They have a blog post: http://blog.uber.com/2012/01/01/take-a-walk-through-surge-pricing/ http://blog.uber.com/2012/01/01/take-a-walk-through-surge-pr... Appa

They have a blog post: http://blog.uber.com/2012/01/01/take-a-walk-through-surge-pricing/ http://blog.uber.com/2012/01/01/take-a-walk-through-surge-pr... Apparently the poster got a deal at 5x pricing, since their screenshot shows 6.25x pricing. While the screenshot appears to meet minimum standards for informing customers, it's not really good enough. Let's see, 6.25 x 3.90 per mile x hmmm, let's see, how many miles, what if he takes the tunnel instead of the bridge, hmmm... This is, pardon my French, crap. First there's a moral problem. Most people view jacking up rates on captive customers when the cost of service hasn't increased as immoral. (See for example Thinking, Fast and Slow by Kahneman.) The average person views this as price-gouging. But even if you decide that yes, your business is going to operate that way and screw your image, making someone solve a math problem with a half-dozen variables in their head to have some idea of the cost of their ride is not acceptable. Uber's lawyers should look up cases where someone tried to bury a ("and then the cost increases by 900%") clause in a contract and those contracts get rejected by the courts. There's no actual meeting of the minds on the price of the service, and thus the contract is invalid. Uber would do a lot better to add a surcharge: "Currently there is a $50 surcharge for New Year's Eve in addition to the regular fees. Continue [Y/N]?" That's more clear, more legally sound, and probably slightly less likely to be perceived as price-gouging.