What's your Uber experience?

[Aeryn]

Maybe its only on some locations like Airport or City or in the evenings?

I took an uber in Sydney this morning and invoice shows Transportation service fee, booking fee, nsw government passenger levy and nsw CTP charge - no seasonal surcharge.

 

[Brissy1]

Maybe its only on some locations like Airport or City or in the evenings?

I took an uber in Sydney this morning and invoice shows Transportation service fee, booking fee, nsw government passenger levy and nsw CTP charge - no seasonal surcharge.

Link posted above shows the "season" is only some times on some days.
I found this on the internet about uber driving in Brisbane so to answer my own question, no it doesn't all go to the driver, my $2.20 charged=$1.60 for the driver.

"
We’re rolling out a temporary Seasonal Surcharge during high-demand occasions from 28 October to 21 December 2025
How does the Seasonal Surcharge work?

Earn more per trip in Brisbane

You will earn an additional amount for every trip you start in Brisbane (including Brisbane Airport) during the set occasions specified below.

All days: 9 pm - 9 am (the next day)
$1.10

Monday - Thursday: 2 pm - 7 pm
$1.60

Friday - Sunday: 9 am - 7 pm
$1.10

Service fees have been applied to figures stated above

 

[FishFood]

Thought I'd chime in with an anecdote, upon arriving in Perth it was $50 to get home on Uber due to surge pricing, and I'd normally never see above $20. I caught the train from Airport Central one stop to Redcliffe and the Uber dropper to $16.

While many wouldn't deal with the complexity of a multi stop itinerary heading home, it was well worth it to me to save around $30.

 

[dajop]

I found this on the internet about uber driving in Brisbane so to answer my own question, no it doesn't all go to the driver, my $2.20 charged=$1.60 for the driver.

It would be naive to think otherwise, that a tech company doesn't take about 1/4-1/3 at every opportunity they have to do so!

 

[hwy]

Uber puts taxis out of business, and now they are profiting because of no competition. When DiDi is 15-20% cheaper than Uber, no driver picks up the ride request as they all operate on both platforms.

Uber are their own worst enemy sometimes and no amount of govt regulation is going to make the product more efficient. Sad as I used to like supporting the honest taxi drivers back last century.

 

[dairyfloss]

Uber puts taxis out of business, and now they are profiting because of no competition. When DiDi is 15-20% cheaper than Uber, no driver picks up the ride request as they all operate on both platforms.

Uber are their own worst enemy sometimes and no amount of govt regulation is going to make the product more efficient. Sad as I used to like supporting the honest taxi drivers back last century.

Eventually there will be Waymo here to keep Uber honest and competitive I just hope they can sort out their issues with keeping passengers locked up in the back, or driving them in a circle for hours!

 

[openseat]

I waited for over 10 minutes for a response to an Uber request at Adelaide airport last week. I gave up. I had also been previously ghosted by three Didi drivers. I got a taxi that was $10 more than the Uber and $20 more than Didi. The hassle is not worth it at airports.

 

[Aeryn]

Ubers haven't put Taxis out of business.

Poor (in some cases criminal) behavior of taxi drivers (such as over charging, reckless driving, poor personal hygiene, coughpy app, need to direct drivers) has a lot of people favoring ride share where the price is known up front, as is the identity of the driver, plus safety features of a friend/relative being able to track your ride in real time.

 

[NoName]

Poor (in some cases criminal) behavior of taxi drivers (such as over charging,

You’d think they’d realise what their behaviour has done and changed by now. But nope, they still try it on. Just the other week I made the mistake of getting a taxi from Southbank to MEL. Just a taxi hailed off the street and despite it already being an $80+ fare the guy wanted to add on a booking fee. Then acted like I was the bad guy when I told him I wasn’t paying it.

 

[dairyfloss]

I had a very strange experience with Uber after arriving at MEL T1 last weekend, which I'm wondering whether someone here might have seen or heard of before, and perhaps have some ideas about how to address it, as Uber to this point are telling me it's not their problem. Now, bear with me here - it's a long one!

