# Uber Eats accused of unfair contracts against SMEs



## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*Uber Eats accused of unfair contracts against SMEs*
- Adam Zuchetti
- Thursday, 12 April 2018
- *https://www.mybusiness.com.au/sales/4183-uber-eats-accused-of-unfair-contracts-against-smes*

Food delivery service Uber Eats has found itself the subject of a bitter public complaint by a disgruntled business that alleged below par service. Yet a bigger concern pertains to Uber Eats' contract terms.

In the lengthy post made on Facebook on 10 April 2018, Burgers by Josh - which operates three outlets in Sydney and Wollongong - claimed that "our google [sic] reviews have been tarnished by unhappy customers who's [sic] issue is with [Uber Eats] delivery drivers".

The post said that Uber Eats drivers are untrained in food handling or basic customer service, and this is reflecting badly on businesses - usually small restaurant operators - using the service.

"We contacted uber [sic] simply to be told they can't do anything about it and to give a bad review to drivers," Burgers by Josh said.

"So we will no longer be partnering with uber eats [sic] and are looking into removing our Contract with them.

"We will however be on Deliveroo as its [sic] a much better service for customer and business alike."

The post included repeated apologies to customers who "have had a bad experience with Uber Eats".

However, Uber Eats disputed Burgers by Josh's claims, and said that it had not received any complaint from the business.

"We actually had not received any formal complaint or any contact from that restaurant, so it was news to us when we saw what that Facebook post was talking about," an Uber Eats spokesperson told My Business.

The spokesperson said they have since made contact with Burgers by Josh, and are working towards addressing the concerns raised.

"They do now understand a lot of the issues could have been resolved if they had come to us first," the spokesperson said.

"It's in our best interest to make being on Uber Eats viable for the restaurant partners. We don't exist without restaurants being on our platform, so obviously we don't want them to be unhappy."

While the breakdown may have been a simple miscommunication in terms of where the restaurant should have directed its initial concerns before they built up to such a fiery situation, Burgers by Josh also raised a potentially more troublesome issue for Uber Eats, in the form of possible unfair contract terms.

As of 12 November 2016, new laws were introduced to protect small businesses from entering into unfair contracts or clauses imposed on them by larger entities. It applies to all contracts entered into on or since that date, new or renewed, where at least one party is a small business.

Among the definitions of what constitutes an unfair term is "potentially broad and unreasonable powers to protect themselves against loss or damage at the expense of the small business".

Burgers by Josh claimed that restaurants using Uber Eats are required to foot the bill for 50 per cent of any refund issued to customers, regardless of who was at fault for the complaint.

"This overseas company is Un-Australian [sic] and exploiting small business, we must say NO," it said.

Uber Eats confirmed to My Business that it had changed its policy, to move the initial cost burden of any refunds onto the restaurant rather than itself.

"The implementation here that has created some confusion is that, if you order your meal and a can of Coke from this particular restaurant and you receive your order but the can of Coke is not there, then that cost, that cost used to be on Uber, and now the expectation is that restaurants need to front up and pay for mistakes, which is quite a reasonable request," the Uber Eats spokesperson said.

"They are welcome to dispute that, and we will work with them."

When asked whether this policy applied more broadly and that a business would be refunded for the recompense paid to a consumer if Uber Eats investigated the issue and found the delivery component was at fault, the spokesperson replied "Yes, we would".

Such a contract clause sits in murky water under the unfair contract rules, and could be subject to legal action to determine their validity.

"Terms that unfairly seek to shift liability from the contract provider to a small business are likely to raise unfair contract terms concerns, however it is ultimately for a court or tribunal, and not the ACCC, to determine whether such terms are unfair," an ACCC spokesperson said.

While the ACCC would not comment on the specific circumstances of this scenario, it urged any business with concerns over contract terms to take action.

"If [a] small business thinks a contract term is unfair, in the first instance it should ask the provider to amend or remove the unfair term. If this is unsuccessful, a small business can:
• Contact the ACCC and make a report (or otherwise ASIC if it relates to a financial service or product); or
• Seek the assistance of the State's Small Business Commissioner or ASBFEO."

It is not the first time Uber Eats as been called out for "exploitative" behaviour, with a Sydney cafe telling News Corp in January this year that it would not accept orders through Uber Eats because of its fees are damaging profitability.

"Uber Eats is incredibly exploitative of small business AND drivers," Petty Cash Cafe said in response to Uber Eats' 35 per cent margin demand.

My Business also reached out to Burgers by Josh for additional comment on the matter, but did not receive a response prior to publishing.


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## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*'This is a truly evil company': Burger bar slams UberEats after customers complain about cold food*
A POPULAR burger chef has unleashed a scathing attack on UberEats, describing it as a "fascist" and "truly evil company".


Frank Chung@franks_chung









news.com.au April 14, 2018 6:37am

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...ustomers-complain-about-cold-food/news-story/ ..... 
*If unable to view link then google "ubereats burgers by josh"*

*Uber eating into delivery service profits*


















A POPULAR Sydney burger chef has severed ties with UberEats and unleashed a scathing online spray against the "fascist" company after his business was hit by a wave of negative reviews from customers unhappy with cold food.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Burgers by Josh founder Josh Arthurs accused UberEats of "exploitation". "To all our loyal customers who have had a bad experience with UberEats we APOLOGISE," Mr Arthurs wrote.

