I Was Overcharged by Uber and Received Unfair Account Warning
On the afternoon of April 8, 2026, during an Uber trip in Istanbul, I experienced both unfair pricing and an unjust warning issued to my account afterward. The app showed an estimated fare of around $12 for the trip with a 40% discount, and even without the discount, the total should not have exceeded approximately $19. However, the driver took unnecessarily long and irrelevant routes, significantly extending the distance. By the end of the trip, the taximeter showed a total of $37.
When I questioned the driver, he claimed he was following the route shown by the app and tried to justify the situation by saying things like, “If you had told me your destination earlier, we could have taken a different route.” In the end, we agreed that I would pay and report the issue to Uber. Despite the 40% discount, instead of paying around $22, I was charged over $28.
When I contacted Uber, I was told that fares are calculated based on the taximeter and that the 40% discount is capped at about $7. While I understand that promotions may have limits, intentionally taking a longer route despite this clearly appears to be bad faith behavior. The trip/fare ID on my Uber account is 150435.
Since Uber did not resolve the issue satisfactorily, I also reported the driver to the municipal hotline (153) for taking an unnecessarily long route. After this, and likely because the driver was contacted by authorities, I received another message from Uber stating that the driver reported a “possible verbal dispute” involving my account. The message warned that if similar reports were received, my account could be suspended under community guidelines. In other words, I was not only overcharged due to an extended route but also received an unfair and threatening warning on my account.
Given this entire experience, I feel seriously wronged both financially and as a user. I request a refund for the overcharged portion of this trip and demand that this unjust and threatening warning be completely removed from my account records.
