Being an avid user of this taxi service, there has never been any moment where i haven’t rooted for Uber or defended it in an Uber/Careem war.
However, i never expected to get cheated on like this.
On a route that costs me 250 rupees maximum, which includes dropping my sister off slightly out of the way, i was charged rupees 380 with a promo code for a hundred rupees off.
Now there is a difference of hardly a hundred and thirty rupees but had i not received a worried phone call from my mother who was fortunately tracking the ride and the receipt at the end, i would have never known what went wrong.
While i was on my usual route, my mother called me all worried, asking where i was as the map was showing me in a place called “Thethar”and then “Mota Singhwa” which i don’t even know exist. I however, was on my usual route and at Cavalry Ground Bridge the moment i received the phone call.
When i checked my own receipt and the screenshot my mother sent me of the way, i realized what happened.
The map showed a different route altogether.
Screenshot that my mother sent me
The mark from green to red is my actual route,where my car was on. The rest has somehow been added by the driver in someway or Uber is scamming its customers.
Screenshot taken from my phone
This is my usual route where i actually drop my sister off and get to destination.
A similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago when i went from this same location to Packages Mall. Where i am usually charged around 200 to 230 pkr to get there, i was charged around 500 rupees with the map showing a different and longer route, same as in this case.
The thing that amused me here is that the other car, was also a Toyota Belta, with the same interior. However, only the names of the drivers are different. One has picture with the name Akhtar, while there is no picture on the ride i just took with “Arman”. There is no option to view the car number of the previous ride. However, this car was Toyota Belta LED-12-3965
Clearly there are a lot of ways one can get scammed. For now, i do not know if it was Uber that did so or the driver has some sort of a device that manipulates the route on the map. However, be careful.
If you ever feel at the end of the ride that the money isn’t fair, ALWAYS check your receipt and the map. Also, never forget to share the tracking link with a loved one in case you get in a problem.
Till then, Uber is definitely getting deleted from my phone. And if this driver, “Arman” with the number plate LED-12-3965 ever becomes your driver, CANCEL IT ASAP.
Submitted by: Aimen Tofique
