What Uber’s Sydney Surge Pricing Debacle Says About Its Public Image

>The fact is, even though Uber didn’t intentionally do anything sinister

Ah, they tweeted that they were aware of the reason for the surge pricing, and they deliberately chose to keep it on. Until the backlash got loud enough.

So no, "surge pricing is automatic" isn't an excuse. They knew what they were doing and the situation they were doing it in.