Uber Eats denies crystal meth drivers
She immediately thought the package in a plastic bag fastened with a black zipper looked suspicious.
“I said to the person who received it, ‘Would you mind telling me what you ordered,’ and she said toothpaste,” Jess said.
“To ensure the reliability of our rating system, we cannot provide or adjust ratings for individual trips.”
An Uber speaker
“I was like, ‘Who pays $16 for toothpaste [to be delivered]that’s totally dodgy’.”
She quit the job and drove to the mascot police station while the drug dealer called her and showered verbal abuse on her.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said officers opened the package and found a tube of toothpaste believed to contain two grams of methylamphetamine which was confiscated by police.
“While the investigation continues, anyone who may have information regarding this incident or the shipment of prohibited drugs is urged to contact Mascot Police Station or Crime Stoppers,” the spokeswoman said.
The driver was told that without Uber Eats’ assistance in identifying the customer, the police could take no further action.Credit: Attila Csaszar
Jess said she tried to call Uber Eats directly to no avail and was forced to repeatedly raise the matter via an online form, causing her to be “bombarded” with generic replies.
On Sunday, after a week, she said the company didn’t answer her calls, didn’t remove the drug dealer from the app, refused to refund her the $16 she would have been paid for the trip, or the one-star rating to withdraw the drug dealer had given her.
“We will continue to investigate this to determine if the driver will continue to have access to Uber,” an Uber Eats employee told Jess in correspondence, which can be found in this legal notice.
“To ensure the reliability of our rating system, we cannot provide or adjust ratings for individual trips.
“We also understand that you want to be compensated for your lost hours. In general, we reward partners for rides they take on the Uber app.”
Jess said she was told that without Uber Eats’ assistance in identifying the customer, the police could take no further action.
Five hours after this legal notice asked questions about Uber on Sunday, an employee of the company contacted Jess to tell her that “appropriate internal measures” were being taken against the drug dealer. They apologized for the long time it had taken to address the situation.
Jess was told the one star rating would be removed and her full fare refunded.
An Uber spokeswoman told this legal notice that any illegal activity while using the Uber app is unacceptable and could result in immediate loss of access to the Uber app.
“If a driver, delivery driver or the police reports such an incident to us, the driver will permanently lose access to the Uber app,” she said.
“When shipping goods, drivers must agree immediately before the request that they are not shipping any prohibited or illegal items (including drugs).
“Our dedicated Law Enforcement Response Team, which includes former Australian police officers, is also available to assist the police in their investigations into such matters.”
Jess took to social media to reveal her experience, saying it’s not about the money because she’s lucky enough to work full-time, but she’s basically pursuing the matter for the benefit of others who rely on the app as their primary resource of income.
“Uber doesn’t create a safe work environment,” she said. “They protect people who pay through their drivers.”
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