Woman's outrage over Uber vomit charge after another passenger threw up in the back of the vehic

A woman in Birmingham was hit with an £80 "vomit" charge after her son's friend was sick in the back of an Uber.  Sandra Bates, who linked her son's Uber account to her bank card, was debited with the charge without warning following a trip taken place the night before. 

The original journey fare was just over £23, making the total cost debited over £100. 

Sandra's son, Karl, 26, was out celebrating a friend's 31st birthday at the pub in Station Road on Saturday 11 May, when he ordered an Uber to take him and his friend home.

Karl's friend Rio was feeling worse for wear and ended up puking in the back of the vehicle but instead of coughing up the cleaning bill himself, the driver added the charge to Karl's account.  As reported in the Birmingham Live, Sandra said she was left "livid" with the unexpected fee and said that her bank account was left was just £1 in it.

She added that her son is out of work at the moment which is why she allowed him to link his account to her's, but has now vowed to delete the Uber app and never use it again.  Sandra said that although Rio was sick, only "a little bit went on the edge" of the vehicle. 

Sandra, aged 59 and from Yardley, said she had asked Uber to refund the £80 clean-up fee but has stressed that they have been "cagey" to say the least and keep telling her to contact the support service. 

"We've been sending messages back and forth" she said and highlighted the fact that they are yet to send proof of the cleaning receipt.  She said: "It's not fair and I think it's wrong. I'm deleting the account obviously because I'm not going to use them again."  A spokesman for Uber UK said: "The Uber app is based on mutual respect for both riders and drivers. "For licensed drivers who use the app, their vehicles are their place of work and any damage or mess can mean they are unable to continue working. "When a driver claims a cleaning fee, they are required to provide us with the details of the trip, the passengers and the incident itself as well as photographic evidence and a validated cleaning receipt which our support team then investigates."