It cost a family about $40 to ride in an UberXL vehicle from their suburban home to AT&T Stadioum, where the Dallas Cowboys play. That’s not bad at all, and they didn’t have to worry about parking. The problem came on their return trip, when the driver took a strange detour to the wrong side of their suburb, and the trip ended up costing $362.81.

The detour didn’t account for the difference, so there must have been some kind of surge pricing in effect, right? That’s when high demand for vehicles multiplies fares until supply and demand straighten themselves out. It was about an hour after the game, so surge pricing around the stadium would make sense.

Uber says that passengers are warned about surge pricing and given an estimated fare before they begin the ride, and the family insists that they would not have accepted the ride if surge pricing had been in effect. They would have found another option, like calling and waiting for a taxi instead.

“I could have taken a stretch limo if I wanted,” observed the family member who hailed the vehicle with her phone, and who talked to the local CBS station (warning: auto-play video at that link)

Uber offered a modest refund, but insists that surge pricing was in effect and the fare charged was the correct one. In the app, though, the ride is listed as costing both $43.36 and $283.81 (after the refund).

Now that the eyes of a local TV station are on the case, Uber is investigating whether the family really was warned about the surge pricing.

A North Texas Family Gets Outrageous Uber Charge [CBS DFW]

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