Uber driver 'scams' passenger, 31, who was quoted £37 for her 12-mile trip home by claiming a major road is CLOSED... then taking her on a 50-mile round-trip costing £200
- Engineering firm worker ordered cab across the Forth of Firth last weekend
- But Uber driver told her a closer bridge was closed and took 50-mile route
- It meant passenger was charged nearly four times what she should have been
- She later discovered the bridge was not closed and Uber has refunded fare
An Uber driver took a passenger on a £200 journey four times the distance she had planned after he lied about a road closure.
Barbara Hume, 31, was travelling home to Inverkeithing, Fife from Edinburgh last weekend on a trip that should be a short, 12-mile, journey across the Queensferry Crossing costing around £40.
But her cab driver told her the crossing was closed and instead the more than 40-mile trip over the Kincardine Bridge, costing her nearly £180.
Miss Hume later discovered that the crossing wasn't closed at all, meaning she should have been taken the quicker route and charged a quarter if what she eventually paid.
Barbara Hume was conned out of more than £100 by an Uber driver who told her the Queensferry Crossing between Edinburgh and her home in Fife was closed
Barbara, who works for a civil engineering firm, was in the car for around an hour-and-a-half and was charged double due to the length of journey at a peak time.
She was 'astounded' when checking her bank account the next morning and contacted the company managing the crossing to discover it was in fact open.
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She says the driver 'took advantage' of her, adding: 'I had a drink at the party but I was on the phone the whole way home, so I only briefly remember the driver telling me the bridge was closed.
'I didn't think anything of it at the time, it was only the next day when I looked at my bank balance I thought something wasn't right, so I double checked with the highways authority and they told me there hadn't been any closures.'
Miss Hume was taken on the blue route on the map, costing her around four times the price
She added: 'I was just really disappointed. It felt like the driver had taken advantage of me in a way, particularly with the surge fare, it was way out of proportion of what I should have been charged.
'I think it is unlikely that I will use Uber ever again.'
Her receipt from the night shows the standard price for the extended trip was around £81, but a surge charge of more than £97 doubled the price of the journey.
A spokesman for Uber said the matter had been resolved with Ms Hume, adding the company had offered her a full refund.
The spokesman refused to confirm whether any action would be taken against the driver.
Taking the bridge would have saved her £140, but the driver wrongly claimed it was shut
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