Uber Eats driver steals more than $2000 of Apple gear from purchaser

AppleInsider

A customer who ordered an iPhone 14 Pro Max and Apple Watch Ultra through Apple has wound up empty-handed and left footing a $2098 bill.

On Wednesday, Reddit user isolatedparanoia posted their experience with Apple's same-day delivery service on the r/Apple subreddit.

According to isolatedparanoia, they had placed an order for an iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple Watch Ultra through Apple's website. They paid extra to have the items delivered by a courier, who turned out to work via Uber Eats.

However, they never received their iPhone or Apple Watch and, instead, got a notification that the Uber Eats driver had marked the order as delivered.

The customer reached out to Apple, who, according to them, "initially agreed to replace one of the items, the watch they later decided to cancel the replacement order, and denied me the replacement for the phone."

They also found that their local police department would not allow them to file a report for civil matters.

Apple offers same-day, two-hour courier delivery for eligible in-stock items from a local Apple Store. Customers must pay an extra $9 for same-day delivery.

Apple outsources same-day delivery to local courier services and, in this case, used Uber Eats.

A similar case happened in October 2021, when Apple Support forums user Llinares168 reported that an Uber Eats driver had stolen their package. They later said that after multiple phone calls, they later received a refund.

Read on AppleInsider

mike1

Huh? None of this makes sense. Regardless, a simple dispute of the credit card charge would resolve this pretty quickly.

topdrag

It also doesn't make sense that the police called it a civil matter since stealing is criminal. Sooo I think there are a lot of details being omitted here. 

mrstep

Lol - not at the theft, but this is the predictable outcome of the whole "stealing is fine, they have insurance" + "let's not prosecute theft" mentalities.  Surprise, in this case the 2 big companies won't take responsibility, the cops won't do anything, so it's the little guy that gets screwed.

Topdrag, I suspect the $ amount falls under some threshold of them caring - or maybe they're just lazy.  I've heard the same at a store here regarding people just walking out the door with merch - they can call the cops, and when they show up an hour later, they tell the employees "you know we can't do anything about it, right?"  Not in California, btw.  The stores either raise prices (and maybe close as a result) or just close the doors at some point if it gets to be too much.

mark fearing

mrstep said:

Lol - not at the theft, but this is the predictable outcome of the whole "stealing is fine, they have insurance" + "let's not prosecute theft" mentalities.  Surprise, in this case the 2 big companies won't take responsibility, the cops won't do anything, so it's the little guy that gets screwed.

Topdrag, I suspect the $ amount falls under some threshold of them caring - or maybe they're just lazy.  I've heard the same at a store here regarding people just walking out the door with merch - they can call the cops, and when they show up an hour later, they tell the employees "you know we can't do anything about it, right?"  Not in California, btw.  The stores either raise prices (and maybe close as a result) or just close the doors at some point if it gets to be too much.

We don't know that a theft occurred, or did I miss the proof? Maybe a good reason for the companies to dispute this?

ronn

Looks like some info is missing. The customer claims it wasn't delivered, but Apple and Uber Eats have to double-check and confirm what the driver claimed. Happened to me recently with an Amazon order. I got notified that two packages were delivered, and was provided with a photo of the delivery. The porch in the provided photo isn't mine though. When I contacted CS to report the wrong delivery, they wanted me to either wait till Monday to see if the package was marked delivered too early or go to the house and ask my neighbor. I wasn't doing either as the package was clearly not delivered properly and I am not risking a confrontation due to Amazon's mistake. They've done this before and instructions say to double-check the address.

Unlike the customer in this story, I got refunded immediately since two out of the three items are no longer available.

robin huber

If Apple is going trust expensive merch to Uber Eats drivers, they should expect this. Not exactly fully vetted and bonded types can be expected to fill these jobs. Doubt they check for criminal records of those who are supposed to be delivering food. 

eriamjh

ronn said:

Looks like some info is missing. The customer claims it wasn't delivered, but Apple and Uber Eats have to double-check and confirm what the driver claimed. Happened to me recently with an Amazon order. I got notified that two packages were delivered, and was provided with a photo of the delivery. The porch in the provided photo isn't mine though. When I contacted CS to report the wrong delivery, they wanted me to either wait till Monday to see if the package was marked delivered too early or go to the house and ask my neighbor. I wasn't doing either as the package was clearly not delivered properly and I am not risking a confrontation due to Amazon's mistake. They've done this before and instructions say to double-check the address.

Unlike the customer in this story, I got refunded immediately since two out of the three items are no longer available.

