to be named, that her account was compromised as the result of a hack. Days later, the company sent a separate email, saying her account wasn’t compromised, and the enormous charge stemmed from a computer glitch. From Philly.com:
“Your information is safe, and the charge that appeared on your credit card statement was an unusually large authorization hold,” Uber customer service wrote in the Thursday email. “This was never processed as a payment, and our engineering team has been made aware of this error.”
Uber told the news outlet that drivers don’t have access to payment information. The company declined to say how many people were affected by the glitch beyond a vague estimate of “a handful,” but told Philly.com it was a temporary issue.
Hey, Uber: there have to be easier ways to fix this problem.