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Thread: Beware of Vomit Fraud next time you take an Uber or Lyft!

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Beware of Vomit Fraud next time you take an Uber or Lyft!

    I barely take Uber or Lyft. I don't drink, prefer to drive myself places, and rent cars when I travel. I've taken Uber a total of 3 times in my life, with two being good experiences, and one being awful (the guy just stalled and stalled and never showed up).

    However, I first learned of "vomit fraud" only recently from my friend and character actor Dave Lerman, who has appeared before on PFA Radio.

    It's exactly as it sounds. The driver reports to Uber that the passenger vomited in the car, and that they need to be reimbursed for the cleaning bill. This typically ranges from $80 to $150, and is automatically charged to your credit card.

    The driver can get you charged simply by sending in pictures of the vomit. They do not have to prove that you were the one who did it.

    This has become a big scam to where a lot of drivers are raking in extra money. The following types of passengers are most likely to be targeted:

    - Drunk passengers. They may not even remember whether or not they really vomited, and possibly won't question the charge!

    - Passengers returning from nightclubs or bars, as their vomiting on the way home is very believable.

    - Passengers going to or from a rich neighborhood. It's sometimes assumed they won't notice or bother to fight an extra $150 on their credit card statement.

    - Passengers whose rides are being paid for by businesses. The driver doesn't know who is paying, but if the passenger indicates that a business ordered the ride for him, the driver is more likely to commit fraud, as businesses are far less likely to catch or fight such charges.

    Vomit fraud also happens far more often at night than during the day, simply because it's more believable.

    The appeals process is a pain in the ass. You have to repeatedly exchange e-mails with Uber customer service, which tends to favor the driver. In many cases, defrauded passengers are ultimately ruled against. Uber will take action against drivers with an excessive number of vomit fraud accusations, but some basically have it down to a science where they have figured out the maximum number of times they can pull it.

    How can you fight vomit fraud?

    Here's my suggestions to prevent and fight it:

    - The best way to prevent it is to take a cell phone video of you exiting the car, and tell the driver you're doing it. You can say something like, "I've been hit with two bogus cleaning fees for fake vomit claims, so now I video myself exiting the car. It's no offense to you personally, and I believe you're an honest person." As you're exiting, take a video of the area where you were sitting, including the dashboard, and state the date and time you're exiting the vehicle. Knowing that you've taken this preventative measure, the driver will almost never victimize you at that point.

    - If you feel uncomfortable letting the driver know, you can also take a surreptitious video of yourself exiting the car, and then when you're out of the car, quickly take a video of the car (you can have your hand over the screen as you take the video in the car, and then pretend you're texting once you get out of the car). Also state the date and time once you're out of the car.

    - If hit with a vomit fraud charge, aggressively appeal it with Uber or Lyft. In the appeal, never admit to drinking or feeling sick, even if you were.

    - If your appeal is rejected, call your credit card company and appeal through them. You will likely win. However, Uber may delete your account, and you'll have to create another one with a different credit card.

    Here's a July 2018 article from the Miami Herald regarding vomit fraud: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/bus...215299675.html

  2. #2
    Platinum devidee's Avatar
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    I haven't used uber or lyft since I quit drinking.

     
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      splitthis:

  3. #3
    100% Organic MumblesBadly's Avatar
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    Fuck Uber! I only use them if I can’t get a Lyft ride.
    _____________________________________________
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    I actually hope this [second impeachment] succeeds, because I want Trump put down politically like a sick, 14-year-old dog. ... I don't want him complicating the 2024 primary season. I just want him done.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Were Republicans cowardly or unethical not to go along with [convicting Trump in the second impeachment Senate trial]? No. The smart move was to reject it.

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    Canadrunk limitles's Avatar
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    I thought these companies had a rep system for both driver and riders.
    False claims would be a sure way to a negative reputation

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    Plutonium lol wow's Avatar
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    todge can we transition this website to its natural course of vomitfraudalert.com

     
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      Bootsy Collins:
      
      rum dick: Rofl
      
      nunbeater: eighth tier vomitorium
      
      JACKDANIELS: DO IT TODGE

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    Platinum duped_samaritan's Avatar
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    Have taken over 500 Uber/Lyft rides, mostly in NYC.

    Never had any issue.

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    Gold MrTickle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by duped_samaritan View Post
    Have taken over 500 Uber/Lyft rides, mostly in NYC.

    Never had any issue.
    Same for me. Must have taken Ubers in more than 10 countries and never had an issue
    Last edited by MrTickle; 02-15-2019 at 02:29 PM. Reason: typo

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    I deleted some posts and banned limitles from the thread.

    PLOL, who oddly isn't posting here except to ask someone for $25 back, sent the following comment to me on Twitter::

    Quote Originally Posted by PLOL
    I'm sorry, I've taken over 2,000 ubers and this is terrible advice. LOL at taking a video every time you exit an uber. You're going to get downrated for being obnoxious. And Uber support tends to side with pax, not drivers, when there's a dispute.

    Better advice is to cancel and re-request when you get a driver with a rating below 4.75 or with fewer than 1,000 rides

    His advice is good if you're in a highly populated area where you can easily get a driver with a rating of 4.75+ and 1000+ rides.

