UberEats Driver Cries Over $3 Parking While Delivering Order & Gets Labeled A ‘Scαm Artist’ After Launching A GoFundMe To Cover Costs
1. UberEats Driver Cries Over $3 Parking While Delivering Order
This past year, home delivery drivers have turned into essential key workers, keeping countries running in the face of the global pandemic. However, many customers still don’t realize how draining, depressing, and under-paying this job sometimes is, especially during the current críѕíѕ.
A tearful UberEats driver facing homelessness posted an emotional video to TikTok begging customers to think about tipping drivers.
Riley Elliott, an UberEats driver in the US, said he “risks his life” in his job every day during the pandemic, but was barely earning enough money to make ends meet.
The footage has gone viral since being posted last week, earning the driver 17,000 followers and a lot of support.
“Y’all, I wish people who order Uber Eats or DoorDash understood what it’s like to be a driver,” Elliot says in the video. “I just spent 45 minutes on a delivery, and had to pay $3 for parking to bring this person their food because there was no free parking. And they refuse to come out and meet me.”
In addition to the $1.50 tip, the app the driver works for, UberEats, paid him $2.50. He profited just $1 from the delivery without factoring in fuel costs.
“They tipped me $1.50 and Uber paid me $2.50,” says the guy while you can see tears forming in his eyes. “I gotta prove 3 times the rent for income in 2 weeks, and I can’t. And it doesn’t matter that I’m working multiple jobs, it doesn’t matter that I rarely sleep and can barely afford to feed myself.”
The driver went on to detail his bouts of homelessness and calling out low-tipping customers.
“I’m about to be homeless for the third time since May, and it’s all because people don’t tip their delivery drivers. Like, how hard is it to throw us 5 bucks?” Elliot adds.
In the video, Elliot encourages people to always tip their delivery drivers who are risking their lives during the pαndєmíc
2. Some people, however, shifted the blame toward the app instead.
“It’s not the customer’s responsibility to make up for the poor wages a company pays its employees,” one user posted.
“It is the company’s responsibility to pay their workers a fair wage,” another wrote.
SuSu states that Elliot is not a hard worker and even covered his and his partner’s rent when they lived together.
However, no evidence suggests the TikTok user actually knows the man in the original video.
In fact, the video is likely sarcasm as several other users weighed in with comments that had equally exaggerated claims.
“I’ve known him for almost 8 years and this is spot on,” one user wrote. “His friends got tired of [his] ‘[woe] is me’ self-pitying attitude.”
Regardless of the claims, the video generated a lot of backlash which was directed toward Elliot, who has since deleted the original video.
3. Since making the post, Elliott has been flooded with donations that have helped him to move into a new home.
He has posted a number of follow-up videos thanking people for their generosity.
‘This is crazy’
He said he had been sent thousands of dollars and was now using some of the money to help others out, including homeless people in his area.
“I mean, this is crazy,” he says in one video.
“Thank you, truly thank you!
“We are going to be able to help so many people.”
In another video, he goes to Costco to buy blankets to give to people who were sleeping rough on the street.
“Folks from all over the world have generously donated more than we needed to be okay,” he says.
“My lifelong dream has always been to help others but I’ve never been in the financial position to do much until now.”
4. But Many users commented on the GoFundMe he started subsequent to the original viral video.
Some people claim it had a $100,000 goal, which he shifted to $50,000 after the outpouring of donations.
Elliot amassed around $55,000 from the campaign.
“What a scam artist,” one user commented. “Somebody needs to stop him.”
“Everyone should report the GoFundMe for fraud,” another user wrote.
Despite the backlash, customers on food delivery apps should continue to tip their drivers provided they can afford it.
Most drivers rely on tips to make up for their fuel costs, so not tipping makes the service nearly impossible to function.
Getting food delivered is a luxury for some and a necessity for others, so tip well and tip often.
