In August, I was charged £60 by Uber for an alleged cleaning fee that had nothing to do with me. The allegation is false and I am appalled that money can be taken from a third-party account in this way. Surely this cannot be legal? It feels nothing short of criminal.
I was sent photos to apparently justify the contested bill. First, I did not cause whatever mess I am being accused of. Second, no one has informed me what has been done to justify a £60 bill. Did the passenger after me cause some spillage? Uber is ignoring all of my messages. Surely it cannot be lawful to take £60 without providing proof that I am responsible.
JS, London N16
What began in this column as a few isolated incidents seems to have morphed into a larger-scale problem (known by the awful nickname “vomit fraud”), whereby an unscrupulous Uber driver invents or exaggerates spills to try to pocket a substantial cleaning fee. Presumably, they hope passengers won’t notice.
We advise readers suspecting such a scam to contact Uber to complain. As soon as we got in touch, the ride-hailing app organised your refund. It says: “The Uber app is based on mutual respect for both riders and drivers. For licensed drivers, their vehicles are their place of work and any damage or mess can mean they are unable to continue working. When a driver claims a cleaning fee, they are required to provide us with details of the trip, the passengers and the incident, as well as photographic evidence and a validated cleaning receipt which our support team then investigates. In this instance, we have applied this fee by error and have made sure to fully refund this sum to JS, along with the trip fare. We are constantly evaluating our processes and technology related to these claims, and will take appropriate action whenever fraud may be detected.”
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