Margo M.

On Feb. 28,2023, we were in down Key West and needed a ride to take our son from our motel back over to Stock Island, where he was crewing on a boat. He had to be back by 9:00 p.m., so at 8:00 p.m. I went on the Uber app and scheduled a pick-up for 8:30. At 8:15 I checked the app and it said "No driver available." At 8:20 I checked again and it said the same thing: "No driver available." "Okay," I thought, "they can't do it this time." So I called a taxi, which arrived promptly, and we sent him off.

At 8:35, I got a phone call from a pleasant-sounding older guy who said he was parked in front of the motel waiting for his rider. I told him we had moved on because the app told us there was no driver available. "Who told you that?" he asked, sounding incredulous. "The app." "Who?" "The app did!" I said I was sorry we had missed connections, and we signed off cordially enough.

Sometime within the hour, though, I received an email saying that we were being charged $33 for the missed ride. (The total fare would have been about $43.) My question to Uber -- and I have to throw this out into the ether because it's impossible for a mere customer to get hold of a live voice at the Monolith -- if it's incumbent on ME to cancel when you say YOU aren't fulfilling the order, at the very least why is there not a prompt informing me that I have to do that if I want to avoid charges? That would be transparent of you. But transparency is not the name of the game, obviously; the name of the game is Gotcha.

After a dozen decent rides with Uber, I'm going back to taxis and effective communications.

I ordered a set of DVDs from this company on August 16,2021. The entry on my credit-card statement showed up as "Love the Critters," rather than Loving the Classics. I've received one email (signed "Kim") from the company, whatever it is, saying "I'm not sure why the receipt is showing up without the correct business name.We are talking to our credit card processor and trying to get this fixed." The email, dated 8/16/21, also said "This item is in stock and will within the next 7 business days." Will what? I asked in reply. Ship, or be received? I've received no answer to that email, nor have I been able to contact Loving the Classics or Love the Critters by phone, nor have I received the order from them.