Uber, Lyft give refunds for surge pricing after Port Authority bombing
Uber and Lyft are coughing up refunds to passengers who got slapped with surge pricing as they hopped into cars to flee the Port Authority bombing on Monday.
In the immediate aftermath of the blast — which forced a complete shutdown of the Times Square subway station — users of the popular ride-hailing apps were hit with fares that were jacked up 2.5 times normal rates.
Many took to Twitter to gripe about the move, which some described as taking advantage of a terrorist attack.
“Within minutes of seeing reports of an incident, we disabled dynamic pricing in the area,” Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang said.
“In addition, we are proactively refunding riders for dynamic pricing on affected trips in the area.” Nevertheless, drivers will get to keep their shares of the jacked-up fare prices, she added.
A Lyft spokesperson also said that the company was working to reimburse passengers who incurred higher prices in the Port Authority area.
“Our thoughts are with those injured and impacted by this morning’s events,” the spokesperson added.
It is not the first time that Uber has found itself in hot water over surge pricing. Separately on Monday, a Toronto man was forced to shell out more than $14,400 for a 5-mile Uber ride, when a glitch in surge pricing caused his bill to skyrocket.
In January, Uber inadvertently launched the #DeleteUber movement when it turned off surge pricing at JFK during the NY Taxi Workers Alliance boycott following President’s Trump first attempt at putting his travel ban into effect.