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Anger as Uber attempts to charge up to £73 for 10 mile Liverpool journey
Uber and its surge pricing policy has come under fire again in Liverpool after a potential customer was quoted up to £73 for a 10 mile journey through the city on Saturday.
This weekend the ECHO ran another in a series of stories about black cab drivers - some of whom appear to be continuing to try and rip off foreign football fans when they come to watch matches at Anfield. We reported on how a group of Danish LFC fans were repeatedly told they would have to pay £20 for a hackney journey from near Anfield to the city centre - and not simply what was on the meter.
But some drivers have hit back and said that while those practices should be punished - the way Uber operates during its so-called 'surge' periods is no different, and perhaps worse. One driver who got in contact with the ECHO showed how he had asked for a quote for a theoretical journey from Bramley-Moore Dock to Glebe Hey in Belle Vale on Saturday afternoon - a journey of around 10 miles.
It then goes on to quote a price of between £54-£73 for a standard UberX journey, with a larger Uber XL priced at £75 to £101 and the more luxurious Exec journey quoted for between £77 and £102. According to Uber's official fare estimator website, the same journey at a 'non surge' time would cost £16 to £22.
Uber says it has always been up front about how its surge pricing policy works - and says it allows customers to choose whether they pay the larger fees or not. On its website, Uber states: “There are times when so many people are requesting rides that there aren’t enough cars on the road to help take them all.
“Bad weather, rush hour, and special events, for instance, may cause unusually large numbers of people to want to ride Uber all at the same time. “In these cases of very high demand, fares may increase to help ensure those who need a ride can get one. This system is called surge pricing, and it lets us continue to be a reliable choice.
“Whenever we raise rates due to surge pricing, we let riders know in the app. Some riders will choose to pay, while some will choose to wait a few minutes to see if the rates go back down to normal
Mayor Joe Anderson has previously expressed his frustration at the number of Uber drivers who are flooding into the city from other parts of the country to pick up fares at busy times like around matches at Anfield.
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