"As both a customer and food operational partner of this fascist company I have seen first-hand just how bad [an] experience it is for both parties involved."

He said the drivers were untrained in food handling and customer service and "any Joe off the street can join", and the problem was made worse because drivers were "not paid much so they will take one job/food order and often stop in and get another along the way which results in customers getting cold food".

"Now recently Uber changed its policy on refunds for customers and businesses," he said. "Customers no longer have a call centre to call and they have to enter a complaint in via the app to be sent off overseas with an expected wait of 24 to 72-hour response time to then see if you are eligible for a refund.

"Doesn't really help when your food's not right there now does it? To make matters worse businesses have to compensate 50 per cent of the refund even if it's not the restaurant's fault."

Mr Arthurs said his Google reviews had been "tarnished by unhappy customers whose issue is with delivery drivers or their handling of our much-loved product".

"We contacted Uber simply to be told they can't do anything about it and to give a bad review to drivers," he said. "To further that, Uber already takes 35 per cent off the overall sales sold through the app, leaving restaurants with no room to make a profit.

"This is a truly evil company and it's destroying our beautiful Australian restaurant culture. So we will no longer be partnering with UberEats and are looking into removing our contract with them.

"We will however be on Deliveroo as it's a much better service for customer and business alike with trained drivers, call centre for customers and much better business partner support. This overseas company is un-Australian and exploiting small business, we must say NO."

Many on Facebook sympathised with the post, which has been shared more than 200 times and attracted nearly 2000 comments.

Fellow burger restaurant owner, Milky Lane's Christian Avant, agreed. "We've used Deliveroo since day one bro and will be launching our own delivery before the end of the year," he said.

David Alphonso wrote, "I used UberEats once to get a burger delivered, the driver rang and said he was outside didn't even get out the car, took him 30 minutes for a 10 minute drive, food was cold."

An UberEats spokeswoman said, "Since we launched UberEats in Australia nearly two years ago, we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from Aussies who've truly embraced the app as a new way to get the food they love, delivered to their door at Uber speed.

"We place a lot of value on establishing long-term relationships with our restaurant partners but we understand that a partnership with us will not suit all restaurants.

"UberEats is proving popular with over 8000 active restaurants across Australia who choose to be on our platform because it helps them grow their business and reach new customers with a fast, reliable and efficient delivery option.

"Restaurant service fees give restaurant partners access to a large network of delivery partners and contribute to 24/7 customer and operational support, as well as app development, marketing campaigns and business insights. UberEats can be a cost-effective channel for reaching an entirely new customer base.

"We encourage all of our restaurant partners to reach out to us directly to address any concerns or issues they may be having and we will work to resolve these with them."


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Good think I wasn't their driver, the food would be all cold AND missing.


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## IERide (Jul 1, 2016)

So people are starting to realize that you actually get what you pay for??


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## fields (Jul 11, 2016)

Truly evil and fascist because they delivered one of his burgers late? Has he checked Sydney traffic lately?


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## wb6vpm (Mar 27, 2016)

fields said:


> Truly evil and fascist because they delivered one of his burgers late? Has he checked Sydney traffic lately?


I don't think it's just one burger that he's had an issue with...


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## fields (Jul 11, 2016)

wb6vpm said:


> I don't think it's just one burger that he's had an issue with...


You don't think he might have been ever so slightly inebriated when he wrote this?


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## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

If food is delivered it's gonna taste like shite. Don't care what country, state or city you are in.

Food is meant to be served freshly prepared, not sitting and sweating in a styrofoam or whatever type container.


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## Who is John Galt? (Sep 28, 2016)

.
_He said the drivers were untrained in food handling and customer service and "any Joe off the street can join", and the problem was made worse because drivers were "not paid much so they will take one job/food order and often stop in and get another along the way which results in customers getting cold food"._

Shocking isn't it? "

"Any Joe off the street can join" - after getting a driver's license and driver accreditation of course, and will be subject to, and rated for, whatever the whims and fancies of the paying customer. The driver has no control over the quality of the food, but can be removed from the platform at a moment's notice for any real or perceived transgression.

Meanwhile, the burger 'food preparation artiste' earns a proper wage with penalty rates, has employment benefits such as Superannuation and sick pay, does not get rated for every order and does not have to endure the pretentiousness of some wänker who is quite happy to overspend and pay $20+ per burger but values a driver's time at perhaps $15 per hour.

Perhaps Josh Arthurs might set up his own driver team, perhaps a 'super squad of munchie saviours' or 'taste transporteurs' and pay them the same hourly rate as the 'food preparation artistes' in the kitchen.

I'd like to see that.

Then and only then, will he, his mates and his customers, who are all complicit in Über being "a truly evil company", begin to truly value the efforts of the delivery drivers.

.


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## BuckleUp (Jan 18, 2018)

Well, you got to be a foked in the ehad to work for $5/hr for uber eats anyways. Seriously, go do traffic control with start-stop bat for $30/hr, work at maccas for $22/hr, dig holes at a union site for $27/hr. Hell, everything pays more than this fascist slave driver called uber eats.


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## Lowestformofwit (Sep 2, 2016)

IERide said:


> So people are starting to realize that you actually get what you pay for??


More likely "didn't get what they thought they were paying for".


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## KITT (Mar 28, 2017)

sounds like a CBD delivery. 10 minutes drive. 30 minutes to find parking if you are lucky.


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