My little family of 3 arrived on Jan 1st to MEL T1, and after seeing bags on the belt, I made a booking for an Uber XL to take us from the airport to the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins (25 Collins St), and which would meet us at a designated bay outside the terminal. The trip showed up as $77 (I don't recall if it said estimate, or if it should have been a fixed fare). A Mercedes V class was given the job, and the guy showed up a few mins later at 9:49AM after coming in from what looked to be a location just outside the airport. Car was nice - driver friendly. The driver had a 5-star rating, but only looks to have been on Uber a few months. No issues en route to the hotel.

Now on that route - and I don't travel to MEL often, so I'm not certain - we started out as usual, going along the M2 past the DFO, but it wasn't long and we seemed to be on regular suburban streets, not on the M2, which was fine... and there was next to no cars on the road, being the morning of new year's day, so I just figured this was the best option selected by Uber's system on the day. Looking at the map now, it may have been Bulla & Mt Alexander Rds we followed. I didn't notice a lot of landmarks, but I know we talked about the Queen Vic Markets as we went by those once reaching the city, and also that we went by the Carlton Gardens, as I was telling my son that's where the Museum was that we would visit later in the day. Dropped at the hotel at supposedly 10:20AM, which means a trip of 31 mins, which is about right I think.

Next came the receipt... and this is where things get soured and confusing. The receipt was not for $77, but $111, and also it contained not 1 (which I'm used to), but 6 tolls from all over the city, together with the other fees that come with airport pick-ups. As I'm staring at the tolls thinking how it would have been possible to pass that many on the mainly suburban route we took, I also saw that the receipt said that the "trip fare was adjusted because the actual drop-off point was different from the drop-off point originally selected.". This was simply not true - I didn't touch the app after the booking and pick-up. Then, I also saw the route map on the receipt, and it showed that we followed the M2 to what looks like the M1 near Docklands before coming back into the city from the west?

Map from Uber app trip history:


Here's the bill and tolls charged:




I've written to Uber via the 'Help' options for the trip, but when selecting the 'toll incorrectly charged' or 'driver took a poor route' option, it just tells me they will not refund me, and that the matter is considered resolved unless I can provide evidence, which I can't (my eyeballs don't record to disk, unfortunately!)

So... firstly... MEL regulars and locals... is it even possible to rack up this number of tolls by talking ANY route from MEL into the city... and then for those that know Uber's systems better than me... is it possible that a driver could trick the app into thinking it took a totally different route and add tolls and all the rest?! It's not a big amount of money, but it feels like I've been scammed by what should be a relatively protected system & process, and I won't allow that to go unreported. Either Uber's system was broken, or the guy is a professional fraudster, and either way I feel I need to get somewhere on flagging whichever it is to the relevant party.

Thoughts? Any experiences like this one?

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[Quickstatus]

is it possible that a driver could trick the app into thinking it took a totally different route and add tolls and all the rest?

I believe not. You can actually see the route taken when you log into the app, click activity and look at your trips.

But usually an XL would be circa $100 into the CBD if I recall correctly

Maybe post that route here?

 

[dairyfloss]

I believe not. You can actually see the route taken when you log into the app, click activity and look at your trips.

But usually an XL would be circa $100 into the CBD if I recall correctly

Maybe post that route here?

$77 was the price that I selected for Uber XL. If it was an estimate only, that wasn't clear. A mate showed me examples of multiple trips that are all completed at around that price as well (unless during surge - but they were booking the higher price knowingly). The return trip we took in an Uber XL two days later went what felt like the same suburban route back to the airport via Queen Vic markets and NNW from there (mapped below from Uber) and that was $66.23 including a single toll point.

Return Journey:


There is no detailed route data that you can zoom in on - just the map you see above in my original post - that was taken from the trip in Uber - with the route marked by the app (again - a route we did not take)

 

[RealtimeY]

I've had issues with being charged incorrectly before for inexplicable double-charging of tolls, and with the app refusing to escalate it, the only way for me to get it resolved was by lodging a dispute through Amex, at which point it seemed to be resolved almost immediately.

