Uber riders will no longer have to worry about the cost of a fare, now that the popular ridesharing service has rolled out upfront fares in New York City.
In a blog post last week, Uber said it was rolling out the new feature in New York City in which riders enter their destination and get the actual trip fare before requesting a ride. “No surprises or complicated math — you decide what’s best for you and your budget,” said Uber in the blog post. Uber went on to note that, if there is a surge in the pricing, users will be alerted with a message above their request options letting them know the fares have increased.
Uber noted that customers could be charged a wait time, which would increase the price. The wait time charges happen after two minutes of the driver arriving at the location for pickup. It will be added on top of the upfront fare and will appear as a line item in the customer’s receipt. The same goes for using uberPOOL. With two passengers, the customer will be charged an additional rider fee on top of the upfront fare
The move on the part of Uber comes at time when some riders have complained about higher charges than expected. In one famous example, back in September, when Hannah Warman, a London-based comedian, opted to take an Uber car home on Sunday (Aug. 28) night instead of making the short walk home. But the exhausted comedian fell asleep on the seemingly short ride and woke up an hour-and-a-half later only to find the next day she had been taxied around London for 35 miles, getting hit with a $111 bill. Warman turned to Twitter to share her experience, and her musing was quickly retweeted by more than 1,000 people who shared similar experiences. Warman eventually got a full refund from Uber.
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