“ I am making this video because I honestly will never order from Uber Eats again,” said Michelle (@ceoofcomplainin), a TikTok content creator. That’s because when she complained that her Uber Eats driver tried to forcibly hug her and follow her to her hotel room, the company did nothing.
Michelle posted the video to her TikTok platform, getting 1.3 million viewers within the span of a day. The woman, who was traveling alone for work, thought that she would have an easygoing, safe experience when using the Uber Eats app in Atlanta. She was wrong.
It started with her delivery instructions: The building she was staying in required key card entry. That meant that she would have to meet her delivery driver downstairs instead of having them drop her food off by the door.
As she went down the elevator, a man stepped in on a different floor. He immediately started asking her questions like, “How are you doing?” She tried to ignore him, but eventually, he started to inch closer to her. That’s when he mentioned that he was trying to make a delivery for “Michelle.” She said that was her, leading to an uncomfortable confrontation that she couldn’t escape. He kept coming closer and closer to her until he finally hugged her.
This terrified Michelle, who wasn’t expecting her driver to initiate any physical contact whatsoever.
When the elevator finally opened, she asked for her food. The driver then asked her for “a five-star review” in order to pass it to her. The man got agitated because she wouldn’t do so in front of him.
A stand-off
They had a pseudo stand-off, making the encounter all the more uncomfortable. Michelle ended up having to leave a 5-star review in order to get him to give her the order. Eventually, he messed with his phone and confirmed the delivery in the Uber Eats app, handing her the food in the process. He briefly left the elevator based on her description.
From there, she clicked the button to go back up, but the man decided he wanted to go up with her. He popped his hand back into the elevator again to stop it from closing, trying to physically push his way inside.
She confronted him at that point, telling him that he cannot come up with her. He then cornered her for a second time. She ended up leaving the elevator and walking to the lobby because he refused to give her space. She then entered another elevator to get back onto her floor.
Reporting the situation to Uber Eats
Michelle immediately reported the encounter to Uber when she got back into her room. She recounted the entire story–how the man cornered her in the elevator, physically assaulted her, forced her to give her a five-star review, cornered her again, and tried to follow her to her room despite handing over the food.
She was surprised, however, when the delivery service didn’t treat her concerns seriously at first. The company apologized and gave her a refund, but made zero comments as to whether or not they would continue employing the driver at that time.
“I had an Uber Eats driver come back to my house in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT after he delivered to me midday. Uber did nothing about it. Don’t trust them,” said one commenter.
“ What are [you] doing all these safety [expletive] measures for when you guys are literally employing these [expletive] psychos and not giving a [expletive] when you get a complaint about them?” Michelle asked.
Michelle mentioned that when she was speaking to their AI representative about her assault, it called the encounter “flirting.” That made her feel like she was overreacting about the circumstance, leading to a negative experience overall. She wanted Uber’s accountability regarding her assault, especially considering it could happen to other women using the platform.
The Mary Sue reached out to Michelle via TikTok direct message and Uber via email for comment.
@ceoofcomplainin Update 10/16: he has been banned from all uber platforms. Update 10/15: please see my update video for all the questions. Update: uber is investigating now!!!! DO BETTER FOR WOMEN. NEVER EVER EVER ORDERING FROM UBER EATS AGAIN. @Uber @Uber Eats ♬ original sound – Meech
An update from Uber
On Oct. 15, Michelle posted an update on her emotional state, letting her growing fanbase know that Uber was conducting an investigation into the matter. Uber had her walk through the situation via a phone call and suspended the driver’s account immediately after. A representative stated that they would look into the matter entirely and provided her with some resources, mentioning RAINN and an Uber survivor hotline. The customer service representative was apparently incredibly “apologetic regarding her concerns.
Michelle also called the hotel, which checked on her consistently to ensure she was okay after the encounter.
A representative from Uber replied to the Mary Sue’s inquiry on Oct. 16, letting us know they removed the driver from the platform after investigating the case. They also commented on Michelle’s video to let her know. Michelle updated her original video to confirm this information.
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