Uber driver takes woman for ‘joyride’

UBER intends to take action against two of its drivers after a Pomona woman got out of one of its taxis at the airport on Tuesday night, feeling unsafe, after being driven around aimlessly by the driver for almost an hour.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a regular user of Uber. She said her usual trip was 38km, taking 35 minutes. On Tuesday night the meter stood at 49km when she was still about 10km from home.

That was when she decided she had enough and at a traffic light at OR Tambo, as the driver started to pull away, she got out and ran to three closeby security guards.

However, after being “helped” by these three female guards at a boom at the airport, her nightmare continued with another driver.

The woman officially requested the first driver through Uber to take her home from Sandton at 10.25pm. He drove to Woodmead, Edenvale, back to Sandton, then to Jet Park and the airport, where she got out at 11.23pm.

The guards at the airport got her another taxi who was going to help her get home “in light of her bad experience”.

“I was blind enough to trust the second driver because the security guards arranged it for me. At that stage I just wanting to get home.

“I told him up front I did not carry cash but he said he was helping me and that Uber would refund me after I had reported the incident. I asked him how he was going to calculate the trip in light of it not being officially requested. He said he would take whatever I offered even if it was via FNB’s e-wallet.

“I said I would consider R100 being fair, which he agreed on. By then I was bawling, just wanting to go home.

“As soon as we approached my street, he said he wanted R150 cash, which I did not have on me. I started getting scared. I told him we agreed on R100 but also questioned the fact why he did not want to use official channels.

“At this stage we were at my gate where this unknown man swore at me because I took a picture of his registration number as well as his face.

“I had security and the groundkeeper fight him off because he wanted his photos deleted – more so than receiving his ill gained R100.

“I ask you, Uber, how dare you charge me R413 for a trip I couldn’t cancel in an emergency, not forgetting his stop at a petrol station to fill up on my trip, only for me to tell him he was driving the wrong route?

She said the same trip cost between R250 and R300. Uber has since agreed to refund her money.