UberEats Made Getting Support Near IMPOSSIBLE! Here’s What Happened…

So recently I had an incident involving UberEats Support and normally I don’t have issues that even involve support anymore, or at least not often. 

However, this incident not only revealed how UberEats support still has corrupt people operating on the support team, but that they have more power than they admit that they do, including things I never knew was possible on their end. 

So in this video, We are talking about:

• How UberEats Support Picked a Fight with Me

• What they kept saying vs How it ACTUALLY is

• Everything in between!

Disclaimer: The content of this video does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind. This video is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online.

I also want to be clear that everything we are going to go over is very market dependent, and what applies to me and my market may not apply to you.

https://youtu.be/BL-nEInBhdc

DrivenWyld/YouTube

The Order Itself

So recently I had an order for a place called Davinci’s Pizzeria, and when I got there they told me that the order I was there for was picked up by someone else. 

This isn’t abnormal, but from the way they reacted to me arriving, it seemed more like they gave it to one of their own drivers rather than a driver who stole it. Again, not abnormal for restaurants to pull this crap, especially when orders are conducted through Toast. 

Nevertheless, that still required me to contact support and have the order canceled and for me to have my cancellation fee paid to me. 

Dealing with Support

I contact support by going through the app and they pick up almost immediately. 

The first thing I noticed is that the agent on the phone tried to trick me into unassigning the order myself as opposed to having it canceled on their end. 

This is a common manipulation tactic that support agents try to pull to remove liability from themselves and remove your eligibility to get a cancellation fee. 

It is a little weird that they brought back this method of scamming since for a while they were doing the right thing but it looks like this is starting to pick up again. 

Honestly, I have called a couple of times in the past few months and haven’t had an issue. So it is kind of weird that they were pulling this now. 

Nevertheless, I told them to cancel it on their end and they didn’t just cancel the order they deleted the order from my app. I still have the chat that started this call in my app, but they got rid of the order entirely. 

At least before, it would show the order was canceled in your earnings history but not this time.

Nevertheless, I requested to speak to a supervisor and the agent just said “no, none are available.”

That is a new scam attempt on their end, they have said it would take 2 hours, they have tried transfer loops, weaponized incompetence in multiple fashions, and even falsely represented themselves as a supervisor, but rarely just a straight no. 

I fought them and just hung up to call again, also connected pretty quick, and gave me the “incompetent listener” bit where you answer their questions multiple times only to have me repeat myself, I get upset, and then just hang up when I call them on it. 

I really thought UberEats had fixed their malicious support agent problems but this was not only still there, but it was the tip of the iceberg. 

Between support agents hanging up, transferring me to different departments, impersonating a supervisor and even manipulating the system to force my calls to be on hold for longer periods of time. 

Even trying to connect again, I was continuously on hold for 15 minutes or more before connecting again. At some point I had to connect 2 calls at the same time and juggle 2 conversations just to TRY to get a supervisor. 

This process took over an hour of just calls, yelling and fighting with incompetent trash that I had a very specific description for and was told I need to remove it because it was too much from every angle… despite how accurate it is to me. 

I know that is harsh and quite frankly a WILD statement, but for the mistreatment those agents chose to operate on, that is genuinely how I felt about the whole experience who not only proved that is who they are as people but in reality, they impeded on my right to speech and self defense while acting that way so if they can’t take what they dish out, they shouldn’t have the right to dish it out at all. 

It took over an hour and a half and 25 calls with support for a supervisor to be put on and provide me with the cancellation fee. I only spoke to 1 real supervisor and everyone else played keep away with the supervisor, with her acknowledging they were 100% wrong and I am 100% right. 

Nevertheless, this might have been one of the highest cancellation fees I have ever collected, but this was also the least satisfying. I was so exhausted and frustrated by the end of this endeavor that it literally drained me for the remainder of the weekend. 

Why Can Support Delete Your History?

Seriously, I never seen this before and I wonder if this only applies to the recent Toast orders I have received. I have at least a “canceled order” section when an order is canceled, either by me or by support, but this time it was removed entirely. 

It almost felt like she wanted to delete evidence of the order at all. For all the power that support agents claim to NOT have, they seem to be very good at and have a significant capacity to cover their tracks when screwing with gig workers' money. 

