‘Very unsettling’: Customers say rideshare drivers in Ontario improperly charging

In a caller video circulating connected societal media, 1 pistillate shares her affectional acquisition utilizing a rideshare app erstwhile trying to get backmost location precocious astatine night, sparking the attraction of galore pistillate rideshare users who responded, saying they had experienced the same.

In the video, she explains however she was allegedly stranded successful Toronto for astir 45 minutes aft booking a travel to Whitby, wherever she was asked for wealth from a Lyft driver, which she denied, resulting successful her thrust being cancelled.

“It’s 3 o timepiece successful the greeting and I conscionable privation to spell home,” she said tearfully successful the video.

In an interrogation with the TikTok user, @bluntcontinent, who wishes to not beryllium identified, she explains however this was the 2nd clip successful a enactment that a Lyft operator had asked her for wealth for a long-distance trip.

“The archetypal clip I agreed due to the fact that I felt bad,” she said.

In the archetypal incident, she explained however erstwhile she got into the vehicle, the operator asked however overmuch she paid, to which she responded $62. The operator past allegedly said helium was lone getting $18 for the thrust and requested to cancel the thrust and beryllium paid the afloat magnitude successful cash. In a desperation to get location soon, she agreed to e-transfer him and “immediately regretted it.”

“Once the thrust started, I realized I made a mistake,” she said.

Rideshare apps similar Lyft and Uber person determination sharing and tracking measures built into their apps. When a thrust is cancelled, those features are not disposable for the idiosyncratic immoderate longer.

“The information that it was aft midnight, I’m successful the backmost of a stranger’s car and nary 1 is tracking maine was a atrocious idea,” she said.

Following this incident, she was allegedly asked to wage currency again the pursuing nighttime by a antithetic driver. This clip the pistillate refused, resulting successful the operator cancelling her thrust and driving off.

The viral video she posted garnered the attraction of thousands, arsenic galore women flooded the comments, saying they had besides experienced being threatened to person their rides canceled if they did not e-transfer the fare oregon wage cash.

Another rideshare user, Adeba Siddiqui, told Global News that these instances are highly unsafe and rise aggregate information concerns.

“I’ve had a batch of instances wherever this has happened and it’s truly weird,” she said.

Siddiqui explained however bulk of the times it happens is erstwhile she has a long-distance trip, oregon erstwhile it’s truly precocious astatine night.

“It has enactment maine successful immoderate truly uncomfortable situations due to the fact that it stops the ride, and you don’t person immoderate mode to find retired wherever you are going oregon who’s tracking you,” she emphasized.

In an emailed statement, Lyft said that “this behaviour is against Lyft argumentation and is not permitted connected our platform. If a rider encounters this, they should scope retired to enactment instantly truthful we tin code the issue. Drivers who prosecute successful this behaviour (which is against Lyft policy) could beryllium deactivated.”

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Henrietta Francis, a predominant Lyft user, besides shared concerns astir however this could beryllium attributed to the debased wages that rideshare drivers receive.

Francis recalls getting into the car for an aboriginal greeting commute to work. The operator past told her that “Lyft doesn’t wage maine arsenic much, tin you bash currency oregon e-transfer truthful I tin get much money?” She declined the petition and said helium sat determination successful soundlessness for a moment, successful which she felt “really scared.”

“I didn’t cognize if helium was going to fastener the doors and not fto maine out. It was 6 a.m., inactive acheronian extracurricular and conscionable maine and him,” she said, adding erstwhile helium yet started driving, the full concern made her truthful uncomfortable that she “avoided eye-contact the full time.”

Francis said she reported the contented to Lyft but is unsure if further enactment was ever taken.

Another idiosyncratic who commented nether the archetypal video highlighted akin concerns.

In September, Marnie Gallop and a person visiting Toronto, were picked up by an UberX operator for a thrust to Newmarket. The operator insisted they wage other successful cash, claiming they should person booked an Uber XL owed to their luggage.

She explained successful an email to Global News that their luggage acceptable comfortably, but “he already had our bags, and we didn’t privation to propulsion backmost excessively hard.”

Later, they discovered helium had changed their booking to Uber XL, costing an other $50 connected apical of the currency they paid. They past filed a ailment and were refunded the amount.

Global News reached retired to Uber for remark but did not person a response.

While Lyft and Uber’s policies strictly prohibit currency exchanges and promote users to study violations, galore question if capable is being done to code these incidents.

“It is precise unsettling,” said the archetypal pistillate successful the video.