After an explosion in Chelsea, NY on Saturday night left 29 people injured, New Yorkers slammed Uber for cashing in on the carnage.
We still know very little about the bombing. However, in the aftermath, Uber have faced criticism for surging their prices during the chaos as many members of the public used the app to flee the scene.
A raw video of the situation in #Chelsea just after the #explosion. I just run outside the street of 23td & 7th. pic.twitter.com/iYEq7EKteP
— Danilo Gabrielli (@DaniloGabrielli) September 18, 2016
Following the explosion, Chelsea’s train services were shut down and yet Uber was reportedly charging customers fares up to 1.8 times the standard rate, seemingly to ‘cash in’ on the horrifying ordeal.
Uber did eventually switch of surge pricing but by this point many scared New Yorkers had been overcharged in their attempts to stay safe and get home after the explosion.
Although Uber tweeted a message to users saying they had switched off surge in the area directly affected by the explosion, some believed this to be a PR opportunity.
Others New Yorkers questioned why Uber didn’t extend the courtesy to other areas of the city, and many more called for refunds on their surged fares.
I’m no economist, but to cash in on terror – whether or not the company’s intentions were indeed calculated and motivated by greed – seems like a pretty sick version of supply and demand to me.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.