Woman Ordered Grocery Delivery And Realized That Her Uber Eats Driver Found A 'New Way To Scam' Her
Odua Images / Canva Pro One mom’s experience with Uber Eats grocery delivery was far from an advertisement for convenience. In fact, it became a cautionary tale about scams and how easy it is for the less-than-trustworthy to take advantage of the average person's limited time.
People rely on convenience. With bustling lives, busy families, and full-time jobs, being able to introduce efficient tricks into a routine can make all the difference. For many people, that means using delivery services like Uber Eats or DoorDash. Unfortunately, this mom learned that sometimes convenience comes with a price.
A woman realized her Uber Eats driver ‘scammed her’ after comparing her grocery receipt with what she actually ordered.
Kally Kingery took to TikTok to share her experience with the Uber Eats service and the scam she realized was likely widespread. It all happened when she looked at her bank account after an order and realized that her grocery total was far higher than she’d expected.
Deciding to look into it, she compared some of her grocery items to what she’d ordered on the app. “I ordered a watermelon, but received several packs of pre-cut watermelon slices,” she added.
While this wasn’t entirely concerning, as many drivers make necessary substitutions, it prompted her to dive in deeper, and that's when she realized the total charge wasn't off by a little, but a lot.
With over 28% of American adults relying on grocery delivery services to get their food every month, she was sure that this experience was not an isolated one. In fact, Kingery started to worry if she’d been overpaying for months and wanted to figure out why.
The woman got the Uber Eats driver to send her the receipt, and she realized they had purchased several items for themselves.
She explained, “The groceries that I received were less than what I ordered, but the amount I paid was much more.” When Kingery contacted her driver to request the actual store receipt, instead of the one from her initial order in the app, she said they “argued back and forth.” When it was finally sent over, she realized that her driver had purchased several items for themselves and charged them to her order.
Confused and shocked that her driver had "scammed" her, she decided to contact customer service on the Uber Eats app. However, the conversation lasted hours and only left her more frustrated in the end.
After hours of arguing, Kingery said the customer service representative finally asked her to send over the actual store receipt and to point out the items her driver had added. “You should know,” she said to the customer service representative. “You have my order receipt on the app and know that I didn’t order a pot roast, right?”
BongkarnGraphic | Shutterstock
Frustrated, she decided to just highlight the receipt, in disbelief again after counting how many items had been added without her ever knowing. However, when Kingery went back to the chat to send the receipt, the Uber Eats representative had ended the conversation.
She promised to follow up on her video to share how she was navigating the “scam” from her grocery delivery. “It’s fraud,” she said angrily, and as a lawyer by profession, Kingery was probably right.
After getting refunded for her order, she decided to try again and was shocked when another Uber Eats driver ‘scammed’ her.
In a follow-up TikTok video, Kingery said she’d been contacted by Uber Eats directly after her previous video gained a great deal of traction. They apologized, refunded the entire order amount, and sent her a $30 delivery credit to her account — “and, I caved,” she admitted. After ordering from the app again, Kingery revealed “she was glad she did” because they tried to scam her again.
This time, her driver sent an unclear photo of the store receipt, allowing her to discreetly add on items that were not on the original order and charge her more than she approved. “Why are you being so shady?” she questioned. “You can’t benefit financially off somebody that relied on a promise that you made, knowing that it was untrue.”
She suggested that Uber Eats step up their game by adding extra security, like accurate imaging for store receipts, extra item checks, and more reliable and informed customer service representatives.
It's always a good idea to double-check receipts and report errors promptly.
Josep Suria | Shutterstock
She’s surely not the only person who experienced this, as many comments pointed out. And the simple fact that it happened to her twice in a row is evidence that it happens. And while it stinks, when you're paying for a service of convenience some of the responsibility still falls on the customer.
Buyer beware isn't just a saying. If you are spending money for a good or service, you, as the paying partner, have a responsibility to check that what you're paying for is accurate. That means, check your receipts. Check prices. Check everything promptly. If you notice a discrepancy, report it immediately.
Is this kind of a hassle? Absolutely! But it's the price you pay for the convenience of not going to the store yourself, no pun intended. If you're not willing to check, you have to assume that you will be scammed at some point, and you have to be okay with that.
At the very least, always check your receipts from all delivery services, and the next time you act out of convenience, remember it might result in more work in the end.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
