ATLANTA -- Uber has apologized for the chaos that occurred on Opening Day at SunTrust Park and credited customers $20 to their account.
The apology was sent out to riders who used the service after the Atlanta Braves' home opener at their new stadium in Cobb County last Friday. The Braves had a sell out crowd of 41,149, and the Braves have been pushing their partnership with Uber to help ease the traffic. However, it took hours for hundreds of Uber customers to leave the park. The apology letter was sent by email on Monday night.
"I apologize to you for the confusion and inconvenience caused on Friday, and assure you that we are going to make it right," the General Manager of Uber Georgia Luke Marklin said in the letter.
After Friday, Uber abandoned its pilot that was designed for the company's partnership with the Braves at The Battery Atlanta and stadium.
Instead of the typical process of requesting a driver using a current location and the driver finding the customer, customers at The Battery put in their destination and received a code. They were supposed to line up on Windy Ridge Parkway where Uber drivers would line up and pickup customers. Then, the customer would give the driver his or her code.
Braves & Uber test new at the park system. Fans type in destination, get pin code, give pin code to driver on line, automates route & rate pic.twitter.com/ytTL4NOhoS
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 15, 2017
There were not nearly enough drivers, according to reports, and it took customers hours to get home. Customers also jumped the line and would get in nearby Uber vehicles. There was even some unrest in the crowd. One Twitter user posted a video of a verbal spat that occurred.
Fights at the @Uber pickup for @Braves @SunTrustPark. No stadium official in site. Terribly organized and terribly executed. Im embarrassed pic.twitter.com/ackaaXPKBz
— Donald Andrew House (@AndyH33) April 15, 2017
Once again, @uber disappointed a lot of people after the braves game last night... hundreds waiting for hours, fights broke out...
— Lindie (@Hello_Lindie) April 15, 2017
Following the first game, Uber scratched the pilot and returned to the normal process of customers requesting and getting assigned to a driver. Uber said it is working with the Braves and authorities in Cobb County to improve the process, but it is not known if Uber will tweak the pilot, design a new one, or continue to use the normal process of requesting a driver.
"Since Friday night, we’ve overhauled our game plan with the support of the Braves and authorities in Cobb County and have already seen improvements," Marklin said.
For questions about drivers and if issues continued to improve as crowds dwindled for the seven-game home series, Marklin pointed to Monday's letter.
The $20 credit has already been applied to customers' accounts.