    But in some places that's not so easy to do.

    I admit I didn't consider the rating for the passenger for the whole video thing. He's right that you could get a crappy rating for that. Therefore, perhaps taking secret video in "suspect" spots (such as when you're coming back from a bar or club) is the right way to go.

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    Silver AhoosierA's Avatar
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    I once had an Uber driver brag to me about charging a customer a cleaning fee simply because he didn’t like them. Said he stopped at the gas station immediately after the ride, bought some potato chips and water...chewed them up and spit them out on his seats (leather) and took the “puke” picture.

    I took a video as I exited his car and reported him to Uber.

     
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      MumblesBadly: Yes!

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    Gold gauchojake's Avatar
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    I don't think limitles was done telling us how stupid we are

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    There are millions of drives a day. I am sure some kind of fraud does occur in some statistically insignificant fashion.

    Also, when I drove a few years ago it was true that passengers were pretty much always favored in any dispute. Also, I would guess for every time a driver falsely claimed a cleaning fee, there were 100 instances where a passenger got a ride erased on false pretenses

    That was the truly sneaky shit Uber would do. They would retroactively go back and erase rides (and $$) without even telling you.

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    Platinum FRANKRIZZO's Avatar
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    Fuck uber, no tips no gas money wear and tear on car no benefits or nothing. What a horrible way to have to make a living. Drivers for Uber have to work 70 hours plus to even scrape a living .

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FRANKRIZZO View Post
    Fuck uber, no tips no gas money wear and tear on car no benefits or nothing. What a horrible way to have to make a living. Drivers for Uber have to work 70 hours plus to even scrape a living .
    Some people love it because of the flexibility and lack of a boss.

    It's also easy. You just drive.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by FRANKRIZZO View Post
    Fuck uber, no tips no gas money wear and tear on car no benefits or nothing. What a horrible way to have to make a living. Drivers for Uber have to work 70 hours plus to even scrape a living .
    Some people love it because of the flexibility and lack of a boss.

    It's also easy. You just drive.
    Yeah. If the economics worked out, it would be fine. It gets old and boring and monotonous pretty quick, but that is probably the case with most jobs.

    The problem is the economics just don't work. You just cant make a lower middle class living doing this like you could as a taxi driver. The turnover rate is tremendous. The whole business model pretty much depends on thousands of drivers starting up every month, as new ones quit. Will be interesting to see how long this can go on before the labor pool runs out.

    Ironically, the drivers that survive are gonna be the ones that the Druff's of the world make warning threads about. The ones that know how to work the system to squeeze every penny out of it. And this probably includes behavior like charging fake cleaning fees in situations where there is a high likelihood it won't be noticed (e.g. drunk people or people on a business account).

    Or more common, driving around while logged off to create an artificial demand, so the algorithm makes the rates higher, which most drivers do. From a passenger perspective this is probably seen as unethical, but from the driver perspective it is the opposite. The drivers that stay logged in all the time and take min rate calls are the ones keeping prices too low, and they are the problem.
    Last edited by ErickAA; 02-16-2019 at 04:34 PM.

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    Platinum FRANKRIZZO's Avatar
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    Wouldn't drivers having to submit cleaning receipt to Uber solve this issue?

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    Quote Originally Posted by FRANKRIZZO View Post
    Wouldn't drivers having to submit cleaning receipt to Uber solve this issue?
    If it was really an issue, it may be. But if you made a list of the top 100 issues facing Uber, I doubt this makes the list.

    To answer your question though, such a maneuver would spectacularly backfire.

    At the current price points, Uber has a much bigger problem retaining drivers then passengers. So it is not in their interest to make the driver's lives harder, especially considering how rare and fake news this issue probably is.

    Like I said, as passengers most of you have a very myopic view of Uber's problems. At the current price points Uber has much more of a problem keeping drivers happy and driving than passengers happy.

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    100% Organic MumblesBadly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by verminaard View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by FRANKRIZZO View Post
    Wouldn't drivers having to submit cleaning receipt to Uber solve this issue?
    If it was really an issue, it may be. But if you made a list of the top 100 issues facing Uber, I doubt this makes the list.

    To answer your question though, such a maneuver would spectacularly backfire.

    At the current price points, Uber has a much bigger problem retaining drivers then passengers. So it is not in their interest to make the driver's lives harder, especially considering how rare and fake news this issue probably is.

    Like I said, as passengers most of you have a very myopic view of Uber's problems. At the current price points Uber has much more of a problem keeping drivers happy and driving than passengers happy.
    I routinely submit digitized receipts to my company for reimbursement using my smart phone, so that isnt likely to be a burden for drivers who legitimately need their cars cleaned.
    _____________________________________________
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    I actually hope this [second impeachment] succeeds, because I want Trump put down politically like a sick, 14-year-old dog. ... I don't want him complicating the 2024 primary season. I just want him done.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Were Republicans cowardly or unethical not to go along with [convicting Trump in the second impeachment Senate trial]? No. The smart move was to reject it.

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    Gold Kuntmissioner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by verminaard View Post

    It gets old and boring and monotonous pretty quick, but that is probably the case with most jobs.
    Fuck, does everyone other than me hate their job?

    To quote our fearless leader todd...

    Sad!

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