‘They did it in a very sneaky way’: Uber rider deletes app after cleaning fee dispute over pet

An Uber rider is warning customers to check their receipts after she was charged an unexpected cleaning fee.

“I forgot about the whole incident until the next week when I noticed one of my Uber rides cost me $85,” said Karen Plangg.

The Vancouver resident says the incident happened in January when she ordered an Uber to pick up her children from school. Plangg brought her five-pound Yorkipoo along for the ride and selected the Uber Pet option, which costs a few extra dollars. However, Plangg says the trip shouldn’t have cost more than $25.

“When I emailed Uber and messaged through their app, they told me it was a $60 cleaning fee, plus an extra three-dollar tax on top of the $5 Uber Pet fee they already charged,” said Plangg.

Plangg says Uber sent her a link to its cleaning policy, which stated it charges cleaning fees for excessive messes like vomit or food spills. In addition, the company sent Plangg photo evidence of the mess her dog had supposedly made in the vehicle. Plangg says the photos didn’t fall in line with the company’s cleaning policy since the photos revealed a few pet hairs on the seat and a small amount of debris on the floor mat.

“They had sent me the cleaning policy and clearly the pictures they sent me as evidence didn’t support the fact I was charged a cleaning fee,” Plangg told Consumer Matters. “I feel like the mess on the floor mat is pretty normal. I’ve been in Ubers that are just as messy as the so-called mess that I left,” she added.

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Plangg reached out to Uber to dispute the charge, but says despite the ride-hailing company telling her she was a valued customer, it stood firm with its original position. “The company should be fair in the way they handle disputes and I don’t think they were fair at all,” said Plangg.

“At no point was there a phone number I could chat with a human to let them know I was upset with the extra fees.”

Digital and technology expert Andy Baryer says Plangg’s experience with Uber is common and could be prevented.

“The thing that I would like to see that if somebody is submitting a photo for evidence to an Uber about a cleaning issue, Uber needs to be able to access the metadata and inside the metadata it will tell you the time that photo was taken, the date it was taken, and all of that should align with the trip,” said Baryer.

When Consumer Matters reached out to Uber, Plangg received a refund within hours. However, Uber refused to answer questions around Plangg’s case.

She says she has since donated her refund to the BC SPCA and has deleted her Uber app.

“When there are so many options out there, I don’t have to go with a company that’s not going to help their customers when they have disputes,” said Plangg.

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