Last week, a California couple celebrating their five-year anniversary in Central America was forced to put their vacation on pause when an Uber ride in Costa Rica – that should have cost them $50 – charged them almost $30,000.
Posting to Twitter, Douglas Ordonez exposed Uber and Altura Credit Union for allowing the charge to go through. Apparently, the $29,994 was never converted to US dollars and instead was charged in colón.
“Now I’m in Guatemala with a negative balance on my 5-year anniversary,” he said.
Uber charged me $29,994 USD for a Uber ride in Costa Rica. They did not convert that into the Costa Rican currency $54 USD. Altura credit union allowed this charge to process and Uber is not complying. Now I’m in Guatemala with a negative balance on my 5 year anniversary. #uber pic.twitter.com/UGgZHXYjF8
— Douglas Ordonez (@DOJ_111) June 29, 2023
His wife Dominique posted a series of TikToks elaborating on the mistake, and the abhorrent customer service from each corporation that followed. Apparently, her card’s travel notice had allowed the charge to process unflagged.
“My bank and Uber were basically blaming each other,” she said.
She also stated that while both Uber and Acura had commented on her husband’s viral tweet, neither had personally contacted the couple or followed through with their messages.
“$30,000 should never be allowed to go through. Travel or not,” Brooke Love commented.
$29K UPDATE. @AlturaCU and @Uber_Support are blaming each other. @AlturaCU stated that the 29k amount bypassed security & daily charge limit because we put a travel notice. ABSOLUTELY NO REASON why this amount should have cleared. After 4 full days the 29k was finally adjusted. pic.twitter.com/lMPr76ol18
— Douglas Ordonez (@DOJ_111) July 2, 2023
Ultimately, after four days of surviving in Guatemala with no money, the funds were reinstated. But the next time the couple needs to take a taxi in a foreign country, maybe they should just pay with cash.
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