The practice has often caused passengers to become upset and invited criticism when it happens as a result of holidays , inclement weather , natural disasters or other factors . During New Year 's Eve 2011 , Uber prices were as high as seven times normal rates , causing outrage . During the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis , Uber implemented surge pricing , resulting in fares of up to four times normal charges ; while it defended the surge pricing at first , it later apologized and refunded the surcharges . Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has responded to criticism by saying : " ... because this is so new , it 's going to take some time for folks to accept it . There 's 70 years of conditioning around the fixed price of taxis . " '' Multidimensional pricing '' is the pricing of a product or service using multiple numbers . In this practice , price no longer consists of a single monetary amount ( e.g. , sticker price of a car ) , but rather consists of various dimensions ( e.g. , monthly payments , number of payments , and a downpayment ) . Research has shown that this practice can significantly influence consumers ' ability to understand and process price information
2014 Sydney hostage crisis
2014 Sydney hostage crisis
Pricing