Uber Charged Me For A Ride I Didn’t Take: Help!

Do you take an Uber regularly to get from place to place or to see your friends?

On a busy holiday weekend, you might see me ride an Uber instead of being stuck in heavy traffic behind the wheel.

Were you charged for an Uber ride that you never took?

I have worried about what to do if Uber charged me for a ride I didn’t take.

To keep your mind at ease, I have put together this guide explaining what to do and what may have happened if you face an Uber charge for a ride you never took.

Real Charges vs. Fraudulent Charges

Upon first look, I might think that a fraudulent charge occurred if Uber charged me for a ride I didn’t take.

However, there are legitimate, different reasons why an Uber account had this extra charge.

Uber might charge you for a temporary authorization hold, which Uber positions after requesting a ride at an upfront regular fare price.

The difference between actual Uber charges and fraudulent charges for an Uber rider may also be due to your friends or family members taking a ride using your account.

Sometimes you may have let your best friends share your account.

If so, ask around to see who may have used your account if you have a strange Uber charge on your mobile app.

It is also possible that another rider may have accidentally taken the Uber ride you requested.

Uber’s “Verify Your Ride” Feature

To avoid the issue of getting into the wrong Uber vehicle or having someone take your ride, you might want to use the “Verify Your Ride” feature so that you know you’re getting into the right car with the right driver.

This tool is for PIN verification.

With every ride, you can choose this feature for greater protection on an Uber ride.

You can either pick this solution to use on all of your lifts or only at night between 9 PM to 6 AM in your time zone.

After choosing this option, you’ll receive a four-digit PIN after requesting a ride.

Before you get into the car, tell the driver your PIN.

If this is the correct driver, they will match your PIN after entering it into their Uber mobile app.

To find the “Verify Your Ride” feature, go to your settings and click “Verify Your Ride.”

Then toggle the Use PIN section and choose whether you want to use it on every ride or only at night.

Common Reasons to Get Charged

There are multiple reasons why Uber can charge your account.

These reasons are discussed below.

1.Uber Fees

Uber fees can include both cancellation fees and cleaning fees.

If you wait too long to cancel an Uber ride and the platform assigned a driver, you can face a cancellation fee of anywhere from $5 to $10.

However, if your Uber driver is more than 5 minutes late to pick you up, the company won’t charge you.

Furthermore, Uber passengers are responsible for covering the costs of food spills, dirt, or vomiting.

Uber could charge you a cleaning fee anywhere from $20 to as much as $150 for significant cleaning requirements.

2. Uber Pass

The Uber monthly Pass is another reason why you may have been charged.

If you signed up for Uber Ride Pass or Uber Eats Pass,you could get food delivery services and a rideshare service.

These charges include both grocery and restaurant food delivery or a ride to the airport.

3. Uber Cash

You may also have received a charge from Uber Cash and mistook it for a fraudulent charge.

Uber Cash is a way to pay for your rides ahead of time.

It involves planning and setting a budget so that everything is paid beforehand.

You may use Uber Cash for covering the costs of Uber rides, food delivery orders through Uber Eats, and JUMP bikes or scooters.

4. Fraud

You will need to figure out whether you received a fraudulent charge through the Uber platform.

Be aware that actual costs may look fraudulent at times, but you could have mistaken real ones as false.

For example, a temporary authorization hold may look like a duplicate charge for a ride, or a specific issue may seem fraudulent.

However, an identical charge is often a temporary authorization hold where the upfront amount is charged upon requesting an Uber fare.

This second charge is a security procedure that exists to prevent scams.

Once a trip completes, Uber voids the temporary authorization hold, but it may take up to five days for the charge to be removed from your credit card or bank statement.

However, if you don’t use Uber Pass or Uber Cash and don’t have an authorization hold or a cleaning or cancellation fee, a strange charge could be fraudulent.

What Happens if You Get Charged for an Uber Ride You Didn’t Take?

Woah! Uber charged me for a ride I didn’t take!

What will happen now?

First, you will see the Uber charge on your credit card statement and your Uber account.

If you’re sure that you’ve been charged for a ride you never took, or you were overcharged, you can contact Uber customer service to dispute the charge over the company website or via the mobile app.

If it is clear that you were wrongly charged, then you will receive a refund.

Below, I outline the steps you’ll need to take to request a refund from the Uber website or mobile platform.

What to Do If Uber Charges You for a Ride You Didn’t Take

The first basic steps to take include:

• Verifying the wrongful charge
• Determining whether the cost is genuine or fraudulent
• Reporting the charge to Uber representatives

In more detail, the exact instructions you will want to follow to dispute an Uber charge involve the following.

• Find the Uber app on your smartphone and open it up.
• In the upper left of the screen, tap the three stacked lines and click the “Your Trips” section to check your ride history.
• Find the trip that you want to dispute and click on it to see the details.
• Go to the bottom to find the Help section.
• In this area, there are multiple ways to report your fraudulent charge.
• Click on the “Review My Fare or Fees” option.
• Now pick why you are disputing the charge and add the details of the problem on the next page in a text box.
• Once you finish, hit submit and receive a confirmation.

When to Report Fraud to Uber

You can do several things to check whether your charge is fraudulent before you search for a way to report fraud to Uber.

If you never asked for a particular ride, then it is possible that someone else was logged into your account and requested the Uber ride.

Check with your friends or family to see if one of them was using your account or payment source.

If no one in your circle took a ride via your account, then you should inquire about a fraudulent charge.

Furthermore, if someone else took your ride or your driver never showed up, then Uber may have charged you.

You’ll want to check for temporary charges.

If you see an extra trip charge, it may be an authorization hold, and Uber will remove it after a few days.

If they don’t remove it, the additional cost might be a scam, and you will want to report it to Uber.

Be sure to report double charges if the double charge isn’t removed after five days.

If your account has a charge from someone else and there is suspicious activity about trips you didn’t request, you will need to report fraud to both Uber and your credit card company.

You will also need to reset your Uber password to prevent the scam from going any further.

Getting an Uber Refund

You can request an Uber refund by going through the steps outlined above and using the “Your Trips” option via the mobile app.

However, when it comes to getting a refund, you may be more likely to receive credits toward your Uber account instead of money.

Uber can also refund a cancellation fee sometimes or other trip issues if you can prove they wrongly charged it.

You won’t always get a refund, but if you can prove your complaint, you’ll likely get your money back.

You will likely get a refund from Uber either instantly or within at least three to five days.

At worst, you’ll need to wait a week to receive a refund.

However, at best, it might take only a few minutes to get that refund.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Let’s go through some of the most frequently asked questions about mysterious Uber charges.

Wrapping Up

To ensure your extra charge isn’t fraudulent, you’ll need to check whether the charge is due to a cancellation fee, cleaning fee, or a temporary authorization hold.

You might want to ask your friends or family if they used your account to get an Uber ride.

However, if the charge does look suspicious and fraudulent, you’ll need to report it to Uber representatives.

Before you know it, you’ll get that refund you seek.