The internet based limo service jacked up its rates in Sydney in response to the hostage crisis there:

Uber briefly charged its users in downtown Sydney a minimum $100 to escape an armed hostage crisis, a result of automatic surge pricing meant to get more drivers online.

An executive in the city’s Central Business District (CBD) sent Mashable screenshots of the Uber app that showed the company was charging up to four-times the normal rate because “demand is off the charts.”

“I have never, ever seen it at four-times [the normal rate] and I’m a 1% top Uber user,” said Matthew Leung, the user in contact with Mashable. “I understand the way the business works — higher the demand, higher the charge — but four-times at $100 minimum is ridiculous. Almost price gouging at its worst.”

Another customer shared a screenshot of their “wack” fare estimate that showed a trip from an area just blocks from the siege to the airport would cost $145-185. That journey would normally cost less than $100, according to Uber’s website. “This is price surging,” he wrote in a comment to Mashable.

After Mashable published a story on the price hikes, the company reversed course and announced that all riders in the area would be free, and that anybody who had been charged the higher amount would be refunded.

I can hear Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, saying, “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids.”

Seriously,  Uber, and its Ayn Rand worshiping CEO are simply too evil to trust with your money.