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Woman crowdfunds $362 to pay Halloween night Uber bill

That's one charge you don't want to see in the morning. 

 

Patrick Howell O'Neill

Internet Culture

Posted on Nov 2, 2014   Updated on May 30, 2021, 7:10 am CDT

Have you ever woken up to a ludicrous credit card charge after a night out drinking?

A 20-minute Uber ride on Halloween night recently cost a woman named Gabrielle Wathen $362.57, thanks to a surge in pricing that made the ride cost nine times the usual price.

To make matters worse, the ride came the night before her 26th birthday, so she woke up to a costly surprise that didn’t just overshadow the day, it put her in dire financial straits.

“My rent is $450 and I can no longer pay it today due to this completely outrageous charge,” she wrote.

Wathen decided to crowdfund the cost on GoFundMe, and speedily raised more than $500 in 12 hours from sympathetic Uber customers.

 

 

I feel taken advantage of and cheated by the Uber name,” she added. “$367 for a 20-minute ride should never be justified, even on Halloween. Please donate even just $1 if you think this is utter and complete bullshit and also hilarious and very, very depressing at the same time.”

H/T Business Insider | Photo via 5chw4r7z (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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*First Published: Nov 2, 2014, 3:34 pm CST