There is a reason that I make content about this stuff, so if UberEats support decides to pull some shady stuff like this it helps the community for sure but it also develops its own type of paper trail. 

After all, if UberEats is just deleting history like this then what evidence do we have to convict if necessary?

Not to mention that is a lot of power to give to someone on the front lines like that. Support claims not to be able to provide cancellation fees anymore but can mess with your orders to such a permanent degree? 

Either take their power to affect you on both fronts or let them help drivers! Then again, can you expect the wrong people to do the right thing? I don’t think so. 

Support Can Manipulate Your App

Another thing that I have noticed is how they can manipulate how your app operates from a functionality standpoint. 

Yes I mentioned the history already but what I am talking about is how Support agents used the in app functions to make it even harder to even get help after speaking to them. 

During the course of me being on the phone with support, I was hung up on, denied, transferred and lied to by support. That’s normal and expected from those who chose to harm me on the side of the support team. 

With that said, one method you can use when contacting support if you roll a bad agent, a malicious agent, or even just a lazy agent is hang up and call again. 

However, now they have made it so not only is it harder for you to call again via app limitations but they can increase your hold time BEFORE YOU EVEN CALL! Meaning they had the ability to make sure I was on hold for 10 minutes before they allowed me to pick up and call again. 

Have you ever seen Uber support extend your hold time on purpose?

• Yes
• No

This is not something that a frontline support agent should have the capacity to do, especially since they “claim” not to have the ability to provide cancellation fees as the script they read implies. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with agents having boundaries and self respect for those who choose to act irrationally over the phone but what happens when tools like that end up in the hands of bad actors who seem to have gravitated within that office in the Philippines?

Suddenly a routine call that should last 15 minutes AT MOST, lasts over an hour and a half to get one REAL supervisor on the phone. Realistically, people like that shouldn’t have jobs and opportunities to survive at all, let alone tools and resources of that caliber.

Especially since we are talking about people's lives and income, not just some unruly customer trying to get a refund of some kind.

I have used ChatGPT to edit my scripts and make sure I am not missing important points and that last point I was advised to be removed, but I don’t think the point gets across without it. 

Weekends and Holidays Attract Bad Support Agents

I truly believe that bad support agents are more of a problem on weekends and holidays, not necessarily during the week. 

I can’t tell if it is just a completely different team, or a team of people who are part of a different company, but the support teams seem to be acting much more malicious and shady on weekends and holidays.

I know they outsource their support teams to the Philippines but they need a team that can do their jobs effectively on weekends and holidays, because it is progressively worse on those days.

Regardless, this isn’t a business that is only active during business hours, food and other items can be ordered at any time of the week and support agents need to start reflecting the same integrity and character during the weekends and holidays as during the week. 

I understand that working weekends and holidays can put someone in a bad mood, just like how a meter maid can be especially malicious in parking tickets on holidays such as Valentines day, but that is not an excuse to mistreat drivers simply for doing their job or asking for a supervisor.

Uber needs to train their staff to have the same integrity and character during any period of time in which they are on duty, because this is out of hand. 

Backdoor Methods are Closed

During my tenure of being in the gig economy, I have picked up a few backdoor methods of getting on the phone with support agents when malicious people try to pull shady shit like this because it is not the first time they have tried to attack the incomes of gig workers and it will not be the last. 

That said, with their new bots and their new phone systems I think they closed a lot of the doors I talk about publicly. Which then makes me wonder a few things:

First of all, is Uber watching my content? I would assume yes because I do see people from Uber see my posts on LinkedIn and it seems like they do see it there, but never has it created results that made change in this way.

And if they are… where can I send my invoice because my advice was applied one way or another haha.  

Second, does this imply that Uber is creating these tools for support agents for the simple goal of discouraging asking for support at all? Forcing drivers to just take the losses or spend even more time fighting?

I know a lot of companies have moved onto developing automated systems, and Uber wants us to use those systems in an effort to save money but let’s be honest: EVERYONE HATES THOSES SYSTEMS!

In a growing world of AI and automation, I can say there are positives. However, there are no positives when someone is asking for help and there is a chatbot that stands as a guard against help rather than being legitimately helpful.

