A man in India has undoubtedly caused a stir at Uber HQ this week, after tweeting customer support with one of the worst complaints imaginable for a globally renowned taxi firm.
Surya Oruganti booked a taxi to pick him up at Bengaluru International Airport in India, but was immediately suspicious of his driver. Firstly, the man who picked him up wasn't the same driver this app had connected him with, but as the car was the same, he decided to hop in and get home.
Within minutes of setting off, however, Surya realised all was not well - his driver was clearly drunk. Surya immediately demanded that the driver pull over and swap places with him so that he could drive the rest of the way. I don't know about you guys, but one of the main reasons I use Uber to get home in the evenings is because I'm far too drunk to drive myself. Sadly though, clearly not everyone is getting the same amazing service that Uber purports to provide.
Upon arriving safely at his destination, Surya messaged Uber Support on Twitter to make his situation known:
"The ride back from Bangalore airport was not quite what I expected. The driver was drunk and drowsy. I had to pull the car over to the side and I drove all the way home."
He also followed up his tweet with a video of the driver in question, reminding Uber again that he was not even the man the app claimed was picking him up.
Uber responded 20 hours later, which raised one or two eyebrows. In their response to Surya, Uber said that he, "shouldn't drive a cab because that's a safety issue. And that they'll educate the driver whatever that means and might terminate the driver if there's recurrence."
Without wanting to be too harsh, surely being drunk at the wheel of an Uber is a fireable offence? I'm not the CEO of a major corporation or anything, but even I know that this sort of behaviour is a massive no-no.
In a statement Uber told The News Minute:
"This is a regrettable and concerning incident.
"While we take all possible measures to ensure that drivers behind the wheel match the person shown on the app, in rare instances, when this doesn’t happen, we encourage riders to cancel their rides immediately and report the issue on the app, so that immediate actions can be taken.
"Upon learning about this incident, the driver profile was removed from the app and we are looking into the matter. ‘We stand ready to further assist the rider and law enforcement as required."
Thankfully, Uber took the appropriate steps to make sure this particular driver wasn't working behind the wheel anymore, but it does make you question how safe the whole system is. This is not the first time Uber has been left in hot water by the behaviour of its drivers, and I very much doubt this is the last time we'll hear bad press about the global giant.
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