WALLER, Texas – When Ashley Marrocelli used Uber’s Destination Mode to drive from Katy to Waller, she expected the app to help her find riders heading in the same direction.
Instead, she says the app routed her onto miles of isolated back roads, including Pennick Road near Hebert Road in Waller.
“I mean, the roads were completely broken up,” Marrocelli said.
There was only a two mile route difference. She normally would have taken Interstate 10 to State Highway 362. But Marrocelli says the road conditions forced her to slow down significantly.
“There were small patches where I could maybe get up to like 15 to 20 miles an hour,” she said. “Other than that, I was going about 10 miles an hour, just trying to not ruin my car.”
Marrocelli says she also questioned why Uber would send her down a route with few homes, businesses or likely passengers.
“I just don’t understand why they would have done that,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”
After the trip, Marrocelli showed messages in which she asked Uber about the route. She says she had trouble reaching a representative and that many of her messages were answered by a chatbot.
Marrocelli says she eventually spoke with an Uber representative, who told her she was not required to follow the suggested route.
She says Uber explained that Destination Mode is designed to help drivers pick up riders while traveling toward a destination.
“It was just a destination route, and they do that to offer help,” Marrocelli said. “So you can pick up riders on the way and still make money while driving for Uber. But that’s not at all what it was.”
Marrocelli says she took her vehicle to a local auto body shop, where a mechanic estimated repairs related to the transmission could cost between $4,000 and $6,000.
She says Uber told her she could file a claim for the damage.
“It’s difficult because you have to put in the hours to make the money,” Marrocelli said. “But it’s aggravating when something doesn’t work out.”
Marrocelli says she is sharing her experience to make sure something similar doesn’t happen to other folks in a similar situation.
