A winter snowstorm.Photo: Getty
As countless drivers in Virginiadealt with massive overnight shutdownson the highway due to winter weather earlier this week, one Uber passenger was faced with yet another inconvenience when he finally got home — a very steep Uber bill.
Andrew Peters of Richmond, Virginia flew in from San Francisco but said he “didn’t really realize” how bad the weather situation was on Monday night, according to Washington D.C.’s CBS affiliateWTOP-FM.
While trying to get home from Dulles International Airport, Peters and his driver got stuck on the interstate along with scores of other commuters, including Virginia Sen.Tim Kaine.
Peters didn’t get home until nine hours later, whereupon he paid a $200 Uber bill, but then discovered the ride-sharing service had added $400 in additional charges.
On Uber’swebsite, it says that “heavy traffic may cause your trip to take longer than expected and to compensate your driver for the additional time, your fare may change.”
“We have refunded Mr. Peters after this terrible ordeal and are so glad that he and his Uber driver got home safely. Mr. Peters was refunded his fare as well as the additional charges.”
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Many people were stuck in standstill traffic for well over 15 hours and were forced to spend the night in their vehicles — while scrambling for enough fuel for warmth as well as dealing with a lack of food and water.
Kaine, 63, detailed his own struggles onTwitter, which had lasted 27 hours.
“I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday, 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol,” KainewroteTuesday morning. “My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation. Please stay safe everyone.”
NBC News correspondent Josh Lederman was also one of the drivers who was stranded overnight Monday, after attempting to make the drive back to D.C. with his dog.
“I try not to tweet about daily inconveniences, but this experience has been insane,” Lederman wrote at the beginning of alengthy Twitter threaddetailing his experience. “The interstate is absolutely littered with disabled vehicles. Not just cars. Semis, everything. Nobody can move.”
“For a while, people tried to clear their stuck cars my [sic] shoveling with their feet. Most quickly gave up. But, then what? There is zero possibility for any tow truck to get to you right now in the thousands of cars backed up,” Lederman added.
source: people.com
