- A Sri Lankan woman reported harassment and poor service by Uber drivers and UberEats orders
- She described delayed rides, driver cancellation with a cancellation fee, and unresolved refund issues
- Uber apologized, removed the driver involved, and credited her account with Uber Cash
A Sri Lankan woman shared a LinkedIn post detailing multiple negative experiences with Uber's ride and food delivery services, including alleged harassment, service delays, and a completely incorrect food order. In the post, Ishana Irfan reported an incident where a driver from a recent trip allegedly harassed her and caused delays. She claimed Uber's initial responses were automated and lacked proper support. "I was harassed by a tuk driver who had a small mirror installed inside the vehicle, positioned directly at my upper body. Throughout the ride, he kept staring at my chest through that mirror. This was extremely uncomfortable and clearly intentional, specially when a tuk already has two side mirrors for driving," Ishana wrote.
She then faced a frustrating situation on November 19 when an Uber driver delayed arrival despite the app showing he was just a minute away, cancelled the ride himself, and Uber still charged her a cancellation fee. "When I complained, I got an automated response saying the fee was removed. Did I get a refund or proper support? Not at all!," she added.
In a third incident involving UberEats, she stated she received an unidentifiable and inedible order - boiled fish and boiled egg sitting in clear yellow water - instead of the curry she requested, and her refund request went unresolved.
This post prompted a strong reaction from other social media users, many of whom shared their own similar negative experiences with the company's customer care and safety protocols.
Online Reactions
One user wrote, "Uber in Sri Lanka feels like it only cares about charging us, not serving us. Drivers constantly accept trips with card payments and then cancel right in front of us especially near One Galle Facejust so they can enter the driveway. We end up waiting 20–30 minutes while they use Uber only for access and refuse actual rides anf when questioned they want to fight."
Another commented, "The worst part is that there is no one we can contact and talk to about transportation, merchants, restaurants and delivery issues. Just implementing an app and driving sales has been their focus. Even I faced similar problems, and wanted to raise complaints, all I could read was their FAQs. How did it help? We need answers and solutions for this Uber."
"These are not isolated mistakes!! They reflect a serious lack of quality control, safety measures, and customer care. It is also a waste your customers time and money, which people work hard to gain. Uber urgently needs to review its drivers and merchants, take complaints seriously, and stop relying on automated responses that lead nowhere. Customers deserve better. Women deserve to feel safe. And we all deserve accountability," she wrote in the post.
Uber's Response
Uber acknowledged the complaints after the post gained significant traction online. The company issued an apology and confirmed that the driver from the recent ride incident had been removed from the platform. They also stated a team had connected with her to take action based on her feedback and were open to further assistance.
"Hi Ishana, we again apologise for these recent issues. Our team connected with you on the phone and took action as per your feedback. We can confirm the driver from your recent trip has been removed from the Uber platform. We've also added some Uber Cash to your account to make up for the cancellation charge," Uber stated.
