Taxi Driver Online

Crystal clear what this knob has done, and Uber should be dealing with him. He cancels the job, thus he doesn't pay Uber their %, and then tries to overcharge the customers.

Uber driver 'demanded £35' from elderly Newcastle couple after going in wrong direction

An elderly couple were left "scared" after claiming their Uber driver pulled over and demanded cash. Margaret Glenn, 76, and her husband David, 80, booked an Uber taxi from the Malmaison hotel on the Quayside in Newcastle.

They had been at the hotel celebrating Margaret's birthday dinner and wanted to travel back to their home in Throckley. They got into the white Mercedes, which they agreed to pay £27 for, just before 10.30pm.

However they claim they were taken the wrong direction. Margaret said the driver took them near Kingston Park before pulling over and shouting at them for cancelling the journey. She said he then asked for £35 in cash.

The retired fashion designer, who was wearing a Velcro boot after breaking her foot, said they only had £40, so they gave him that so they could get home. She said: "We felt like we were being robbed.

"We were very scared. He was a big guy and we were very frail.

"David walks badly and I have a broken foot so we did look a bit cranky. He's probably thought they won’t know what to do.

"We were scared stiff, especially when he stopped the car. He was shouting at us saying we had cancelled it.

"He was very aggressive at that point. He wasn't violent but he was intimidating.

"We thought what if we didn’t have cash? What would have happened then?"

The couple, who have two daughters and one grandson, later received a notification stating the driver had cancelled the trip before he reached the hotel to pick them up on Saturday, April 11.

Margaret said: "David was shaken up. I felt relieved when we got home.

"The trip was cancelled at the hotel, he knew he had cancelled it. The trip was cancelled at 22.26 and he picked us up at 22.29. He cancelled it as he drove up to the hotel."

Margaret said she complained to Uber who gave her a refund of their £5.83 cancellation fee. However she said they failed to take action against the driver.

She received a message back from the taxi company which said: "Rest assured, we have followed up with the rider and discussed the feedback you have shared to try to ensure that this incident will not occur again in the future. We also have taken some internal measures to lessen the chance of you being paired with this rider again."

Margaret said: "All they did was give us the cancellation fee back. I said 'I will never use Uber again, I will be too scared'.

"Uber said they will make sure he doesn’t come and pick up and if he does cancel it. A warning shouldn't be enough for that. They wouldn't have got the cash.

"I just feel absolutely appalled at Uber because they didn’t address the problem. He should be taken off Uber. He's robbing people in a way."

After being contacted by ChronicleLive, Uber got in touch with Margaret and gave her £40 in credit. They told her: "We will be following up with the driver in question and taking the appropriate actions internally."

Margaret is now warning others about this type of thing happening. She said: "I have told lots of people about it. I want to warn people to be aware and not to give cash over."

An Uber spokesperson said: "We always aim to deliver the highest standard of service to all Uber riders. We are very sorry for this experience and we've been in touch with Mr and Mrs Glenn directly to put this right."

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IDFIMH

I wonder if Uber contact the council about the drivers behaviour .

There is a case for an unlicensed hiring charge.

If he cancelled the booking, then what booking did he fulfil?

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IDFIMH

So if he cancels the job a few minutes before rolling up at the hotel, doesn't he risk losing the job altogether? Wouldn't the punters get a message immediately saying there would be no car?


I mean, wouldn't they normally receive that immediately, and thus wouldn't be expecting a car?

Of course, maybe the message was delayed for some reason, or they didn't see the notification for some reason. But the driver wouldn't know that when he cancelled it, thus would probably lose the run?

I think they have a facility where the driver says the customer has cancelled.

Which in turn leaves the customer with a cancellation charge.

Absolutely rife for abuse.

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IDFIMH

I think someone should be looking at whether he is fit and proper

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector