Many of us might know by now that Singapore is suffering from an epidemic -- of complaints.

Many of us will also know by now that the repository-of-choice for these complaints, many of which are slightly less necessary than we would like, is The Straits Times forum.

We should therefore not be too surprised to see not one, but two complaint letters from two people who used private-hire car service Uber within the past five days alone —

1. "Baffled by hefty charge for Uber ride"

On a recent Sunday morning, I took my first ride using Uber to get from Pasir Ris to Yishun.

The app indicated that the ride would cost $11. But at the end of the ride, the driver told me I had to pay a whopping $43.

The ride would normally have cost me $17 in a ComfortDelGro cab.

The driver said it was due to a big surge in demand.

However, not once did I see any indication of a surge on the app. Furthermore, it was a clear Sunday morning, and there had been eight Uber cars waiting for a pick-up in the vicinity.

I am baffled by this incident. What is the justification for this high price?

I have sent several e-mail messages asking for a refund on the difference in fare, but there has been little action from Uber.

Wilma Elizabeth Chai (Mrs)

Writing e-mail messages to Uber didn't work, so let's write in to The Straits Times instead.

Maybe it will work.

As opposed to, you know, filing a ticket within the system to share the problem and request a refund of the difference. And communicating the issue clearly to them.

2. "Why charge for Uber ride that didn't happen?"

I empathise with Mrs Wilma Elizabeth Chai who is still waiting for a refund from Uber ("Baffled by hefty charge for Uber ride"; Jan 14).

Recently, I booked a ride through Uber and received a message that the driver was en-route.

As there was no sign of the driver after some time, I checked the app and found out that he had cancelled the booking.

I tried to find a telephone number I could call to find out why the booking was cancelled, but could not find one. It was just difficult to get to Uber.

Later, when I checked the Uber rides that I had taken, the cancelled booking was listed, and $6 had been charged to my credit card for the "ride".

This auto-deduction is disconcerting. I tried to delete my credit card, but I was unable to do so without offering another card in its place.

Why was my credit card deducted even though the Uber driver did not arrive? Why must a customer apply for a refund when the ride did not take place to start with?

It seems like the onus is on the customer to spot the errors.

Manmohan Singh

Why is the booking cancelled? Why did Uber charge me for the cancelled ride? Why must I apply for refund? Why?

So many questions. No answers given. Ask ST instead.

-----------

While the two forum letter writers may or may not have real issues with Uber, they could have saved time on writing long letters by:

Messaging Uber directly

Or emailing them.

Which is what we did.

So we approached Uber to find out what might have happened in these two instances.

And they got back to us, saying:

"We are sorry to hear about less-than-stellar experiences on the Uber platform. We will look into these incidences. We would like to remind riders that they can always address their concerns and issues through the in-app HELP option. Cancellation fees, especially, can be quickly addressed when selecting the "I was incorrectly charged a cancellation fee" option.”

More occasions that people thought warranted an ST forum letter:

ST forum writer: I see S’poreans not watching local shows, I cannot take it, must write letter

ST forum writer: I see Little India not same as Chinatown, I cannot take it, must write letter

ST forum writer: I see young people get tattoos, I cannot take it, must write letter

This is how you write a letter to ST forum that will confirm chop get published

Straits Times letter writer claims it isn’t pragmatic for teachers to work only during school hours

Top image adapted from Uber Singapore's Facebook page, screenshots from the Straits Times forum pages

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.