26-year-old turns the tables on a taxi driver attempting to overcharge him, takes him on a joy ride that costs the driver double and gives him a 1-star rating: ‘Things take a turn…’

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Apr 15, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

"So in the end, for his pettiness, I got credit, and he got no money going into his account, his ratings dropping, and his way of picking up anyone else was essentially blocked for a good half hour of the day."

It's hard out there for anybody just trying to make a living. Desperate times call for desperate measures. That being said, like, still be kind and respectful. We're all swimming up the same creek, so don't be shady to individuals. Being petty towards a large company is different. But don't try to pull something uncool with a small business or individual on that grind. We're still a society. 

Sometimes catching a cab is confusing, right? You could hail a cab, call a car, request an Uber, Lyft, whatever. There are so many options now, and yet all the cars seem to look the same. So it's no surprise that this group of friends made a little mistake: They got into the wrong car. They thought it was theirs, but it turns out it was just some random cab they unintentionally hailed. An honest mistake, tbh. 

The friend had to cancel the old ride and was totally willing to pay the fine because it was totally his bad. But that's when the original driver decided he could take advantage of this moment and scam this guy out of money. 

Little did he know that he chose the wrong friend group. This guy went into early 2000s-movie hacker mode and was able to stop the payment, redirect this guy on a wild goose chase, and then get this guy's profile suspended while also leaving him with a 1-star review. The guy trying to unlawfully make an extra buck ended up costing himself several extra bucks. That's what happened when you choose chaos over kindness. 

We know, we know. Sometimes it's hard to choose the right path, especially when everyone is financially struggling. But in this case, the path was clear. You take what you can get and move on with your day. You don't try to mess with someone else just trying to live their life. You see what happens? Karma comes back for you, clear as day! And, honestly, bravo! 

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  • Woman smiling at her phone in the back of a car, uber, lyft, taxi
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
    Woman smiling at her phone in the back of a car, uber, lyft, taxi

  • "You won't stop my ride, you don't get paid."

    This happened a couple of years ago and is slightly my fault, but still an ok story. I (M26) was on the way with my gf and roommate to a friend's house a couple of towns over. We decided
    via thegumdropbotton
  • to take a taxi instead of public transit since we were three people and wanted to get there a little faster. In my country there's a main taxi app that people use, but a lot of drivers also circle around in urban areas looking for people to pick.
    via thegumdropbotton
  • up. I ordered a taxi from the app and we waited outside. As it said our taxi was pulling up on the app, I see a taxi roll on to my street, hail him down thinking it's ours and we get in and pull off. Well
    via thegumdropbotton
  • that was not our taxi. I get a call 2 minutes later from my actual driver saying he's outside. I tell him "hey I got in the wrong cab by accident but we're already on the highway so I'll cancel the ride".
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  • Canceling the ride lastvminute incrues a charge on my card but I made a mistake so I didn't feel bad paying it to make amends and that way the driver still gets a little money.
    via thegumdropbotton
  • This is the part where things take a turn. In the time it took me to explain what happened and get back on the app (maybe 30 seconds), he had started our ride. The issue with starting the ride is that once it starts you can't cancel.
    via thegumdropbotton
  • However, its also against the rules for a driver to mark that a customer is in the car when they aren't. So I call back and tell him he now needs to cancel since I'm technically in his car and the app won't
    via thegumdropbotton
  • allow me to cancel the ride. The entire time this is happening my phone is recording the conversation (one way recordings are legal in my country). He says no and that he's gonna ride around racking up money on my account.
    via thegumdropbotton
  • This is where I get my slight revenge. I remember I had a card saved to the app years ago that was expired. I quickly switched that to my primary card knowing it couldn't be charged.
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  • Payment not going through: check. I also notoce this guy is taking a longer route towards my friends house that we are also on the way to, so right when he turns on the highway (I can see his live location), I change
    via thegumdropbotton
  • the address back to my home (which he has to oblige) essentially up his opportunity to pick up anyone else for the next ten minutes. Then as he gets back to my house I see the ride ends and the charge is two times
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  • higher than it would have been regularly even with his driving around. There's an option for drivers to change the final price in the case an agreement is made with the customer beforehand.
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  • So what does he do? It tries to charge and...nothing. The app automatically locks my account as is the protocol for people not paying.
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  • I quickly start messaging their service team, send them the recording of him saying he's gonna rack. up charges on my account, and the screenshot of his route and the price he changed. They instantly
    via thegumdropbotton
  • unblocked my account, gave me credit (even though there was no charge) and I was still able to give him 1 star, significantly lowering his rating (once you fall below a 4 star rating on this app, you get banned
    via thegumdropbotton
  • as a driver). So in the end for his pettiness, I got credit and he got fed with no money going in to his account, his rating dropping, and his way of picking up anyone else essentially blocked for a good half hour of the day.
    via thegumdropbotton
  • TL;DR: a taxi driver tried to rack up charges on my account and in the end provided his own evidence against his false claims
    via thegumdropbotton
  • Taxi driver in his car holding the steering wheel driving while a cityscape passes by in the window
    via Unsplash+ (Varad Parulekar)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
    Taxi driver in his car holding the steering wheel driving while a cityscape passes by in the window

  • Spirited_Pirate... Dude tried to speedrun getting himself banned. Nicely played. Maybe also drop a short public review so other riders know his scam.
    via Spirited_Pirate_3897
  • Setsuna00XN I don't usually approve of this kind of thing, but in this case, since it started with a scam, I fully approve of how you handled it. Nice job, OP!
    via Setsuna00XN
  • Contrantier D In that guy is a loser. I don't care if he was just desperate for the money, I'm glad he got himself banned. No matter how much he needs it, he can make his money the honest way without hurting others, or get bent.
    via Contrantier

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