An Englishman mistakenly receives a bill for €40,000 after an Uber ride

After a few minutes of driving the customer had the unpleasant surprise of finding an invoice for several tens of thousands of pounds. A rent error causes trouble.

Oliver Kaplan, a 22-year-old Englishman in a cold sweat, ordered an Uber to meet friends at a bar after work. The Independent. Starting in the Hyde East of Manchester (England), his 15-minute journey to Ashton-under-Lyne should cost him no more than £11 (about €12.50). But the day after his evening, the young man received an email from the VTC application saying that his bank account did not allow payment for the previous day’s race.

A bill of 40,000 euros

At the time of ordering, the application mentioned that the customer would be charged at the normal price i.e. 10 to 11 pounds. Oliver Kaplan even told an English newspaper.The IndependentEverything seemed normal: “The driver came, I got in and he took me to where I wanted, just like every time I order an Uber”.

In the end, it was an invoice for 35,427.97 pounds, or more than 40,000 euros, that was waiting for the customer when he got up. Oliver Kaplan, who first believed it was a bug or glitch after an evening of drinking, called Uber’s customer service to figure out where the exorbitant prices came from.

An address refers to a location in Australia

Customer service was initially surprised by this request, but quickly understood where the error in the amount came from. The arrival point for the race was actually fixed… in Australia, about 22 hours by plane in normal times. “Our system represents a point of arrival in Australia and that is why the price of the bet is so high. However, our engineers are working on fixing the issue,” Uber said in a text message to customers.

A big fear for the young Englishman thanks to his sparse bank account: “I don’t have enough money to pay for the race. But if I had this amount in my account, I would have to fight to get the money back. It could have brought me big financial problems,” he said. In the Manchester Evening News.

After verification, Uber corrected its error and re-invoiced the customer for the final amount of £10.73 for the journey.