What’s the best way to get from Brixton to Croydon? Take a five hour detour through Bristol, apparently.
In a journey which should take around 30 minutes and cost about £20, Aaron Wray said he was in a taxi for five hours and 21 minutes.
Uber said Wray had input the wrong address, turning his estimated £20 charge into an eye-watering £467.
But the 18-year-old believes the driver mistakenly input the wrong destination and headed two-and-a-half hours in the wrong direction.
Wray claims he woke up on the M7 to find the cab was already heading back to London.
He told The Sun:
My phone was dead so I just had to sit there. I tried to ask the driver but he couldn’t really speak English.
I have no memory of it stopping and I didn’t get out of the car.
Wray, a computer science student, claims the driver confirmed the Croydon postcode before they set off at 3.20am on Sunday.
He said he didn’t realise the detour – or his bill – until he finally made it home.
But despite claiming he had input the correct address in Croydon, Uber claimed the taxi had been requested to Bristol, where Aaron goes to university.
Wray’s journey became viral after a friend posted a screenshot of the ride on Twitter. It’s since been retweeted and liked over a combined 21,000 times.
Luckily for the 18-year-old, Uber has decided to refund him as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
That’s one bill no uni student can afford.
