NORA CROTTY |Photo: Getty Images
We've all been there: It's pouring out, it's New Year's Eve, or, it's Halloween, and you simply MUST go home. There are no cabs, so you call on your reliable friend Uber. Ugh, fine, there's surge pricing, but whatever. HOME. SNACKS. NETFLIX. BED. You tap accept, get home, and don't think about. Until you get the bill.
According to Business Insider, a newly 26-year-old woman named Gabrielle Wathen, from Baltimore, awoke the Saturday after Halloween to find she'd been emailed her Uber bill from the night before... for $362.57.
It seems that Gabi had been a "victim" of the ride service's surge pricing, which it instates in times of really high Uber demand (and it must be said, clearly notifies riders of beforehand). A heavy-drinking holiday like Halloween fits the bill, and prices were apparently up nine times the normal Uber rate.
Sucks to be Gabi, right? Well, don't think the birthday girl was about to take things lying down—OR shill out all her rent money on a car ride. Instead, Gabs posted her plight to Instagram, and then to crowdsourcing site GoFund.me, under the less-than-subtle headline "Uber Stole My 26th Birthday."
"Last night was Halloween. Great time. Today is my 26th birthday. Not so great time," she wrote. "I feel taken advantage of and cheated by the Uber name. $367 for a 20 minute ride should never be justified, even on Halloween. Please donate even just $1 if you think this is utter and complete bullshit and also hilarious and very, very depressing at the same time."
Right now, you're probably thinking, who but maaaaybe this girl's parents would help contribute to such a silly, easily preventable, cause? The answer: 21 people! Who, in a matter of 16 hours, have now donated $583 to Gabi. That's $221 morethan she even spent on the ride itself.
I'm not even sure who I'm more disappointed in: Gabi, for not reading the price surge pop-up before requesting a ride, the people who donated, for supporting this specific brand of malarkey, or myself—for not thinking of doing this first.
Either way: Happy belated birthday, Gabi—you brilliant business woman, you.
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