Uber customer says ride-hailing firm billed her £80 to clean up 20 Skittles she dropped in the back of a car

  • Lydia Williams, 24, complained to Uber after receiving the £80 penalty 
  • She claims her boyfriend accidentally spilled the sweets in the back of the car 
  • But Uber insisted due to 'severity' of the incident the fine was set accordingly 

An Uber customer was left furious after the taxi-hailing app sent her an £80 cleaning bill for dropping 20 skittles in the back of one of their cars.

Lydia Williams, 24, from London, claims her boyfriend accidentally spilled the sweets in the back of their Uber on their way home. 

But she couldn't believe it when she was landed with the penalty fare, with a company spokesman claiming the mess was so bad it 'required professional cleaning'. The £80 fee works out at £4 a Skittle.   

Lydia Williams, 24, from London, was furious after her boyfriend accidentally spilled Skittles in the back of their Uber and she was fined £80 for the cleaning charges

Lydia Williams, 24, from London, was furious after her boyfriend accidentally spilled Skittles in the back of their Uber and she was fined £80 for the cleaning charges 

An attached photograph shows a handful of the colourful sweets scattered in the footwell of the car door

An attached photograph shows a handful of the colourful sweets scattered in the footwell of the car door

When she quizzed Uber on the cleaning cost, she got a message saying: 'When a cleaning fee request is submitted by your partner-driver, we assess and charge the cleaning fee in accordance with the extent of the mess and the reasonable cost of cleaning.

'Due to the severity of the incident on the trip, a cleaning fee of £80 was applied.'

An attached photograph shows a handful of the colourful sweets scattered in the footwell of the car door.

On Twitter, Miss Williams fumed: 'Can't believe I've had an £80 charge from @Uber for 'the severity' of some spilt Skittles.'

In another tweet, she said she had even bought the driver a meal deal and a drink on their way home.

She added: 'We dropped a few and if the driver had told us it was that much of an issue of course we would've picked them up.'

On Twitter, Miss Williams (pictured) fumed: 'Can't believe I've had an £80 charge from @Uber for 'the severity' of some spilt Skittles.'

On Twitter, Miss Williams (pictured) fumed: 'Can't believe I've had an £80 charge from @Uber for 'the severity' of some spilt Skittles.'

In response to her tweet, Bill Roche joked: 'That's about four pounds a Skittle.' Jack Williams added: 'That's an expensive Hoover.'

And Stu said: '£80 to pick up less than 20 skittles. Wow! In that case, my Mrs owes me about 2 billion quid for all s*** she leaves about for me to pick up.'

But others criticised the 24-year-old for not picking up the sweets before leaving the Uber.

Justin blasted: 'You think throwing food around a vehicle is polite? Why didn't you just pick them up?'

And Aqeel added: 'The charge is ridiculous but why didn't you pick them up?'

Other Twitter users blasted Uber saying it had gone too far with the £80 fine

Other Twitter users blasted Uber saying it had gone too far with the £80 fine 

It comes as Uber released the first designs of its flying taxis that it hopes will pick up passengers in the future.

The firm is set to start test flights in 2020, with the aim of launching commercial operations from 2023.

Dubbed 'air taxis', Uber announced plans in June to test the vehicles in Melbourne as the firm's latest trial city.

But others criticised the 24-year-old for not picking up the sweets before leaving the Uber

But others criticised the 24-year-old for not picking up the sweets before leaving the Uber

The company said increased air mobility could help ease congested roads on the ground - with the journeys costing the same as an UberX trip over the same distance. 

An Uber spokesman said: 'The Uber app is based on mutual respect for both riders and drivers.

'For licensed drivers who use the app, their vehicles are their place of work and any damage or mess can mean they are unable to continue working.

'When a driver claims a cleaning fee, they are required to provide us with the details of the trip and the incident as well as photographic evidence and a validated cleaning receipt.'

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