You know that feeling when you wake up to a notification that makes your stomach drop? That’s exactly what happened to me last week. I’d taken a Didi ride, a short one, maybe 7 minutes tops, and there it was: a bill for a whopping 1414 yuan! For a trip that should have cost 14 yuan! I nearly choked on my morning coffee.
I’m not the only one. Apparently, this happened to someone else back in 2017, and Didi had to step in and fix it. This time, it was my turn to be that ‘someone.’ Thank goodness I didn’t have autopay set up, or that money would’ve been gone in a flash!
Turns out, it was a driver error. Didi says he probably typed the fare in twice by mistake. Honestly, I’m a little skeptical. How do you accidentally type ‘1414’ when you meant ’14’? It feels kinda fishy, you know? But hey, mistakes happen, I guess.
The good news is, Didi customer service got in touch with me pretty quickly after I reached out. They apologized and fixed the bill right away. They also explained that they’ve put some new measures in place to catch these kinds of errors, like double-checking fares and alerting drivers if something seems off. Plus, they have this ‘Fare Guard’ thing that’s supposed to protect you from things like being overcharged for detours or getting billed for a ride you never took.
It’s reassuring to know that Didi is taking these issues seriously. I’m still a bit shaken by the whole experience, but I’m glad they sorted it out. It definitely makes me think twice about relying solely on ride-hailing apps, though. Maybe I should brush up on my haggling skills with taxi drivers again! Just in case.