Uber driver stunned after being charged £3000 for three minute drop-off at major UK airport
An Uber driver was left astonished after he discovered he'd been charged over £3,000 for dropping off passengers at an airport.
Uber driver Mark Connor had been taking people from Liverpool to Manchester Airport on 1 December when he pulled up at the drop off zone.
The normal price for this is forking over £5 for the ability to stop off for five minutes and drop people off at the airport.
It's expensive but what are you going to do, not have anywhere you can drop people off at the airport?
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Anyhow, according to the Liverpool Echo, the driver later checked his bank account and found that he'd been charged £3,132 by the airport for a three minute stay, meaning he'd basically had the world's most expensive parking space.
"I was shocked and couldn't understand it. I thought we had enough to see us to the end of the month, and then we didn't," the Uber driver told the Echo about discovering the gargantuan charge.
And things got worse after Mark tried to get in touch to sort things out.
"I rang the airport who gave me a feedback form, which I sent back. I told them the time and the date, and they emailed saying they had no record of the transaction."
Fortunately, Mark was able to contact his bank and the eye-watering amount was refunded just a few days later.
However, things took a turn for the worse again after Mark's wife was out shopping afterwards and discovered that her card had been declined, as their account had been charged the figure again.
Even worse is he's been charged on his overdraft, which can lead to other penalties, and is just not a good financial place to be in - especially with Christmas coming up.
After weeks of hell, it sounds like the end is in sight for Mark as he's supposed to be getting refunded by the airport.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport told the Echo: "We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to this passenger. We are in touch with him and arranging a refund in full as soon as possible.
"Thousands of passengers use our parking services every day and instances like this are extremely rare. Where there are issues we work to make sure they are resolved as quickly as possible."
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport told LADbible that Mark's problems started when the car park camera didn't pick up on him leaving, an error which is rare but can occasionally happen.
A further complication was thrown into the works when there was a bit of confusion over payment details, as the airport spokesperson said the taxi driver provided card details instead of Apple Pay information, having used Apple Pay to pay for the stay.
They then said that the airport had now refunded the man.
Joe Harker