'My $19 Uber ride cost 100 times that'

Uber passengers in the US have complained on Twitter after a “glitch” meant they were charged 100 times more than advertised fares.

One journey that should have cost $96.72 (£77.60) was reportedly charged at $9,672, while some charges were so high they triggered fraud alerts.

The payment problem reportedly hit riders in San Diego and Washington.

Uber said the issue had been fixed quickly but declined to say how many of its passengers had been overcharged.

Repay delay

One Uber user said the high cost of a short journey, $1,905 instead of $19.05, had led to her husband’s card hitting its balance limit on his birthday.

Many others reported the same issue with their fares and complained there was no direct way to report the problem to Uber.

Uber said it understood how “frustrating” the glitch had been for passengers. And fares would be corrected so passengers paid only the advertised charge without having to contact their banks.

Mark Smith, social and operations director at the Washington Post, who was affected by the glitch, said one lesson to take from the experience was not to link a debit card to an Uber account.

With debit cards, money was immediately removed from a bank account and could take a day to be restored, he said.