# Chef behind ‘dark kitchen’ says UberEats made him ‘invisible’, leaving him broke and $730,000 in debt



## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*Chef behind 'dark kitchen' says UberEats made him 'invisible', leaving him broke and $730,000 in debt*
Tony Plunkett was once UberEats' star performer, raking in $32,000 a week. But the burger chef says Uber flipped on him, driving him "broke".


 Frank Chung@franks_chung

news.com.auJuly 6, 2019 1:24pm
https://www.news.com.au/finance/sma...t/news-story/93888b78308d67e303a7144b1c253b53

EXCLUSIVE

The chef behind some of the country's most popular burgers has flipped on UberEats, accusing the global ride-sharing giant of destroying his business and leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Tony Plunkett says he was stabbed in the back by UberEats after helping spearhead its Sydney launch by setting up the country's first ever "dark kitchen" - a delivery-only restaurant - out the back of a shuttered Kings Cross nightclub.

Mr Plunkett spent three decades running McDonald's stores before branching out to start his own business in Melbourne's Ferntree Gully in 2015, with On It Burgers - named Australia's favourite burger shop by Menulog - quickly becoming one of the most popular restaurants on the UberEats platform.

That led to talks with Uber, which encouraged him to set up the dark kitchen. Within 10 weeks of the July 2016 Sydney launch, On It Burgers was averaging 1200 deliveries and $32,000 a week in sales - but the success was short-lived.

According to Mr Plunkett, from the middle of October onwards his store would regularly "go invisible" in the app at peak dinner times, decimating his sales. At other times he would find his delivery radius inexplicably restricted.

"We became too popular," Mr Plunkett said. "I was sucking too many drivers and riders into the store, so they shut us down. They would make us go invisible. If you go from 4km to 3km you lose about 60 per cent of your business."

He claims that prior to agreeing to set up the Sydney restaurant, he was given assurances that he would be granted a minimum radius of 4km, except in extreme weather. Crucially, however, he says there was no written contract.

*"Everything was verbal - we were excited, we were running hard,"* he said. "I made investment decisions based on assurances from UberEats. That's where I'm at."

He says UberEats, which entered the Sydney market going up against an already well established rival in Deliveroo, was struggling to provide enough drivers to service its rapidly growing restaurant base - and he became collateral damage.

"I annualised over $1.5 million in sales within 12 weeks, then to suit their purposes they shut me down," he said.

Text messages and emails from this period show Mr Plunkett repeatedly pleading with Uber employees to fix the issues. "Have fixed it up," an employee said in a November 2016 text message. "Will contact the afternoon shift tomorrow to see what's going on."










Tony Plunkett, pictured in Australia's first ever 'dark kitchen' - a restaurant run entirely on deliveries by Uber - says after initial success things quickly fell apart. Picture: Jason Reed/Reuters_Source:Reuters_

Mr Plunkett wrote back, "We peaked at sales of $32,000 for two weeks in October, we are now down 25 per cent at $24,000. We need to do a 50 per cent increase to get back on trend. Most of the sales lost were at dinner, where we make our money."

The employee assured him that she had "talked to the head of proactive" - apparently the driver-rider supply team that monitors the UberEats marketplace - "and double confirmed". "Sounds like we need to get the orders pumping again!" she added.

In another text exchange, an UberEats employee insisted the radius reduction was "just a glitch" that will "never happen again", adding "we're going to make this work, Tony".

Mr Plunkett simply replied: "Going broke."

According to Mr Plunkett, at times his restaurant would be invisible in the app while Dr Dough Donuts, which shared his premises, would be visible.

Dr Dough owner Geoff Bannister declined to weigh in on Mr Plunkett's claim, saying only that he was careful to never make his business too reliant on delivery services like UberEats or Deliveroo.

"Today we're doing probably 15 per cent of what we were doing in that first six months on UberEats," Mr Bannister said.

"Our biggest is our physical presence, we use (delivery) more as a marketing tool to get us out there. I'd probably be very cautious with any platform. Part of that is you're so reliant on their terms."

