My Uber Experience with a Guide Dog: Policies vs. Reality

AUDIO VERSION

By Richard Marion

Uber has been a great option overall for people who need low-cost door-to-door transportation and do not drive. However, for people with disabilities using guide or service dogs, it has presented many accessibility challenges and barriers. 

Last year, Uber implemented a feature on their app so that a person could notify a driver that they are travelling with a guide or service dog. However, the driver only receives this notification as they arrive to pick up the passenger. Therefore, some users report drivers cancelling trips and refusing to pick them up. Others report being charged extra fees after a ride with their guide or service dog.

Last week I took an Uber home from visiting my mother who is in the hospital waiting for a care home placement. When the Uber arrived, the driver asked my husband and me if the dog could ride in the trunk. We indicated that this would not be possible as the dog is a guide dog and it has to be with me at all times while it is working. The driver agreed and nothing else was said. The trip was uneventful until we got home when the driver asked if I could give him a five-star rating. I did mention that asking for a rating usually causes me to lower the rating, but I would give him the five-star rating anyhow. 

Later the next day, I was reviewing my charges on my credit card and I noticed that Uber charged a cleaning fee of $31.50 for my trip. After many enquiries, Uber finally got back to me and indicated it was for dog hair. The issue was particularly troubling because, according to their own policies and the provincial guide and service dog legislation, charging extra fees for guide and service dogs is not permitted. When I disputed the fee with Uber, they indicated that because of the hair, the cleaning fee would stand. This was baffling because when I left the car, there was no other issue from my dog other than the hair that it shed from lying on the floor of the car. 

The other issue that occurred in that incident was, because I was travelling with a guide dog, the Uber driver gave me a three-star rating. I found this out from an Uber agent who deals with accessibility issues when I first launched my dispute over the cleaning fee.

Uber claims that they are providing accessible services for people using guide and service dogs, but the issues we deal with persist even with the changes that Uber has implemented to make the service more accessible. Not only does Uber collect an amount from all its customers for an accessibility fund, experiences such as mine raise serious concerns about how accessibility policies are being applied in practice. Additional charges like I experienced, along with reports from others of drivers refusing to transport people with disabilities with their guide and service dogs, suggest that significant barriers still remain. 

Others I know of have had other types of accessibility issues with Uber that have resulted in extra charges. Therefore, I think it would be useful to bring public attention to the fact that people with disabilities have experienced extra charges for the same services everyone else receives. 

People with disabilities are supposed to be equal in society. However, simply receiving basic services from companies like Uber is still seen as a privilege and not a right for people with disabilities using guide or service dogs to improve our daily lives.