The Uber Eats Experience

The Uber Eats Experience:

December-2024
It’s official! It’s now approximately four years since the pandemic started and ended. Many of us created pandemic bucket lists or pandemic goals to track our lives. Popular pandemic goals or patterns included; buying a pet, working for Uber Eats, writing a children’s book , having a baby or buying a house. So far, I checked off two of these. I wrote a children’s book, and I became an Uber eats driver!

I joined the masses of people who work for Uber Eats as delivery drivers while they’re in between jobs or waiting for government benefits to come in. I never thought I’d work for Uber Eats as an independent contractor. I love driving and helping others. I’m also a big believer in not straining your car and only taking jobs that pay well. Yet, here I am driving to fast food places and restaurants in the Westchester, NY /Fairfield County area. I’ve learned about terms such as batched orders, shop and deliver and more. I have my favorite buildings in Stamford, CT that I love to deliver to because the doormen give me great snacks and customers are nice and do give the tips they promised. I’ve learned what orders to tap on and which to avoid. I joined the great American gig workforce on 21st Century apps, the Uber Eats experience.

I’m not impressed. Uber Eats is like a training shoe you wear until you outgrow your footwear. I’m still waiting for my better shoes to come in the mail so to speak. Been looking for that good job for a while now. There is no shortage of online and in print articles about Uber. There is so much passion and anger about Uber on Reddit, YouTube, Medium etc. A common theme is how Uber disrespects drivers and takes advantage of loopholes in the law for cheap labor.

So many people rely on Uber and Uber Eats for work despite the risks. It is so sad. I feel like this country is moving backwards and not forwards. Labor movement sweatshop workers would rally about workers’ rights and improved the lives of American’s decades ago. It is so sad that regular Americans whose parents and grandparents fought for workers’ rights and working conditions must backpedal and work for companies like Uber. I also feel like Uber is like Air B & B. A trendy hip experience that makes tons of money for them but really doesn’t improve the housing market or labor workforce or care about the little guy. The gig is up Uber. Now are you going to continue to stiff drivers or their tips and pay or will you pay up and do the right thing?

Last Thursday night the Uber Eats app sent me to a restaurant on Main Street that was closed to pick up an order. The store had closed three and a half hours before. Then I called the customer to confirm the order, and he didn’t pick up. Clearly it was a mistake or a scam. Naively, I called Uber and canceled the job and asked to be reimbursed for my time since the order didn’t exist. Uber said sorry it’s against our policy to reimburse you. After ten emails, I still didn’t get reimbursed for driving in the cold on a Thursday night after midnight. I can’t keep up working with Uber emotionally or financially. There are some fun times, but I am not making enough money to sustain my lifestyle and pay my bills. How long will Uber last? Is the economy going to continue to go downwards and will we need to rely on uber or are we going to be able to leave Uber and move on?

Happy New Year Uber and all my awesome Uber Eats customers!!!!!