News

Blind woman says some Uber drivers refuse rides because of her service dog

PEABODY, Mass. — A Peabody woman with a visual impairment says some Uber drivers are refusing to pick her up because of her service dog.

She claims Uber has refused her service on several occasions because of her service dog.

Jennifer Buchanan says most of her Uber rides are fine. The drivers are kind, courteous and prompt.

But she says some aren't and they refuse to pick her up.

"They're horrible, degrading," Buchanan said. "They're rude, the call me names."

On July 20, at 3:30 in the afternoon she was told to get out of the car.

"Ma'am get out of my car," a driver is heard saying in a recording she made.

The Uber driver refused service to Buchanan and her guide dog  Keating.

"I don't pick up any animals because I have leather seats," the driver tells Buchanan in the recording.

"Okay, but it's a service dog," she replies.

"Okay, I don't pick up any dogs because of leather seats," the driver replies.

She tells him it's the law, but he replies, "No, not for Uber."

The driver was apparently upset that Keating was in his 1991 BMW. It got so heated, Buchanan said she filed a police report.

"Do you understand I'm blind?" Buchanan asks the driver.

"I understand that, please get out of my car," he says.

Since Buchanan lost sight several years ago, she relies on two things to get around: Keating and Uber.

The driver told Buchanan he could cancel his trip for any reason, but Buchanan told him he couldn't.

That's when the argument started and the driver demanded she get out of his car.

FOX25 reached out to Uber and a spokesperson said drivers receive training for transporting passengers with disabilities. And they prohibit any type of discrimination in serving riders with disabilities.