A Kiwi woman is angry and frustrated after three Uber drivers cancelled on her after a night out in Wellington, which left her feeling unsafe.
Elizabeth, 21, from Wellington was out in the suburb of Northland on Saturday when she ordered her Uber at around 11pm to go to Vogelmorn - a route she does often.
But a normally straightforward experience of ordering and getting Uber was anything but, which left Elizabeth "unimpressed".
"So unimpressed with Uber drivers tonight. I've had three drivers cancel on me but not only that, my last driver drove past me twice, did not stop, and then cancelled as I was running after the car," she said.
Elizabeth told Newshub this was the most "infuriating" experience she's had with the rideshare company and felt unsafe after her three Ubers cancelled on her.
"I would've felt more unsafe if I was in an area I didn't know. I had the option to go back to someone's house and wait, fortunately," she told Newshub.
"It was more frustrating than anything as I had a really long day and just wanted to get home."
Elizabeth said she did finally get home safely after the Uber app rebooked her.
"After my third Uber was cancelled, I went to go back to the house I came from as I knew them," she said.
"But as I was walking away, the Uber app rebooked me another car as it usually does after cancellations and this new ride was a minute away so I thought I would just wait and see if it would come. It did and I finally got home safely."
Uber told Newshub they proactively let their driver-partners know about the negative impact cancellations can have on the experience of riders.
"A driver-partner earns no money from a trip if they accept a job and then reject it before it starts," a Uber spokesperson said.
"If a driver-partner cancels a trip, for example because after accepting they realise they're driving in the opposite direction to the pick-up location, Uber's platform matches a new driver-partner with the rider."
Uber said their technology helps ensure riders aren't charged if a driver-partner is running late, currently dropping off another rider or has not made progress towards the pick-up location, when the request is cancelled.
"If a rider does believe they have wrongly been charged a cancellation fee they can go to 'Review my cancellation fee' in the Uber app and a member of our support team will assist them and review the circumstances of the cancellation," the spokesperson said.