Text chat is also not helpful because the agent on the other side won’t provide a solution the way someone over the phone will because to a text agent, you are just a chat room conversation. Over the phone, you are at least a person speaking and that is recognized. 

That said, this is why phone support needs to remain active and helpful. That isn’t a negotiation, that is a necessity to all logistics systems despite how many companies have opted to remove that from their systems entirely. 

However, once a platform controls the work, the payment records and nearly every path a driver can use to dispute a problem, restricting access to support becomes more than a simple inconvenience. 

If Uber insists that each driver is an independent business, what does it mean when the same centralized system can obstruct those businesses from resolving payment disputes and protecting their income?

That raises much larger questions about coordinated conduct, legal accountability and how far a company can take these practices before it potentially crosses a legal line. And that brings me to a question that some people may consider extreme, but one that I believe independent contractors have every right to ask.

RICO?

Honestly, I would be very concerned if I was Uber right now. Doordash as well, but right now my issue is with Uber, because this is more than simply a single delivery driver issue. It is a systematic issue that spans the gig economy. 

I know a lot of people want to make it sound like we are “misclassified employees” or “we should unionize” but in reality, we are independent contractors and that should remain the case and is preferred to a lot of people. 

However, there does raise the question of how we can unite without a union or put us under the same laws as an employee with all of the drawbacks. 

I would say if drivers are supposed to be independent contractors, and gig workers are considered in business for themselves in the eyes of the law, then the major question is how long can companies get away with this behavior before it becomes a racketeering issue?

After all, how many individual businesses is Uber preventing from receiving adequate support when you choose to play keep away with supervisors and getting in touch with support by creating more friction of this caliber? Which is something that Uber seems to be striving for actively.

Either way, I wonder if that is something that has been thought about by authorities and is that why Uber executives have always included people of political leadership? To prevent that from ever being an issue?

This is getting a bit tin-foil hat for me so I am gonna stop this thought process here but it is something I would love to explore to be honest. 

Whatever legal framework ultimately applies, that broader question does not erase the immediate impact on the drivers dealing with this system today.

Before any regulator, court or authority decides what this behavior should be called, drivers are already paying for it through lost time, lost income and the emotional toll of repeatedly being forced to fight for basic support.

That is where this experience continued affecting me long after the calls finally ended.

Stress Burnout

One thing I have been experiencing more and more is a burnout that specifically comes from getting angry and being provoked. Even as I am writing out the script to this, I can feel the waves of rage rebuilding up and me losing my energy. 

This is something that shouldn't just be ignored, this is the kind of thing that is truly built up over time. It doesn’t seem like a lot at first, but as you continue to fight it becomes harder and harder to emotionally fight the support teams so eventually stop contacting support entirely. 

Then when you decide that unassigning an order is overall better for your mental health than fighting over the phone with support agents that don’t really help you, you end up getting a violation or a notice claiming “the order was picked up” or “not delivered” after you unassigned. 

Meaning you are damned if you do contact them, or damned if you don’t. 

So you will inevitably get stressed out regardless because of how Uber as a platform and as a support system treats their drivers, and either stop engaging with them entirely, let it wear you out, or keep making the same mistakes because the “right way” is too stressful and you get deactivated for no real reason. 

Regardless of why, Uber needs to fix this type of problem sooner rather than later. There are so many people who are tired of being treated this way and I believe driver retention has drastically dropped for a while. 

How Drivers Can Build Their Own Paper Trail

When an order disappears from your history and support controls most of the information inside the app, drivers cannot assume Uber will preserve everything they may eventually need. We shouldn’t have to create an entire case file every time something goes wrong, but an independent paper trail may be the only way to prove that you followed the proper process.

First, start taking screenshots as soon as something feels wrong. You obviously don’t need to screenshot every normal delivery, but once a restaurant tells you an order was already picked up, capture whatever information is still available. That can include the restaurant, estimated payout, order status, pickup time and any messages connected to the delivery.

Second, use the in-app support system to establish a written record, even if your ultimate goal is to speak with someone over the phone. Save the chat, any case or reference number, the agent’s response and the time you contacted them. If a support agent gives you instructions over the phone, ask whether they can confirm those instructions through the chat as well.

