Reckless Riders and Fake Profiles on Uber Eats Spark Controversy in Canada as a Well-Known Restaurateur Finds Himself on the Delivery Platform Without Ever Requesting It.
The news
A hacker with refined taste seems to reside in Saskatoon. Two restaurants in the Canadian town unexpectedly found themselves with profiles on Uber Eats, a well-known platform for ordering and delivering food online, without ever registering. In both cases, the scam was exposed when riders showed up at the establishments to pick up orders placed through the app.
Mearc Davie, chef and co-owner of The Granary, was taken aback when his manager called him to ask if he had created an Uber Eats account for the restaurant. "I answered the phone and was told, 'Hey, are we on Uber Eats by any chance? Did you forget to tell me?' I replied, 'Absolutely not! What's going on?' I was informed that there was a rider at the restaurant ready to pick up an order," he says. Davie immediately downloaded the app and found his restaurant, menu, and some fake photos posted on the platform. He tried to contact the system to remove the profile but encountered several difficulties. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, he wrote a complaint letter, posted it on Uber Eats' Facebook page, and shared the story on The Granary's page to warn customers not to order his dishes through the app. Thanks to the support of users, magically, The Granary disappeared from the app within 24 hours.
Davie's story is also the story of Lynda Marshall, the owner of Mulberry's restaurant on Millar Avenue. It was late, Lynda was working when she received a call from a rider who had come to pick up an order. "I answered the phone. 'Order? What kind of order?' I exclaimed in amazement. So, I went out to talk directly to the guy, who showed me the profile of my restaurant on Uber, even though I had never registered," explains Marshall. Upon learning that colleague Davie had experienced the same thing, Lynda immediately contacted him to understand how to resolve the situation.
Uber Eats' team, interviewed by CBC for clarification on the incident, simply stated: "It was fraudulent activity; someone not associated with the restaurants or Uber Eats registered the two businesses through the app's self-signup feature. We have strict controls to minimize suspicious activity. Unfortunately, there are still rare cases of wrongdoers. We take these issues seriously and work to promptly address complaints as soon as we become aware of them."
