On Monday, drivers were stranded for hours on Interstate-95 in Virginia as snow fell and blocked the road. Some motorists reported being stuck for more than 17 hours as crews struggled to clear the road and rescue stranded drivers.
Adding onto the mental and physical toll of spending almost a day stuck in your car, one Uber passenger stranded on the snow-covered highway was hit with a substantial fee for his troubles.
According to NBC News, Andrew Peters of Richmond was stranded on the I-95 that fateful day with his Uber driver. Peters was initially told that his 120-mile ride home from Dulles International Airport would cost $200.
But as the snow began to clog the highway, his journey time rapidly rose from around two and a half hours to 14!
So, after Peters finally made it home and tipped his driver an additional $100, he was shocked to see that Uber had slapped an additional $400 fee onto his account.
This meant the nightmare 14-hour trip would now set Peters back $700.
According to Uber’s community guidelines:
“Heavy traffic may cause your trip to take longer than expected and to compensate your driver for the additional time, your fare may change.”
However, Peters told NBC that he would dispute the charges, and said to the site: “I had no way of knowing that I would be stuck in this traffic jam for that long, and I don’t feel like that’s fair because they have the directions. I have no say in which way the Uber goes.”
Now, Uber has backtracked on the sky-high fair, and dropped the additional $400 fee it imposed on Peters’ account.
NBC News added:
He disputed the charge and was refunded, Uber confirmed to NBC News.
“We recognized that the prolonged highway shutdown was extraordinary circumstance for him and the driver,” an Uber spokesperson said.
The I-95 closed on Monday after more than 12 inches of snow fell on roads and highways across Virginia.
The I-95 reopened on Tuesday night after hundreds of motorists had been stranded on the highway for more than 15-hours.
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