Third, always ask for a supervisor when the frontline support agent cannot or will not resolve the problem. Frontline agents are often limited to whatever script and tools Uber gives them, while supervisors have additional authority to correct the issue and provide compensation. 

That is exactly what happened during this incident. After numerous frontline agents told me no, transferred me or refused to help, the one real supervisor I eventually reached was able to provide the cancellation fee.

If an agent says that no supervisor is available, clearly repeat the request and ask for it to be documented. They might also stick with their story which will mean you have to contact support again to get another agent, this is why they are making barriers just push through them. 

You may be told that a supervisor will say the same thing, that the transfer will take hours or that nobody is available. Again, hang up and try again. Don’t take terrible people pretending to “support” at face value.

Bad support agents are a cancer within the company and this is why you need to keep pushing forward. Eventually, there will be one that does their job because the support team cannot survive without people to pick up the slack of poorly managed support agents. 

Also, just because support can be trash, that does not mean you should voluntarily give up your request. The frontline agent does not get to decide whether speaking with a supervisor is worth your time.

Fourth, do not allow an agent to pressure you into unassigning an order yourself when the order is unavailable for reasons outside your control. Ask support to cancel it on their end and clearly document why it needs to be canceled. If they insist that you take another action, ask them to place those instructions in writing before you do anything that could potentially affect your cancellation rate, payment or account.

Fifth, maintain your own timeline outside the Uber Eats app. Take a screenshot of your phone’s call history and make a quick note of when you arrived, what the restaurant told you, how many times you contacted support, how long you were placed on hold and what eventually resolved the problem.

This is also one area where a mileage-tracking app like MileIQ can provide another useful piece of documentation. MileIQ can record the start and end locations, mileage and timing associated with a drive. That means your mileage history may help establish when you traveled to a pickup area and when you left.

A MileIQ record will not prove everything that happened at the restaurant or during the support calls. However, when that physical-location history aligns with your order screenshots, support-chat timestamps, personal notes and phone records, it can help strengthen the overall timeline. You can also add notes to the drive and generate a separate report for your records.

If that is something you would find valuable or you just need a way to track your miles for tax season, sign up with MileIQ today!

Sixth, verify the outcome before considering the problem resolved. Check whether the cancellation payment appears in your earnings and whether the order remains visible in your history. If something disappears or does not match what support told you, document that immediately instead of assuming you will be able to find it later.

Finally, once you realize you are dealing with an actual dispute, keep your statements as factual as possible. That is not about making the support agent comfortable or pretending that the way you are being treated is acceptable. It is about protecting yourself from having your anger used to redirect attention away from the original problem or to inaccurately characterize what happened.

Don’t fall for the provocation and the gaslighting attempts the Uber Support agents practice to give them an excuse to make your call longer or take more time than they should.

None of these steps guarantees that Uber Eats will pay you, correct its records or treat you fairly. The fact that drivers may need to document a routine cancellation like a legal dispute is part of the problem. However, if Uber controls the app and can change what remains visible inside it, then Uber should not also control the only surviving version of what happened.

Drivers need their own records because once the evidence disappears, it becomes your word against the platform’s. Uber may control its internal records, but that does not mean it should control the entire timeline. 

Final Thoughts

Obviously, this can very well be an event that was designed by Uber to discourage drivers from being able to ask for help and can be talked around in the public eye if they were ever confronted directly. 

That said, this doesn’t change the fact that the system is not being fixed through the methods of innovation, it is being paved over thinking that building the system on a shaky foundation will keep it afloat and if they maintain the volume… it may but not really.

I get that our world is going for a more innovation first mentality but also, people have had enough of being treated like garbage and talking to robots over the phone, be that literally or metaphorically. 

I ended up with the cancellation fee at the end of the day but that doesn’t change that everything leading up to that point was utter nonsense and needs to be changed. 

I obviously don’t count on them truly changing, so as usual I am focusing on diversifying my portfolio and developing my exit strategy because no one is going to look out for my financial safety better than I am, so make sure you do the same.

If you would like to add some other perspective to how UberEats support operates, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!