 

[Happy Dude]

I'd write to Linkt to ask them for a list of the tolls. They look way too high.

 

[dajop]

I



Here's the bill and tolls charged:

View attachment 489980
View attachment 489982

Toll prices can be found here:

https://www.linkt.com.au/content/dam/linkt/common/qpu/q3-jan-mar-26/citylink-toll-pricing-jan-mar-2026.pdf

If the vehicle did indeed cross the Bolte Bridge, it should be a single fee of $10.73. Three toll points together it should be $3.30 + $3.30 +$4.13.

Only two of those you were charged are valid if you crossed the Bolte Bridge:
1) Citylink: SE Tullamarine Fwy/Bell St - Footscray Rd south bound $6.60
2) Citylink: SE Footscray Rd - Power St $4.13

The rest is double up and driver trying to rip you off.

If you went past Vic market, then at most would be the $6.60 charge, at best it would be $0 if you did Bulla Rd Exit, or it would be $3.30 if you came of Flemington Rd.

 

[Quickstatus]

The current Uber route looks the same

 

[dairyfloss]

Toll prices can be found here:

https://www.linkt.com.au/content/dam/linkt/common/qpu/q3-jan-mar-26/citylink-toll-pricing-jan-mar-2026.pdf

If the vehicle did indeed cross the Bolte Bridge, it should be a single fee of $10.73. Three toll points together it should be $3.30 + $3.30 +$4.13.

Only two of those you were charged are valid if you crossed the Bolte Bridge:
1) Citylink: SE Tullamarine Fwy/Bell St - Footscray Rd south bound $6.60
2) Citylink: SE Footscray Rd - Power St $4.13

The rest is double up and driver trying to rip you off.

If you went past Vic market, then at most would be the $6.60 charge, at best it would be $0 if you did Bulla Rd Exit, or it would be $3.30 if you came of Flemington Rd.

Thanks, @dajop - definitely no bridge crossings on this trip. I know that way as it's what I'm more familiar with for the west end of town and stays at the W or InterContinental I think have gone that way in or out. I reckon it was the Bulla Rd exit, like we did the reverse of going back to the airport and at $3.30 per above.

I'm just lost at how the driver could have falsified the journey to appear as something totally different to the actually travelled route. This has to be a safety or audit issue as well. Maybe there's an offline mode or something like that and they can edit the route manually?

 

[dairyfloss]

The current Uber route looks the same
View attachment 490120

Yes - that's a closer route to what we actually took... which I think was via Bulla Rd, but the map above in my initial post #1,950 shows something different. It's a route that we did not take, but is recorded on the Uber app and the receipt as what was taken. It's somehow been falsified ahead of billing by a glitch or fraudulent behaviour

 

[dajop]

I'm just lost at how the driver could have falsified the journey to appear as something totally different to the actually travelled route. This has to be a safety or audit issue as well. Maybe there's an offline mode or something like that and they can edit the route manually?

Even without the falsification, Uber should automatically refund everything but the two line items for the tolls. And this level of fradulent behaviour should raise red flags about the integrity of the rest of the journey.

Even assuming he took the bridge, when travelling A->B->C->D->E instead of being charged for A->C and C->E, instead you've been charged for:
A-B
A-C
B-C
B-D
C-D
C-E

This guy should be kicked off the platform for taking advantage of unsuspecting tourist.

 

[dairyfloss]

Even without the falsification, Uber should automatically refund everything but the two line items for the tolls. And this level of fradulent behaviour should raise red flags about the integrity of the rest of the journey.

Even assuming he took the bridge, when travelling A->B->C->D->E instead of being charged for A->C and C->E, instead you've been charged for:
A-B
A-C
B-C
B-D
C-D
C-E

This guy should be kicked off the platform for taking advantage of unsuspecting tourist.

Agree - imagine how much trouble people could be causing if this is more widespread. It's not just about some falsified billing - which is what highlighted it for me - but also the possibility of being able to hide where you and persons in your vehicle were at a given time, being able to aid and abet, etc. It's bad.

I'll keep pushing Uber, using the additional detail and insights from here as I do. Thanks all!