I see this on /r/redacted all the time.  It's like a blurry or invalid picture of nothing is proof because it's a picture.  Like NO ONE LOOKED AT THE PICTURE.
CC chargebacks are one way to protect yourself.  

And Uber Eats drivers... according to the local radio station call ins, they're all eating your food.  All of them.

MatrixMetering

topdrag said:

It also doesn't make sense that the police called it a civil matter since stealing is criminal. Sooo I think there are a lot of details being omitted here. 

In some jurisdictions reports aren't taken for what's considered petty theft. A crap ton of info was left out of this "blurb", the lack of info/context precludes this from being called a story, posted here. The original telling of this issue is over on reddit; https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/113gn1g/apple_and_uber_have_left_me_emptyhanded_and_out/

bestkeptsecret

In my country, when I order from Apple, they always send by courier, via a reputed company. I am provided with an OTP on my phone that is used to take the delivery. The delivery cannot be marked as delivered till the OTP is correctly verified by the system. 
It makes it really secure.

topdrag

mrstep said:

Lol - not at the theft, but this is the predictable outcome of the whole "stealing is fine, they have insurance" + "let's not prosecute theft" mentalities.  Surprise, in this case the 2 big companies won't take responsibility, the cops won't do anything, so it's the little guy that gets screwed.

Topdrag, I suspect the $ amount falls under some threshold of them caring - or maybe they're just lazy.  I've heard the same at a store here regarding people just walking out the door with merch - they can call the cops, and when they show up an hour later, they tell the employees "you know we can't do anything about it, right?"  Not in California, btw.  The stores either raise prices (and maybe close as a result) or just close the doors at some point if it gets to be too much.

Yeah but generally anything over $2,000 in value is a felony so it's a heavy charge that they will go after. (Or should) But the fact they tried to say it's a civil matter is a joke in itself since it isn't. 

maestro64

Let’s start with the individuals online handle and leave at that. 

DavidSandez

AppleInsider said:

A customer who ordered an iPhone 14 Pro Max and Apple Watch Ultra through Apple has wound up empty-handed and left footing a $2098 bill.

On Wednesday, Reddit user isolatedparanoia posted their experience with Apple's same-day delivery service on the r/Apple subreddit.

According to isolatedparanoia, they had placed an order for an iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple Watch Ultra through Apple's website. They paid extra to have the items delivered by a courier, who turned out to work via Uber Eats.

However, they never received their iPhone or Apple Watch and, instead, got a notification that the Uber Eats driver had marked the order as delivered.

The customer reached out to Apple, who, according to them, "initially agreed to replace one of the items, the watch they later decided to cancel the replacement order, and denied me the replacement for the phone."

They also found that their local police department would not allow them to file a report for civil matters.

Apple offers same-day, two-hour courier delivery for eligible in-stock items from a local Apple Store. Customers must pay an extra $9 for same-day delivery.

Apple outsources same-day delivery to local courier services and, in this case, used Uber Eats.

A similar case happened in October 2021, when Apple Support forums user Llinares168 reported that an Uber Eats driver had stolen their package. They later said that after multiple phone calls, they later received a refund.

Read on AppleInsider

I work Uber Eats and I've delivered for Apple and we have to scan the items when we pick it up and drop it off plus we need a signature from the customer or else we can't get any more orders or get paid for the delivery so if the driver did steal the order it's his last delivery on Uber eats

lkrupp

mike1 said:

Huh? None of this makes sense. Regardless, a simple dispute of the credit card charge would resolve this pretty quickly.

Yep, people often greatly enhance their tales of woe, casting Apple as the bad guy. That Apple supposedly agreed to and then reneged on a refund sounds suspicious. Perhaps Apple got confirmation from Uber Eats that the package was indeed delivered? And the ‘victim’ doesn’t say anything about contacting Uber Eats about the incident. Do they take a picture of the delivery like Amazon does? When I order stuff from Apple I have to be home and take it from the hands of the delivery driver.

The whole thing sounds funny to me.

lkrupp

maestro64 said:

Let’s start with the individuals online handle and leave at that. 

Just like the ones on the Apple Discussion Forums asking for help because their iPhone has been hacked and taken over by ‘someone’. Someone is controlling everything on their device, reading their email, changing settings, adding apps, listening to their phone calls, etc. Forum volunteers are not allowed to suggest the individual seek professional help, obviously.

DrTek

Just happened with me today on my iPhone 16PM delivery. 

It said it was delivered, but nothing.
Odd thing is that until it is marked as delivered, it has the driver info available.
Then it disappears.