Yahoo News Uber Eats Asda shopping probe as '£183 order stolen'
A mum has claimed her £183 Asda shopping order was 'stolen' by an Uber Eats driver. She claims the order, which contained milk and nappies for her children amongst other items, did not turn up.
Aim Olawuyi ordered in essential items for her children Kelai, 3, and Neo, 2, on Friday, May 3 using express delivery. The service partners with third-party services to deliver shopping.
The order was packed by Asda employees and then transported by an Uber Eats employee, who was responsible for getting them to the customer, the Liverpool Echo reports.
However, Aim claims the £183 order from Asda never turned up and believes the Uber Eats driver stole her shopping. Uber Eats have said it is currently investigating, while Asda confirmed they have apologised to Aim and provided a refund.
Aim said: “The only reason why I used express delivery that day was because I usually have childcare to go in person, but my mum wasn't able to look after my little boy. My three-year-old is actually being referred for autism, so taking him out in public is just a no go anyway. So that's the main reason why I used express delivery because he would have just had a meltdown in the shop.”
Aim said the order was set to be delivered between 4pm and 5pm on May 3. Soon after placing the order, she received a text saying her order was on the way, but a few seconds later she received another saying it had been delivered.
She originally thought the Uber driver had got the wrong address until she contacted Asda about 10 minutes later. The Asda worker quickly agreed to provide her with a full refund.
Speaking about how she felt about the incident, Aim said: “Honestly, angry. I was just really angry and upset because I'm a single mum and it's hard enough as it is for anyone in this cost of living crisis, never mind being a single mum with two babies."
She added her kids had gone "without nappies and stuff because I only had a small amount of money to get a small shop.”
Aim tried to call the driver multiple times on different phones but says it’s blocked. She has not contacted Uber herself about the issue, as she was unsure “how to go about it” and feels she does not have enough information about the driver bar the name and number, which she believes is fake.
Though she is happy with Asda providing her with the refund, she has called on the supermarket to stop its partnership with Uber on delivery orders.
Aim said: “I thought the express delivery would be with an Asda driver. I didn’t read it properly, that it would be a third party.
“I was happy with the fact that they (Asda) gave me a refund, but I do think that they need to stop using Uber, because this could be someone that's really, really vulnerable, more vulnerable than me just using it, like an old person who can't get out.
“I just think that they need to maybe hire their own drivers rather than using a third party.”
It is understood that the order was successfully collected from Asda by Uber Eats for delivery. When a third-party delivery doesn't arrive with a customer, which is said to be a rare occurrence, Asda report the incident to Uber Eats to investigate.
An Uber Eats spokesperson said: "We are currently investigating what happened here."
An Asda spokesperson confirmed that the supermarket has “apologised to Ms Olawuyi for the inconvenience caused and have processed a full refund.”
