Melbourne woman charged $170 for a six-minute trip warns Aussies about potential scam on rideshare app
A young woman has warned Australians to remain vigilant against ‘scams’ after she was charged $170 for a six-minute DiDi ride.
Isabella ordered a car to take her and three friends from Richmond to Prahan after the Weeknd’s concert at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Monday night.
She woke up Tuesday morning to a message from the ride saying she had been charged a $150 cleaning fee for “severe mess.”
“Unfortunately, one driver’s vehicle was left messy/damaged and required cleaning. “Based on the supporting information provided by the driver, a $150 cleaning fee was charged to get the driver’s vehicle clean and back on the road,” the report said.
The severe mess fee of $150 will be applied if there is severe mess, stains or leakage.
However, Isabella said she and her friends had done ‘nothing’ of the sort.
“Please note that this is the highest fee they could have charged us,” she said.
“…We were sober and had no food, no drink, nothing.”
Melbourne music fan Isabella (pictured) was charged almost $170 by DiDi for a six-minute ride after her driver ‘unfairly’ added a $150 cleaning fee for ‘severe mess’
The original rate was $19.36, but increased to $169.36 once the fee was added.
Isabella has tried emailing, calling and messaging DiDi through apps like Instagram and TikTok, but can’t get through.
‘I’ve been trying to address this all day, but the app is terrible. It does not allow me to choose a specific line of reasoning. It just contains frequently asked questions,” she said.
‘I even went so far as to look for people on LinkedIn who work for DiDi and send them a text message.’
Isabella added that her friend heard the driver mocking them while they were in the car.
“My friend speaks Hindi and he heard him on the phone saying we were idiots and stuff while he was driving,” she said.
‘Like, share and be careful with DiDi.’
Several Australians said they had experienced a similar problem with the rideshare company and that more evidence of the “serious mess” was needed.
‘I literally experienced the exact same thing, it was the most annoying thing that happened! On top of the $150, they also went the wrong route and added $25 to our $75 trip,” one person said.
‘This is why I think all DiDi need internal cameras for our safety and theirs. Dashcams looking both ways should be mandatory,” wrote a second.
A third suggested: ‘Dispute it with your bank. They will have to prove the damage, which they obviously can’t do, and it will be an easy but frustrating victory.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted DiDi for comment on the incident.