Uber driver rates himself five stars and adds $150 tip - without passenger knowing

A New Jersey woman is furious after she returned home from a holiday to discover the Uber driver had given himself a $150 tip and a five-star review from her phone. Photo / 123rf

A New Jersey woman is furious after she returned home from a holiday to discover the Uber driver had given himself a US$100 ($150) tip and a five-star review.

Donna Wilson-Booker and her husband caught an Uber ride from Philadelphia International Airport in a bid to get home, but during her ride she became wary of the driver.

While the driver appeared friendly and talkative, he soon began to ask too many personal questions, Wilson-Booker said on social media.

Despite using a GPS, the driver started to miss obvious turns. That's when he asked Wilson-Booker if he could use her app to correct the path, saying Uber is strict about drivers taking non-authorised routes.

"He said would you mind, can I use your app, cause of the recent incidents with passengers Uber has a problem when we go off track or off route, I just want to adjust the route," she says. "I said, OK, no problem, because the guy was pretty nice, seems sweet."

Thinking nothing of it, she handed over her phone. But when she got home she noticed she was charged an extra US$100 in tips and had given a five-star review for a ride that was supposed to only cost US$54.

"He took it, did something, thanked me, and left," Wilson-Booker posted on Facebook.

"Later while at home, I checked the app to rate and give a tip and I noticed that it didn't come up as usual. I looked at the trip and saw that the driver gave himself a five-star rating and a $100 tip!!! I was furious and immediately contact Uber with my complaint."

"The nerve of him to do that, I have his licence plate number and his name, so I don't know why he would do something that stupid," she told Fox29.

To make matters worse, despite two days of back and forth with Uber, she says the company would only give her a $100 credit on the account, not a refund.

"I'm still mad about this cause I'm still responsible for that bill on my credit card, and I don't use Uber much to use that credit."

This happened to me on July 22, 2019.

Posted by Donna Wilson-Booker on Wednesday, 24 July 2019

A spokesperson for Uber told Yahoo Lifestyle that not only did Wilson-Booker receive a full refund, the driver no longer works for the company.

"Uber is deeply committed to the safety of our riders. We have issued a full refund to this rider and have removed the driver's access to the app," the company told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Despite being refunded, Wilson-Booker says the incident was infuriating and is a lesson to others about the dangers of Uber.

"It's a lesson learned for other people that there are scam artists out there like that," Wilson-Booker told Fox 29 Philadelphia.