--- title: Uber Charged a Passenger Over $14,000 for a 21 Minute Ride description: An Uber customer in Toronto, Canada, was charged over $14,000 for a five-mile, 21-minute ride that was supposed to cost under $20. canonical: https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-11T18:19:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:13.036Z og:title: Uber Charged a Passenger $14,000 for a 21-Minute Ride og:description: The company has since issued a full refund og:url: https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3cc345732360d80/6988f498ab6d77bfdd6b0f68/uber.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Uber og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Uber Charged a Passenger $14,000 for a 21-Minute Ride twitter:description: The company has since issued a full refund twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3cc345732360d80/6988f498ab6d77bfdd6b0f68/uber.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Uber Accidentally Charged a Passenger $14,000 for a 21-Minute Ride > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 11, 2017 6:19 PM UTC  The Uber ride sharing application is on a portable device in this photo illustration on December 6, 2017. The Uber ride sharing application is on a portable device in this photo illustration on December 6, 2017. NurPhoto—NurPhoto via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 11, 2017 6:19 PM UTC An [Uber](http://www.thedrive.com/tech/16801/uber-loses-operating-license-in-another-u-k-city) customer in [Toronto, Canada](http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/16058/lyft-launches-in-toronto-making-its-first-foray-outside-of-the-u-s), was charged more than $14,000 for a five-mile, 21-minute ride that was supposed to cost under $20, according to [_Slate_](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/12/uber%5Fcharged%5Fa%5Fcustomer%5F18%5F000%5Ffor%5Fa%5F21%5Fminute%5Fride%5Fdon%5Ft%5Fworry%5Fhe%5Fs%5Fgetting.html). The company has stated that it has since issued a full [refund](http://time.com/4958446/directv-refunds-nfl-sunday-ticket-anthem-protests-donald-trump/) to the passenger. “There was an error here and it has been resolved,” an Uber spokesperson told Slate of the $18,518.50 Canadian dollar fare. “We have provided a full refund to this rider and apologized to him for this experience. We have safeguards in place to help prevent something like this from happening, and we are working to understand how this occurred.” A friend of the overcharged customer tweeted on Saturday about disputing the price. “My friend was charged 18K for a 20 Min ride (!), and they are sticking to it. What in the world??? This is insane!” Emily Kennard [wrote](https://twitter.com/emilykennard/status/939534163564253187) alongisde a screenshot of the receipt for the ride. “He disputed and they aren’t backing down.” > [](https://twitter.com/emilykennard/status/939534163564253187) > [](https://twitter.com/emilykennard/status/939550904872824832) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/"},"headline":"Uber Accidentally Charged a Passenger $14,000 for a 21-Minute Ride","datePublished":"2017-12-11T18:19:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:13.036Z","description":"The company has since issued a full refund","url":"https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Uber","Business"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3cc345732360d80/6988f498ab6d77bfdd6b0f68/uber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3cc345732360d80/6988f498ab6d77bfdd6b0f68/uber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Uber","caption":"The Uber ride sharing application is on a portable device in this photo illustration on December 6, 2017.","creditText":"NurPhoto—NurPhoto via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5058842/uber-overcharged-passenger-14000-dollar/","name":"Uber Accidentally Charged a Passenger $14,000 for a 21-Minute Ride"}}]}] ```