Uber Mistakenly Charged a California Couple Nearly N23 Million, Left Them With ‘No Money’ in Another Country

A report from Entrepreneur states that a couple who arrived in Guatemala to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary were wrongfully charged N10 million ($30,000) by an Uber driver instead of the expected $55.

The report stated that the couple, Douglas Ordonez and Dominique Adams, were in shock when they discovered that a 30-mins drive from Costa Rica to the airport had cost them their entire savings, leaving them with no money in the country.

However, Uber blamed the mistake on a currency conversion error by the bank. As such, the couple cancelled their vow renewal ceremony and survived on a shoestring budget while they waited for the issue to be resolved.

@dominique.xo.xo

Trying not to let this ruin the remainder of my trip, but…. Yes! @Uber charged me $29,994 for a single ride! Correct conversion should have been $54, but was charged 600% more. Contacted Uber: They replied w/ “Do not worry”, but did not provide any further assistance 😩 I cannot find a customer service number anywhere. They have ignored my messages & I have only received pre-generated messages. Yes, I contacted my financial institution @Altura Credit Union immediately. They said there is nothing they can do about it at the moment as I have to wait another 4 days for the amount to possibly convert to the correct amount. Cannot believe they allowed a payment of this amount to process. Failed security measures & negligence. So now I am on a trip out of the county with no way to access my funds 🙃 Pray for me 🙏🏽 Just trying to enjoy my vacation 🌴 #emotionaldamage#horrorstory#uberscam#uber#fyp#viral#travelhorrorstory#wtf#traveltiktok

♬ Song Oh no oh no oh no no no – Hip Hop

The couple noted that the social media attention their ordeal got helped them with getting a faster response from Uber and the bank. After four days of waiting, the money was reversed. Uber tendered an apology for the mistake and said the refund processing time depended on the bank’s policies.