A woman has gone viral for posting a video blasting her Uber driver for demanding a $150 fee to return her phone.
The video, posted by TikToker Jess Q (@jessq18) on Dec. 29, shows her talking about the incident, followed by footage of her confronting the driver. Since its upload, the video has accumulated nearly 200,000 views.
“My Uber driver from last night just tried to charge me $150 to get me my phone back and brought it disabled for an hour,” she says at the beginning of the TikTok.
@jessq18 Smh
♬ original sound – Jess Q🐆
Jess said that she’d left her phone in the Uber the night before. To her immense relief, when she called it from her other cell phone, the driver answered.
The experience swiftly turned sour.
According to Jess, the driver lied about where he was, which she assumed was an attempt to justify asking for a hefty sum as his reward for returning the phone.
“I don’t think this man has ever heard of Find My iPhone, because when I was on the phone with him, he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m off today. I’m coming from Jersey.’ My guy, it says you’re in Brooklyn. Why are you lying?” she said.
She said that the driver finally arrived hours after he said he would. When he got there, she said her phone was locked.
She filmed the screen of the phone, which read “iPhone is disabled” and “try again in 51 minutes,” suggesting the driver entered the wrong passcode too many times before he returned it.
Jess said that she would’ve tipped the driver anyway and further noted that Uber already charges a $20 fee for returning lost items. “To help ensure your extra effort is rewarded, we facilitate a $20 reimbursement from rider to driver, once an item has been returned,” Uber’s website states.
The video then cut to audio of her purported confrontation with the driver. Jess can be heard saying, “Excuse me, I paid you the $20 through the app. I told you I was gonna, I’m not, I’m not arguing with you. The fact that you try to charge me $150 for my own property and Uber charges $20.”
The video sparked a lot of reactions. People overwhelmingly sided with @jessq18 and criticized the driver for his behavior. Many said that she should report the incident to Uber.
“Tell Uber he charged you they’ll get him in trouble,” one commenter said.
“You should have contacted Uber they make them give it back or fires them,” a second person added.
“he was trying 2 [sell] you ur phone,” a third remarked.
Multiple people shared similar stories. “This happen to my cuzn,” one commented. “She had to call [an] attorney.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @jessq18 via email for comment.