$787.33 for Cab Ride? 2-Mile Trip Shocks Woman With High Price (VIDEO)
$787.33 for a cab ride shocked and angered Becky Siegel, a 20-year-old college student from Winnetka, Ill. after she was driven only two miles into Chicago in December of 2013. When Siegel attempted to dispute the egregious fare, cab driver Ali Ghazanfari refused to help, and the cab and credit card companies said there was nothing they could do.
The $787.33 cab ride happened when Siegel was heading from the Ogilvie Transportation Center to downtown Chicago to meet friends— cab fare for such a trip is usually about $10. When Ghazanfari told her to use his Square, a device that attaches to a smartphone or tablet to run credit cards, she thought nothing of it.
"He was apparently very friends and chatty, and was talking about pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't," Siegel's mother, Susan, told WFLD Fox 32 News. "He gave her a price and she thinks it was, you know, under $10."
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"I guess I didn't pay attention or I didn't look … I just signed my name with my finger and left," Becky Siegel told The Chicago Tribune, adding that she asked Ghazanfari to give himself a $2 tip.
However, when Siegel reviewed her charges this month, she found that she had been charged nearly $800. When the 20-year-old asked Visa for a refund they refused, saying that she signed off on the charges. The Chicago Police Department also said they couldn't help her.
Siegel's then reached out to Ghazanfari. When he also refused to refund the extremely high charge, she contacted The Chicago Tribune with the story, who in turn spoke to the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. After that, the cab driver was more cooperative.
"I remember exactly what happened," Ghazanfari admitted to The Tribune. "I made a mistake on the fare."
Finally, Square sent Siegel the $787.33 refund she was seeking. The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection also took action against Ghazanfari by suspending his public chauffeur license, but he has apparently left the country, a representative reported.