Unable to sustain the losses, On It Burgers Sydney ceased trading in October 2017 owing more than $730,000 - $202,000 to suppliers, $95,000 for equipment finance, $176,000 in superannuation and $249,000 in PAYG instalments.

A second Melbourne store in St Kilda, which Mr Plunkett claims he opened only after assurances the radius issues had been fixed, shut down in February this year, followed by the original Ferntree Gully store in March.

The only remaining On It Burgers location is in Melbourne's Abbotsford, which opened in 2016. That store is separately owned and operated, but Mr Plunkett still owns the brand and receives a "small percentage royalty".

Mr Plunkett has sent a legal letter to Uber alleging multiple breaches of Australian Consumer Law and the Franchising Code of Conduct, suggesting damages claims for the "relevant contraventions exceed $7.08 million".

"It's not a small sum, it's well in excess of $1 million," he said, adding he needed the money to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars he still owes to his creditors, "from the tax office to butchers and bakers".

"I just want to pay my creditors and move on," he said.

"(Uber) is using their financial muscle to block me in the courts. My lawyer said it will be hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight them. I don't have the wherewithal to take them on. The only thing left to me is to go public with it."

In a statement, a spokeswoman said UberEats "is aware of the claims being made by Mr Plunkett and will strongly defend those claims".

"We place a lot of value on establishing long-term relationships with our restaurant partners and we want the marketplace experience to be positive for all players on the UberEats app," she said.


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

_-- Crucially, however, he says there was no written contract. "Everything was verbal - we were excited, we were running hard," he said. "I made investment decisions based on assurances from UberEats." --_

Tony Plunkett must have missed the memo when it explained that Travis Kalanick the butthole was replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi the _*lying deceiving*_ butthole.


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

.​I see potential here for a new Gordon Ramsay series, 'Hell's Dark Kitchen' where Gordo spends the entire episode unloading on ÜberEats, letting them know what he really thinks.

.


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## Jack Malarkey (Jan 11, 2016)

Those operating 'dark kitchens' are totally dependent on delivery services. Putting all your eggs in the one basket is never a good idea.

Additional comment:

I picked up on the strange process of making restaurants invisible some time back: https://uberpeople.net/threads/very-limited-choice-on-ubereats-on-saturday-night.278996/.


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

Jack Malarkey said:


> Those operating 'dark kitchens' are totally dependent on delivery services. Putting all your eggs in the one basket is never a good idea.
> 
> Additional comment:
> 
> I picked up on the strange process of making restaurants invisible some time back: https://uberpeople.net/threads/very-limited-choice-on-ubereats-on-saturday-night.278996/.


Well spotted, Jack. I remember that post but having no interest in 'Eats' I never thought anything of it. It just goes to show, there is more to UP forum than beer and skittles.

You should look at setting up an ÜberEats / Restaurant food delivery consultancy. Researched information coming from your desk would certainly save a lot of establishments a mountain of tears.

.


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## Subaru_X (Apr 27, 2015)

How on Earth does a business get $730k in debt when its agreements are all word of mouth?

I don’t mean to derail the opportunity this thread gives to whinge about Dr. UberEvil, but this guy comes across as a scammer who has taken money from many people including the “butcher and baker”, hundreds of thousands of dollars, all the while pulling $30k per week. Now as the house of cards crumbles he blames Uber. 

I don’t buy it.


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## WestSydGuy (Jun 7, 2018)

Subaru_X said:


> How on Earth does a business get $730k in debt when its agreements are all word of mouth?
> 
> I don't mean to derail the opportunity this thread gives to whinge about Dr. UberEvil, but this guy comes across as a scammer who has taken money from many people including the "butcher and baker", hundreds of thousands of dollars, all the while pulling $30k per week. Now as the house of cards crumbles he blames Uber.
> 
> I don't buy it.


The facts spell out a slightly different story, 750k in ATO payment plan/PAYG instalments... how many "staff" did this guy have, perhaps his management fee was $2million a month near the end? Super owing on $1.8million in salary? How long did he not pay super for? $200k to suppliers, mostly rent payments perhaps, $95k to fitout his home office with the latest lounge suite from Harvey Norman.

