When you order an uber, you expect it to take you home no questions asked, but a man who uses a seeing eye dog says his trust in the service has been shattered after he was denied service at Melbourne airport last year. He's taking the rideshare service and Melbourne airport to Victoria’s civil and administrative tribunal asking them to do better.
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00:00Last February, P.E. teacher Peter Frank landed at Melbourne Airport, seeing eye-dog Anya
00:08by his side.
00:09Just like he'd done dozens of times before, he joined the rank and approached the next
00:13available car, before he was allegedly turned away.
00:17He said, no, you have to book a new pet, and I said, well, she's not a pet.
00:22And I said, she's an assistance animal, and what you'll do is actually break the Anti-Discrimination
00:27Act.
00:28And he point-blank refused, wouldn't let her in.
00:32Then he says it happened again, with a second driver.
00:35That one was a bit worse, the driver simply had his window down and said, no, and drove
00:38off.
00:39It was a pretty humiliating experience to have in front of a lot of people.
00:43Under anti-discrimination laws, Uber drivers must accept riders with assistance animals.
00:49Frustrated, Peter approached an Uber representative to advocate for himself.
00:53You work for Uber, and you don't know what the laws are in relation to discrimination
01:00against those with disabilities and assistance animals, that is surely your job.
01:05He says the experience scarred him, and he's on edge every time he orders a car.
01:11A 2022 survey by Vision Australia found 64% of handlers had been refused service by a
01:18taxi or rideshare service.
01:20Peter is suing Uber Australia and Melbourne Airport.
01:23He's seeking compensation, an apology and change.
01:27Obviously change within the dog guide handlers community, but change for disabilities regardless.
01:35We would like the tribunal to say that Uber's conduct was unlawful, and make an order saying
01:41that they can't keep doing this kind of thing.
01:43Uber Australia says it takes riders' legal right to travel with assistance animals seriously.
01:48In April of this year, it introduced mandatory training for new drivers, and under harsh
01:53new penalties, drivers who break the policy twice will be banned from the platform.
01:58In a statement, Melbourne Airport says it is sorry for Mr. Frank's experience, saying
02:02it was unacceptable.
02:04The matter has been filed in Victoria's civil and administrative tribunal.