Uber accidentally charged a customer more than $14,000 for a ride that was supposed to cost under $20

  • Uber refunded a Toronto customer after accidentally charging him $18,518.50 in Canadian dollars, which is about $14,418.69 USD, for a ride that was supposed to cost under $20.

  • This is not the first time Uber has accidentally issued an excessive charge.

  • This latest mistake comes at a time when the company is dealing with a number of scandals and setbacks.



Uber has refunded a Toronto customer who was charged $18,518.50 Canadian dollars ($14,418.69 USD) for a ride that should have cost under $20, according to Slate.

"There was an error and we have provided a full refund. We sincerely apologize to this rider for his experience," an Uber spokesperson told Business Insider. "We have safeguards in place to help prevent something like this from happening and we are working to understand how this occurred."

The news was first reported by a friend of the customer on Twitter, who claimed that Twitter initially refused to alter the charge for the five-mile, 21-minute ride after it was disputed.

While Uber raises prices during times of high demand, this is not the first time the ride-hailing service has issued a charge that was well above expectations. In 2016, a Philadelphia resident was charged nearly $30,000 for a single ride due to a computer glitch, and in 2015, a woman in Manhattan was charged $12,000 for a ride that originally cost $56.40

This latest mistake comes at a difficult time for the company, which has lost its license to operate in London and dealt with a number of scandals this year, including allegations that the company stole trade secrets from competitors and paid hackers $100,000 to cover up a cyberattack.

Uber did not immediately respond to request for comment. But the company said in a statement to Slate that it had issued a full refund to the customer and said that it had apologized to him for the incident.

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