‘PAY ME MY MONEY’: RESTAURANT SAYS UBER EATS OWES THEM NEARLY $30K

@wmar2news

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Why it worked

The video leverages a high-stakes, relatable conflict between a small business and a massive tech platform, creating immediate viewer empathy and a sense of urgency.

Summary

A local news segment reports on a Baltimore restaurant, Jollof Bowl, that is struggling to receive $30,000 in payments from Uber Eats. The owners share their experience with the platform's support and encourage other small businesses to monitor their payment records closely.

Structure

1Introduction of the payment dispute between Jollof Bowl and Uber Eats.
2Owners explain the financial impact of the missing payments.
3Documentation of the failed communication attempts with Uber Eats support.
4Uber Eats acknowledges the issue after media intervention.
5Owners advise other businesses to monitor their finances and promote their own direct ordering channel.

Product placement

Uber Eats: (a) ACTS — it is the subject of a payment dispute, its interface is shown in email correspondence, and it is the platform the restaurant is currently using for orders. Removing it would change the entire premise of the video. Jollof Bowl: (a) ACTS — it is the restaurant being featured, its owners are interviewed, and its own website is promoted as an alternative to the delivery app. Removing it would change the subject of the video.

On-screen text

‘PAY ME MY MONEY’: RESTAURANT SAYS UBER EATS OWES THEM NEARLY $30K Andrea Kamara and Lekan Oketunji tell me the foot traffic is great for them here, but delivery apps are also huge. Which had been working well for them until July of this year. We noticed that we weren’t really getting the money that we were supposed to be getting on a daily. So the customer pays them and they’re supposed to pay us out, but they’re not paying us out. They tell me it’s added up to about $30,000 in outstanding payments. So they reached out to Uber. Every time it’s, oh, we’ll get back to you later. We’re going have somebody reach out to you. You reach out to an email, you get an auto response back and no follow-up. $30,000 later, you’re like, uh, somebody needs to pay my money. They showed me those emails, where on September 18th, Uber Eats told them they paused payments because of unusual activity on the Jollof Bowl account. They reached out about a solution and were told to expect a delay in response times because of high volume on September 22nd. They reached out again a few days later and got this response, saying there are longer wait times and that there’s a hold on their account, but they can still accept orders. We do have other third-party delivery apps that we are on that we’re able to absorb these costs, but you can’t absorb them forever. I reached out to Uber about this on October 8th, and the next morning got a response, saying they are aware of the concerns, take this seriously, and have escalated the issue, and have reached out to the owners of Jollof Bowl. Andrea tells me she got a call from Uber around the same time, saying they’re working on the payment. In the meantime, they want other small businesses to be aware. I just want everybody to kind of like take notice and look through those numbers very diligently because you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table. They’re still fulfilling Uber Eats orders, but Jollof Bowl has their own website customers can use. Right now, we want people to show up, you know, come out here, grab food. We are now open until midnight through our pickup window on the side on East Cross Street. We’re just looking forward to continuing to serve our community.

Original caption

Jollof Bowl in Baltimore is still waiting on nearly $30,000 in payments from Uber Eats dating back to July of this year. While orders have been continuously coming in, founders Andrea Kamara and Lekan Oketunji say money from Uber Eats is not. "We're essentially giving away free food, $30,000 of free food because we have not been paid for it."

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Transcript

We're essentially giving away free food, $30,000 worth of free food. Andrea Kamara and Lekan Oketunji tell me the foot traffic is great for them here, but delivery apps are also huge. So we do about maybe like a third of our business on these third-party delivery apps. Which had been working well for them until July of this year. We noticed that we weren't really getting the money that we were supposed to be getting on a daily. So the customer pays them and they're supposed to pay us out, but they're not paying us out. They tell me it's added up to about $30,000 in outstanding payments. So they reached out to Uber. Every time it's, oh, we'll get back to you later. We're going have somebody reach out to you. You reach out to an email, you get an auto response back and no follow-up. $30,000 later, you're like, uh, somebody needs to pay my money. They showed me those emails, where on September 18th, Uber Eats told them they paused payments because of unusual activity on the Jollof Bowl account. They reached out about a solution and were told to expect a delay in response times because of high volume on September 22nd. They reached out again a few days later and got this response, saying there are longer wait times and that there's a hold on their account, but they can still accept orders. We do have other third-party delivery apps that we are on that we're able to absorb these costs, but you can't absorb them forever. I reached out to Uber about this on October 8th, and the next morning got a response, saying they are aware of the concerns, take this seriously, and have escalated the issue, and have reached out to the owners of Jollof Bowl. Andrea tells me she got a call from Uber around the same time, saying they're working on the payment. In the meantime, they want other small businesses to be aware. I just want everybody to kind of like take notice and look through those numbers very diligently because you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table. They're still fulfilling Uber Eats orders, but Jollof Bowl has their own website customers can use. Right now, we want people to show up, you know, come out here, grab food. We are now open until midnight through our pickup window on the side on East Cross Street. We're just looking forward to continuing to serve our community.