I'm going to guess that the federal government will pay the staff the super owing, I wonder would that include to himself, or any directors that set their own salaries?

"$32,000 for two weeks in October, we are now down 25 per cent at $24,000" any new store on Eats would be featured under "new" and near the top of the listings, not going to be "new" forever I guess. This guy is complaining about $1.2mil a year, that it's not higher like it was on launch.... perhaps he is now an Uber driver in Sydney, complaining to his customers that he's not earning a New Year's Eve income on a Tuesday in July school holidays -o:


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## Jack Malarkey (Jan 11, 2016)

('Dark kitchen' is a term used in Australia to describe a restaurant that operates exclusively on deliveries. I don't know if the term is used in other countries such as the United States.)

Chef behind 'dark kitchen' says UberEats made him 'invisible', leaving him broke and $730,000 in debt

Tony Plunkett was once UberEats' star performer, raking in $32,000 a week. But the burger chef says Uber flipped on him, driving him "broke".

Frank [email protected]_chung
news.com.auJuly 6, 2019 1:24pm
https://www.news.com.au/finance/sma...t/news-story/93888b78308d67e303a7144b1c253b53
EXCLUSIVE

The chef behind some of the country's most popular burgers has flipped on UberEats, accusing the global ride-sharing giant of destroying his business and leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Tony Plunkett says he was stabbed in the back by UberEats after helping spearhead its Sydney launch by setting up the country's first ever "dark kitchen" - a delivery-only restaurant - out the back of a shuttered Kings Cross nightclub.

Mr Plunkett spent three decades running McDonald's stores before branching out to start his own business in Melbourne's Ferntree Gully in 2015, with On It Burgers - named Australia's favourite burger shop by Menulog - quickly becoming one of the most popular restaurants on the UberEats platform.

That led to talks with Uber, which encouraged him to set up the dark kitchen. Within 10 weeks of the July 2016 Sydney launch, On It Burgers was averaging 1200 deliveries and $32,000 a week in sales - but the success was short-lived.

According to Mr Plunkett, from the middle of October onwards his store would regularly "go invisible" in the app at peak dinner times, decimating his sales. At other times he would find his delivery radius inexplicably restricted.

"We became too popular," Mr Plunkett said. "I was sucking too many drivers and riders into the store, so they shut us down. They would make us go invisible. If you go from 4km to 3km you lose about 60 per cent of your business."

He claims that prior to agreeing to set up the Sydney restaurant, he was given assurances that he would be granted a minimum radius of 4km, except in extreme weather. Crucially, however, he says there was no written contract.

"Everything was verbal - we were excited, we were running hard," he said. "I made investment decisions based on assurances from UberEats. That's where I'm at."

He says UberEats, which entered the Sydney market going up against an already well established rival in Deliveroo, was struggling to provide enough drivers to service its rapidly growing restaurant base - and he became collateral damage.

"I annualised over $1.5 million in sales within 12 weeks, then to suit their purposes they shut me down," he said.

Text messages and emails from this period show Mr Plunkett repeatedly pleading with Uber employees to fix the issues. "Have fixed it up," an employee said in a November 2016 text message. "Will contact the afternoon shift tomorrow to see what's going on."

Tony Plunkett, pictured in Australia's first ever 'dark kitchen' - a restaurant run entirely on deliveries by Uber - says after initial success things quickly fell apart. Picture: Jason Reed/ReutersSource:Reuters

Mr Plunkett wrote back, "We peaked at sales of $32,000 for two weeks in October, we are now down 25 per cent at $24,000. We need to do a 50 per cent increase to get back on trend. Most of the sales lost were at dinner, where we make our money."

The employee assured him that she had "talked to the head of proactive" - apparently the driver-rider supply team that monitors the UberEats marketplace - "and double confirmed". "Sounds like we need to get the orders pumping again!" she added.

In another text exchange, an UberEats employee insisted the radius reduction was "just a glitch" that will "never happen again", adding "we're going to make this work, Tony".

Mr Plunkett simply replied: "Going broke."

