This has been going on for a while now and I’ve been wondering if it’s actually a problem with the Uber network or Nigerian Uber drivers are up to something. From being overcharged on several trips to drivers actually trying to play smart, my experience with Uber over the last few weeks hasn’t been particularly pleasant.
New Uber Drivers Trying to be Smart
It seems new Uber drivers no longer go through proper orientation. In the last couple of months, I’ve had to request Uber for refunds about 8 times. When you request a cab, a driver that’s still several kilometers away starts the trip before even getting to your location. These drivers try to make you pay for the distance it takes the them to get to your pickup location.
Of course, I always tell them I know exactly what they’re up to and they always cancel the trip, but the base fare is always charged. Checking the profile of drivers doing this, they’re mostly people who started driving less than a month ago. This got me wondering if Uber no longer makes these drivers go through proper training or this company doesn’t bother verifying whether they’re actually allowing scums to join the Partner program.
I’ve had to report up to 6 cases like this in this past couple of weeks.
An Alleged App for Inflating Fares
According to two different Uber drivers I interacted with on separate trips in these past few months, it seems certain drivers now have a way to inflate your fare. They claimed there’s an app for that. My experience in the last few weeks too seems to verify this. You can see the screenshot of these two trips.
The trip details on the maps look crazy. The trip looked longer than it actually was as the car didn’t actually pass through those roads the maps suggest. As a matter of fact, I had to pay over 6,000 for a trip I normally pay around 2,000 for and there was no surge.
In all these cases, I reported and got a refund, but the experience isn’t pleasant. It appears Uber is tired of doing business in Nigeria.
