A simple Uber ride turned into an eye-watering experience changing the course of one Australian couple’s memorable trip to Guatemala. What should have been a $55 (about Rs 4,500) fare turned to a falling $29,994 (almost Rs 24 lakh) in the end. Uber mistakenly charged them in US dollars instead of the intended Costa Rican Colon, blaming a currency conversion error.
The New York Post reported that Douglas Ordonez and his partner Dominique, who were in Costa Rica to celebrate their fifth marriage anniversary, had reserved a cab in the city. But when they checked their bank accounts after the ride, they were shocked to see that the company had charged them “$29,994 USD for an Uber ride in Costa Rica.”
Couple Unaware of Debit Card Attachment to Uber Account
Even though they often use credit cards for foreign purchases, the couple went on to say that they were unaware that their debit card had been attached to their Uber account for this particular ride. As a result, the funds were immediately taken out of their account after the trip, leaving them with a negative balance. Ordonez shared a screenshot of what appeared to be a bank statement, explaining the scenario and showing a negative balance of $22,697 (about Rs18.7 lakhs).
Uber charged me $29,994 USD for a Uber ride in Costa Rica. They did not convert that into the Costa Rican currency $54 USD. Altura credit union allowed this charge to process and Uber is not complying. Now I’m in Guatemala with a negative balance on my 5 year anniversary. #uber pic.twitter.com/UGgZHXYjF8
— Douglas Ordonez (@DOJ_111) June 29, 2023
Although a representative from Uber reached the couple over Twitter and assured them look into the matter, the couple went on to explain why there had been no quick response from the cab-sharing company and expressed their disappointment.
“Uber did not provide any further assistance. I cannot find a customer service number anywhere. They have ignored my messages, and I have only received pre-generated messages. Altura Credit Union said there is nothing they can do about it at the moment, as I have to wait another 4 days for the amount to possibly convert to the correct amount,” reads another post from the couple.
The couple reportedly got their money got back a week and a few days later, according to the report. Dominique revealed that the bank stated responsibility for a glitch with the currency change, saying “I put a travel notice on my card, and because of that, the charge was able to bypass all of the security measures and policies that were in place.”
As for the delay in the refund, while Uber replied to address the matter quickly, the company further notes, “At Uber, we take every report seriously. As soon as we received the user’s report, our support team promptly addressed the issue and released the authorization hold that was mistakenly applied due to a bank error in Dollars and not in Colones,” Business Insider in the statement by Uber.
