Woman Says She Was Kicked Out Of An Uber After Asking The Driver To Turn Down His Music
“I have absolutely no idea why he was so upset with me asking him to turn the music off.”
Snapic_PhotoProduction / Shutterstock Travel days are inherently stressful — between making sure you have everything packed, getting to the airport with time to spare, and the hassle that is TSA, nerves are often at an all-time high.
One woman's travel day was made worse when her Uber driver decided to turn around halfway through their drive to the airport.
She was kicked out of the Uber after asking the driver to turn down his music.
“Well, I am standing out on the curb waiting for a second Uber because the first Uber I called was playing very loud music at 6:30 in the morning,” Marle began in her TikTok.
She explained that she requested a "quiet ride" in the app; however, her driver had music blasting from the start. As she had a headache and a long travel day ahead, she politely asked him to turn the music down — a normal request for many Uber drivers.
But instead of acknowledging her request as most drivers would, this particular Uber driver reacted unexpectedly, displaying a level of intolerance that left both Marle and viewers alike astonished.
Rather than turning the music down to a reasonable volume, he turned it down one single click. It wasn’t enough, and Marle asked him again to turn it down in the same polite tone she’d used before.
At this point, they were 10 minutes into the 25-minute drive, and after Marle's second request, her driver apparently had enough.
"He said, 'I'm just gonna take you home,' and turned all the way back around to take me home," she said. Flabbergasted, Marle was forced to sit in the car as the driver turned around and drove her back home.
“I live in the suburbs, so it’s a little bit harder to get Ubers here,” Marle continued. “So now I’m just waiting here, and I’m hoping I don’t miss my flight. I truly don’t understand what happened.”
In a follow-up video, Marle revealed that the delay caused her to miss her flight.
"I did make it to the airport, but I missed my flight, and I had to be rerouted," she shared.
She also pointed out that because the ride had already started, she had to give the Uber driver her address directly, "which is now a safety concern for me." But even with her address, the driver didn't bother to drop her off at her house.
“He brought me home and just kind of put me out on the street,” she said. “He didn't even stop at my house. He just stopped a couple [of] houses before.”
To make matters worse, she was charged a cancellation fee by Uber, an app with customer service that is notoriously difficult to reach.
“That's the literal worst ride I've ever had,” she added. “I don't know what set him off.”
Many commenters agreed that the Uber driver’s behavior was completely unacceptable and a huge inconvenience.
Various TikTok users pointed out that as an Uber driver, he was paid to provide a service that prioritizes the comfort and satisfaction of his passengers. This includes accommodating reasonable requests, such as adjusting the music volume.
Others argued that it seemed as if he was trying to get Marle out of his vehicle and wanted to use anything to make her uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in an Uber or other ride-sharing app is something many women have experienced. According to an Alarms.org women’s safety report in 2020, Uber and Lyft are safer for women than taxis, professional car services, and public transportation. Still, that doesn’t mean rideshare transportation is completely safe 100% of the time.
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The report found that 23% of the women surveyed reported uncomfortable driver behavior to Uber. Lyft came in slightly lower, with 15% of women saying they had reported a driver’s behavior to Lyft.
To combat the plethora of women who have come forward with scary and violent incidents while riding in Ubers, the company introduced new settings to its app earlier this month, designed to make women feel safer.
Uber now allows users to “choose up to four safety features to automatically turn on based on time or locations.” This means that once the clock reaches midnight, or whatever time you set, and you’re leaving a bar or restaurant, the app will turn some safety features on automatically. The options include RideCheck, PIN verification, audio recording, and Share My Trip. All you have to do to access them is go to the app’s settings and set a schedule or hit the shield icon to turn the presets on.
While this new safety feature won’t protect riders against drivers who choose to kick out their passengers instead of accommodating their fair requests, it's a step towards empowering passengers, especially women, so that they feel safer in a stranger's car. At the end of the day, Marle’s Uber incident should remind ride-sharing companies and drivers alike that the comfort of a passenger is paramount.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.