According to Mr Plunkett, at times his restaurant would be invisible in the app while Dr Dough Donuts, which shared his premises, would be visible.

Dr Dough owner Geoff Bannister declined to weigh in on Mr Plunkett's claim, saying only that he was careful to never make his business too reliant on delivery services like UberEats or Deliveroo.

"Today we're doing probably 15 per cent of what we were doing in that first six months on UberEats," Mr Bannister said.

"Our biggest is our physical presence, we use (delivery) more as a marketing tool to get us out there. I'd probably be very cautious with any platform. Part of that is you're so reliant on their terms."

Unable to sustain the losses, On It Burgers Sydney ceased trading in October 2017 owing more than $730,000 - $202,000 to suppliers, $95,000 for equipment finance, $176,000 in superannuation and $249,000 in PAYG instalments.

A second Melbourne store in St Kilda, which Mr Plunkett claims he opened only after assurances the radius issues had been fixed, shut down in February this year, followed by the original Ferntree Gully store in March.

The only remaining On It Burgers location is in Melbourne's Abbotsford, which opened in 2016. That store is separately owned and operated, but Mr Plunkett still owns the brand and receives a "small percentage royalty".

Mr Plunkett has sent a legal letter to Uber alleging multiple breaches of Australian Consumer Law and the Franchising Code of Conduct, suggesting damages claims for the "relevant contraventions exceed $7.08 million".

"It's not a small sum, it's well in excess of $1 million," he said, adding he needed the money to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars he still owes to his creditors, "from the tax office to butchers and bakers".

"I just want to pay my creditors and move on," he said.

"(Uber) is using their financial muscle to block me in the courts. My lawyer said it will be hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight them. I don't have the wherewithal to take them on. The only thing left to me is to go public with it."

In a statement, a spokeswoman said UberEats "is aware of the claims being made by Mr Plunkett and will strongly defend those claims".

"We place a lot of value on establishing long-term relationships with our restaurant partners and we want the marketplace experience to be positive for all players on the UberEats app," she said.


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## Krusty (Jan 26, 2018)

As usual there is more to the story than meets the eye.


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## dgates01 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jack Malarkey said:


> Crucially, however, he says there was no written contract.


And this guy calls himself a business man? Who agrees to that??


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## Ivan B (Feb 13, 2018)

"Crucially, however, he says there was no written contract."

That says it all, if it was a genuine legit business deal they would have been up to their ears in contracts.
Thirty years working with McDonald's would have taught him that.
Scam that backfired?.....or did it?
Strange that the donut guy sharing the premisis would not comment, sometimes silence can speak volumes.


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## MoreTips (Feb 13, 2017)

How can this be? With a little research he would of known that Uber was a reputable upstanding company known for it's fairness and complete honesty to its "partners".


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## OneRideOneVomit (Aug 7, 2017)

Double post...


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

Jack Malarkey said:


> ('Dark kitchen' is a term used in Australia to describe a restaurant that operates exclusively on deliveries. I don't know if the term is used in other countries such as the United States.)
> 
> Chef behind 'dark kitchen' says UberEats made him 'invisible', leaving him broke and $730,000 in debt
> 
> ...


Verbal agreements are like asking the neighborhood kid who steals cars to look out for your car. Poor business decisions were more likely for his business decline. When you start trading in volume you sacrifice quality, when you enter into a verbal agreement with anyone you're setting yourself up for a royal shaft.
Then you have poor money management to compound a losing situation, which equals bankruptcy.


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## Teal (Feb 7, 2018)

No surprise, been talking to owners here in Perth and they've been on the receiving end of bad behaviour by Uber, it being a well know fact that Uber manipulates the restaurant list to lure drivers on stupid trips to nowhere or into the middle of Perth city.


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## Iann (Oct 17, 2017)

Who is John Galt? said:


> .​I see potential here for a new Gordon Ramsay series, 'Hell's Dark Kitchen' where Gordo spends the entire episode unloading on ÜberEats, letting them know what he really thinks.
> 
> .


For now you can amuse yourself on Gordon Ramsey roasting Twitter chefs.


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