PSA: My Experience With UberEATS Overcharging

I wrote a few months ago how the DoorDash system doesn’t properly calculate the totals and ends up overcharging customers. I’ve now run into a similar thing with Uber EATS.

I placed an order with a 40% off promo which Uber EATS sent my way. It was a $97 order and ended up costing $73 after adding all fees and discounts. After placing the order, total showed properly in my orders as $73. After delivery, they simply removed the 40% discount and charged my Uber balance the full cost. (screenshots below)

I’m guessing in all cases what’s happening is that when there’s an adjustment to an order the system recalculates the totals and sometimes leaves off promos, discounts, and fee waivers. In my case, there were a few items unavailable which probably triggered the system to recalculate and then drop the 40% discount.

If this were paid with a credit card I’d simply dispute the charge, but it was paid with my Uber balance so there’s no recourse.

I assumed a quick chat would resolve the issue given that I had screenshots showing the error (I’ve learned from my DoorDash experience to take copious screenshots), but the rep decided that I needed a screenshot of the email offering me the 40% discount. This specific promo was pushed to me as an Uber notification on my phone, not email; somehow the screenshot of the 40% at checkout wasn’t enough.

I chatted back a second time and that rep actually took a minute to look at what’s going on. She sent it to “another team” to deal with and that I should wait 6-12 hours. I haven’t heard back now more than 24 hours later. Hopefully they are just backlogged or maybe it was sent to the garbage bin.

I’m shocked that this theft goes on without a system-wide fix. If there are any class action lawyers out there looking for a case…

Here is the original order for $97 with the $39 discount; after all fees it ended up a $73 total:

Here is how it showed in my ‘Uber orders’ after I placed the order and was awaiting delivery:

Around $20 worth of products were not found, so the real cost of the order ended up ~$56, but they charged my Uber Cash $92. My Uber Cash balance was reduced from $450 to $357. Here is the final receipt and charge:
    Chuck
  • On December 6, 2024, 12:48
Tags: UberEATS

View Comments (184)

  • "Move fast and break things" and can't even manage basic math... that's a common trait among modern Tech companies.

  • they delivered me my pizza cold... i asked for a refund, they said they dont offer refunds for cold or late food... ???

    i did some research on reddit and apparently this is normal, the only way to get some action from them is to complain on twitter or bbb or fct... or issue a charge back.

    i decided my time is worth more than that. i messaged, 48 hours or charge back, and they closed the case.

    gave em 60 hours, no response, so i charged back...

    if you use uber services do not pay in cash or gift cards. use credit cards, if they screw you, ask respectfully for a refund but dont expect one.

    • also, i dont know if this is true, but someone on reddit said if you do chargeback, make sure not to use their services again, uber or uber eats, or else they have a right to add the amount you charged back to your new order.

  • If they won't listen to reason, I have great luck complaining on twitter. Send a tweet to the company's account. They always get back to me and give me VIP treatment

  • Did the terms of the offer specify you'd get the discount/rebate if your order was above a certain amount? This almost happened to me recently; I watched the running total and realized that if I spent another $5 I'd get like $30 back. And you said they didn't have some of what you ordered, so maybe your order fell short of the minimum to qualify?

    • Target does the same with their delivery orders. The price/offers/total are recalculated on the shop day. Best to do same day orders and add a few extra items and/or known in-stock replacements to the order to make sure you end up over the offer minimum amount.

  • Don't try to sue them. File a fraud complaint with your State Attorney General's office. I doubt it will help, but why not?

  • I bought a bunch of Uber GCs about a year ago (there was some sort of discount). I noticed now that I have a cash balance with Uber, their price rarely beats Lyft and is often significantly higher. Add to this, the recourse lost in case of problems like the one explained in this post, and the discount GC purchase seems to have not been worth it.

  • This happened to me on Instacart, I had screenshot and detailed documentation, they gave the run around for more than a month pushing it to different teams. Just stopped pursuing it. It's a game of attrition for them.

  • Add to everything, you can't even cancel your Uber One membership if you are within 48 hours of renewal. They charge your renewal a day early. And they make you send a message to customer service if you want to cancel anytime during 48 hours to renewal, and hope they respond on time.

    • That's why you should charge memberships to a virtual credit card or a dummy card, then cancel the card to ensure the membership is really cancelled.

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