I feel morally conflicted.
I am currently in India and needed to take a taxi from at around 2am.
I booked a cab and a young man arrived in a standard cab car – being an Uber driver was clearly new to him and he was incredibly nervous, starting off the journey by picking up from the wrong place and almost sweating out of visible anxiety at the start of the trip.
What proceeded was a journey that was supposed to take 35 minutes ended taking nearly 55 – this is because he was driving at 40kmph pretty much everywhere. He also lost himself a couple of times, looking down for long patches of the journey to see his phone maps, with no window attachment to hold his phone – this, whilst driving on Mumbai roads with minimal road visibility as it is.
I didn’t feel safe to sleep, despite being tired throughout, so just stayed awake and observed.
We got dropped off and ended the night, I was slightly annoyed, but nothing serious.
The next morning I woke up to an Uber bill nearly 150rs above what was initually quoted ($1.60) – I checked why and it was because he ended the trip 1 hour later, after driving somewhere else and Uber levying the fees for the extra distance – I imagine due to lack of understanding over how to end a ride.
What proceeded was me writing a complaint where I wrote a report of his drive and requested my money back for the extension of the fare.
When I looked at his profile after making the complaint, I saw he had only done six trips.
I win the case..
I went back to see how many more trips he had done since the complaint, and to make sure he hadn’t been fired, and saw that his account had been suspended.
I feel like such a dick, basically being miffed at the whole experience but getting tilted over by the equivalent of $1.60 – writing a complaint that very likely cost an innocent hardworking man to lose his livelihood.
On one hand, I see how I may have saved other riders from a bad journey and potential (very real) risk.
On the other, he was a 20 year old boy, probably with a lot riding on this job, to the extent where he was either too scared or anxious to drive the car at a normal speed, where he seemingly couldn’t afford to kit it with the most basic features to hold his phone – on a human level, he was probably just trying his best and I can’t imagine the lengths he may have had to go to to even just get the car in the first place.
So… AITAH?
NTA
I get feeling bad about it, but there doesn’t appear to be a single thing he did right *and* he’s a dangerous driver. Uber would have been irresponsible not to suspend him.
And FWIW you didn’t describe someone “hardworking.” You described a guy doing an incredibly shitty job and then overcharging you.
“Hey reddit, I had surgery and the surgeon dropped trou and took a shit inside my open chest cavity before sewing me up. I complained about the experience in secret in my journal but I was writing so loudly somebody heard and now the surgeon got suspended and can’t afford his new BMW until next year. Am I the asshole?”
NTA.
I don’t know how Uber works in India, but it’s entirely possible that they suspended his account while he took some remedial training. On how to end a journey, if nothing else.
He gave substandard service and overcharged you. This is what feedback is for.
NTA
People like that are not safe to be driving passengers around.
NTA. He sounds like a dangerous driver. You may have saved lives.
NTA here, you didn’t do it intentionally and you were owed the money back. He can’t just fail to end the ride.
Maybe NTA but kindness is not your virtue
Yes, we meet again, fellow redditor
NTA
You were honest about it. If he had questions or didn’t know how to do something, he should have asked or reached out to his help desk, not let you be screwed out of money. He should also be comfortable with driving as inattention and extreme nervousness is how accidents happen. I really doubt your one complaint would have caused him to lose his job. I would bet you weren’t the only person to have serious issues or he realized that this was not the job for him.