- A couple claimed they were charged nearly $30,000 for a single Uber ride in Costa Rica.
- The journey should have been converted into US dollars, costing them roughly $55, they said.
An American couple claim they were charged nearly $30,000 for a single Uber ride during a vacation in Costa Rica, after an apparent currency conversion mix-up.
In a video shared on TikTok, user @dominique.xo.xo said that she was charged $29,994.33 for an Uber ride in late June.
A caption on the video said that the journey should have cost 29,994 Costa Rican colones, which is equivalent to $55.32 in US dollars.
@dominique.xo.xo Trying not to let this ruin the remainder of my trip, but…. Yes! @Uber charged me $29,994 for a single ride! Correct conversion should have been $54, but was charged 600% more. Contacted Uber: They replied w/ “Do not worry”, but did not provide any further assistance I cannot find a customer service number anywhere. They have ignored my messages & I have only received pre-generated messages. Yes, I contacted my financial institution @Altura Credit Union immediately. They said there is nothing they can do about it at the moment as I have to wait another 4 days for the amount to possibly convert to the correct amount. Cannot believe they allowed a payment of this amount to process. Failed security measures & negligence. So now I am on a trip out of the county with no way to access my funds Pray for me Just trying to enjoy my vacation ##emotionaldamage##horrorstory##uberscam##uber##fyp##viral##travelhorrorstory##wtf##traveltiktok ♬ Song Oh no oh no oh no no no
In a follow-up video, Dominique said that after contacting her bank they "basically told me that it was my fault because I put a travel notice on my card, and because of that the charge was able to bypass all of the security measures, all of the policies that were in place."
@dominique.xo.xo Replying to @user485530046132 ‼️‼️ Part 2 (posting part 3 rn) I always use my credit card for international charges. Unfortunately, I was rushing & didn’t realize my debit card was attached to my @Uber ♬ Aesthetic
She added that she also reached out to Uber, which passed the blame back onto the bank.
She said Uber told her that she needed to check with the bank as to why there was a charge in the wrong currency.
"My bank and Uber were basically blaming each other," she said.
Screenshots in the video appeared to show that the bank in question was Altura Credit Union.
Uber and Altura Credit Union did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Screenshots on the video also correspond to complaints made by Douglas Ordonez.
—Douglas Ordonez (@DOJ_111) June 30, 2023
On Twitter, Ordonez said he is currently in Guatemala celebrating he and his partner's five-year anniversary with "no access to funds."
Both companies responded to Ordonez's Twitter message, but @dominique.xo.xo said in her TikTok video that they had not reached out directly as of Tuesday.
The screenshots in the video show that the charge was a temporary hold, with the pending transaction due to come out on July 2. It's unclear if the money was removed from the bank account on that date.
In the video, Dominique said that the charge stopped her from being able to withdraw any money, essentially putting her vacation "on hold."
Insider contacted @dominique.xo.xo and Ordonez for comment, but did not receive a reply.