Blackout-drunk man accidentally takes $1600 Uber ride across two states
by Ellen Killoran
Through a perfect storm of bad decisions and bad luck, a drunk New Jersey found himself stuck with an Uber bill of over $1,600 after a night of drinking in West Virginia.
NJ.com reports that Kenny Bachman hailed an Uber from Morgantown, West Virginia, after a night of partying with friends at the University of West Virginia. But instead of directing his driver to the place he was staying near the campus, he instead requested that he be driven all the way home to Gloucester County, New Jersey, over 300 miles away.
The distance alone would have been enough for an exorbitant bill, but Bachman made matters worse by requesting an UberXL, an oversize vehicle meant for large groups that is for more expensive than a regular Uber ride. And thanks to surge pricing, the trip was twice the standard rate.
Bachman spoke to NJ.com about realizing what he had done once he emerged from his drunken sleep.
"I just woke up," Bachman said. "And I'm thinking, 'Why the f— am I in the car next to some random ass dude I don't even know?" (Bachman is presumably referring to the driver, but the report doesn't make that entirely clear.)
"Afterwards I had it fully sink in," he continued. "Once the ride ended and I saw how much it was when I was like 'Alright, this is insane, that's just crazy.'"
Bachman claimed to NJ.com that he never told the driver to take him to his home in New Jersey, and also accused the driver of answering the passenger's phone without his permission.
But an Uber representative told the news outlet that they had resolved the dispute with Bachman and he agreed to pay the charges of $1,635.93. The company said it determined that the driver took Bachman to the destination he requested.
[Feature image: Associated Press]