A group of partygoers are shocked after Uber charged them $148.17 for a 12-minute, 5km journey in Auckland.
The group of four took an Ola ride from a Remuera address at about 8pm on Friday night to the Listen In event at Mt Smart in Mt Wellington and were charged just $10.86, using a 20 percent discount code.
When the concert finished they walked to a nearby McDonald's to have better luck booking a driver to head home.
"There was already at least 50 people there who had the same idea all huddled in the doorway to keep warm," said one of the group, a woman aged 23.
They tried to book an Ola home about 1am but could not be connected to a driver so they booked an Uber instead.
"It took half an hour of waiting to be connected to a driver and a cancellation before we found a driver willing to take us."
The Uber app initially quoted them $52 - four times the cost of their Ola journey to the event - and they assumed the high price was due to surge pricing because of high demand.
But when they arrived at their home - a journey of just 5.8km - they saw they had been charged $148.17.
Looking at their journey in the Uber app, the original address was a pick-up address was in St Mary's Bay, not Mt Smart stadium.
"It looks weird. We definitely weren't anywhere near St Mary's Bay but it has been added to our journey.
"We were pretty upset as $52 that we were originally quoted was already an expensive ride fare. Then to arrive home after a freezing wait to a $148 charge was absurd. That is almost triple what we had been quoted."
The group plans to complain to Uber.
A spokesman for Uber said the company was "actively looking into this" but could not comment further without the customers providing more information.
When Uber prices are surging, users will see a multiplier to the standard rates on the map, according to Uber's website.
"For example, you might see surge at 1.8x or 2.5x. This is how much your base fare will be multiplied by, so a fare that is usually $10 would be $18 when it's at 1.8x Surge.
"Uber's fee percentage does not change during surge pricing."
