Within the space of a few weeks, it feels like one has been taken for a ride by Uber Eats, with the parent company Uber intervening exactly zero times on both occasions.

In the first incident, I bought what was advertised as a ‘buy one get one free’ burger chicken, chips and Pepsi combo at an outlet known as Fat Boy Burgers in Bromhof.

When the order arrived, to my surprise, just one burger, one drink and one packet of potato fries arrived.

Where was the “get one free” I signed up for I wondered? This was raised with Uber Eats immediately through their app and the owner of the shop via SMS, with no material outcome.

“Thanks for reaching out. We've reviewed your concern about your missing item carefully and after checking your account, we have seen that a number of orders have received price adjustments or credits,” Uber Eats replied when I complained.

Essentially, my complaint was disregarded because I have complained before and had prior price adjustments in the past. Sigh.

Uber South Africa spokesperson Cassie Jaganyi explained that in order for customers to opt into the 'buy 1 get 1 free' promotion, they had to select "two" in the cart. She said the promos were designed by the various merchants and conceded that they could make improvements to ensure that it was clearer to app users.

In the second incident, it was the Friday of Valentine's Day. I had bought my partner a Valentine's Day treat and omitted to send a chocolate cake in the initial order. The first order, some bubbly and chocolates combo were delivered in time without any issues. Thanks Uber.

However, the second delivery, which I delivered via a scheduled delivery hours later as I knew she would be out of the office after I messed up the initial offer, was to be delivered a few hours later after midday.

When the driver who was assigned the trip arrived at my fiancé's workplace, he informed me via Uber Eats messaging app that he was outside, to which I directed him to the app instructions, which were for him to enter the business premises and complete the delivery.

Inside the building there were two colleagues, who never saw sight of the delivery driver.

Agitated, he texted me via the app and wanted the delivery pin to end the task. I refused and told him he would be given the pin inside the office.

He tried to contact me by phone, but I was in a meeting and communicated this. Moments later I got a notification that he had completed the delivery.

This was accompanied by a picture indicating he had left the cake on what appeared to be a windowsill.

He did not do this. The colleagues checked for the cake outside the office, and it could not be found, the cake vanished, possibly with the driver, and I was left to foot the bill.

This was reported to Uber, via the app, who said the following:

“It looks like your delivery person tried to contact you but couldn't reach you. The courier may have already left your order at the door. Please check your specific delivery location,” said Uber via app response.

So, I prompted Uber further on the matter, insisting that it was unfair that as a customer, I was being charged full fare for a product which never arrived, and which could not be found.

They would not budge. Part of the frustration with gig economy companies like Uber is the lack of human touch in their operations. We are dealing with a dispute of a mere R200 discrepancy at best, but customers have very little opportunity to interact and speak with humans in a telephone conversation.

What is the telephone number for Uber’s complaints customer service centre?

It doesn’t exist, because all their complaints are either automated or they go to a contact centre somewhere in the middle of Asia.

Uber responds

IOL interacted with Jaganyi last week, who confirmed the e-hailing company had no call centre, but she denied that Uber’s customer service interface is AI operated, saying all processes on the interface are human run.

Responding to this writer’s two complaints, Jaganyi conducted an investigation which found no fault against the company or their drivers.

“We want everyone using the Uber and Uber Eats platforms to have a safe, respectful and positive experience on the platform and to that effect, we have Community Guidelines in place and which we expect all users of the platform to adhere to.

“At Uber Eats, we are committed to providing a seamless and fair experience for all users of our platform, including customers, delivery partners, and merchants. We have clear policies in place to ensure that when an order is not delivered as expected, customers can report the issue through our 24/7 in-app support, where each case is logged, tracked, reviewed and assessed on relevant factors.

“Where appropriate, refunds or other resolutions are provided. Where a refund is provided, this can take up to 10 business days to reflect in the consumers accounts. We implement measures such as GPS tracking, PIN verification, and fraud detection tools to safeguard the integrity of our platform. We continuously work to refine our processes, taking customer feedback into account while ensuring that our approach remains fair and balanced for all parties.

“Additionally, promotions such as ‘Buy 1, Get 1 Free’ are set by merchants, not Uber Eats, to enhance their offerings and provide value to customers,” said Jaganyi.

As a goodwill gesture, a R100 goodwill gesture was offered, accepted and processed.

Jaganyi said Uber made over 25 million deliveries of food, parcels and people, and incidences were less than a percent.

Isolated incidents?

But it’s not just us. At the weekend, a Cape Town X user named Kamva took to the social media site in a desperate plea to locate an Uber driver who in his words “stole” his laptop bag.

Distressed, this bag contained Kamva’s passport, and he was due to fly out of the country on Monday night.

He tweeted on Sunday night: “Cape Town this is an absolute long shot but desperation dictates. This driver stole my laptop bag this morning in an uberCollect trip. My passport is in the bag and I need it to travel internationally tomorrow. I just want my passport dawg”.

By Monday afternoon the driver had been found, along with the passport.

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What happens when you ‘buy 1 get 1 free’, but only get one on Uber Eats?