AUTONEWS

$7 Excuse: Uber Only Gives Credit After Driver Leaves With Child Sleeping in Backseat

An Uber ride ended in absolute despair for a mother in Toronto, Canada.

Julia, as identified by CBC, saw her five-year-old daughter being taken away in the car of a ride-sharing driver — who apparently didn't notice the girl sleeping in the backseat.

The most worrying thing? Uber's support team proved completely incapable of dealing with an emergency of this kind.

The situation happened after a Toronto Raptors game, when Julia, her boyfriend, her two children and his two children were returning home on a cold March night.

The youngest daughter had fallen asleep on the way, and the couple's plan was to get the boys out of the car first, with coats and car seats, and then go get the little girl. But when they returned, the car had already disappeared.

According to Julia, the panic was immediate — but she stood firm for the sake of her son. When she tried to contact Uber, the call center refused to put the user in direct contact with the driver.

In desperation, she called the police, who also had difficulty locating the vehicle, since Uber required the user to fill out a digital emergency form before releasing any information.

The girl was only found 90 minutes later, more than 20 kilometers from where she had been left.

According to the Toronto police, the driver claimed not to have noticed that there was a child in the car — which, considering the size of the vehicles used by apps, is difficult to understand.

The good news is that the girl was fine and was returned to her mother, who was taken away by the police themselves.

And Uber's response to the seriousness of the incident? A credit of $7.

Julia considered the gesture not only insufficient, but offensive.

“You can offer me a million dollars, but if there is no change in policy, I will not accept it. No one should go through what we went through,” she told the Canadian press.

As always, Uber responded with the famous “safety is our priority” and stated that its employees followed protocols.

But this was not the first time that the company showed itself unprepared for serious situations. In another case in the US, a couple from New Jersey tried to sue the company after an accident that caused permanent injuries.

The court dismissed the lawsuit because, according to Uber, the couple had accepted the terms of use when ordering a pizza through Uber Eats.

The situation reveals a structural problem in transportation apps: when everything works well, it is convenient.

But when an emergency happens, the path between tapping on the cell phone and a human response can become a maze of forms, bureaucracy and indifference. And, sometimes, seven dollars in credit.

The company says its support team followed Uber's standard protocols, which are designed to protect the privacy and safety of all users. 

Uber says its team advised the rider to contact law enforcement and, when police reached out, the company shared its protocol for an expedited request. Once Uber received the request the company says it supported the solution.

Technology analyst Carmi Levy says this is an example of how traditional elements of customer service have been lost in today's gig economy.

"Uber is able to deliver, in theory, a lower cost experience because it dispenses with a lot of the overhead of traditional transportation services," said Levy.

"There's a cost to their efficiency and their cost effectiveness. And that cost is if something goes wrong, it isn't as easy as just calling a phone number and getting help."

Julia has since escalated her concerns with Uber. 

She says she's looking for both compensation for their emotional stress and for the ride-sharing company to commit to changing its emergency response procedures so that others don't experience what she did if minors are left in an Uber.

"I made it very clear, you can offer me $1 million. If there are no policy changes, I will not be accepting that, I need to see policy change here," Julia said. "No one should have to go through what we went through."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/uber-drives-off-with-child-1.7513379

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