Hotel owner left “shocked” after Uber Eats driver walks off with his takeaway

A hotel owner said he was left “shocked” after an Uber Eats delivery driver walked off with his £40 Chinese takeaway – while claiming he'd left it by his front door.

Jon Cawdron, 42, said he would not have got a refund if he hadn’t captured the incident on CCTV and warned more people to be wary of the nasty trick.

In the video, the driver - identified as a man called “Gheorghe” - approaches the front door of Jon’s guest house, The Sands Hotel, on Blackpool promenade, Lancs.

He then takes a picture of the package by the property to confirm that it’s been delivered, but just seconds later, he calmly scoops it up and takes it back to his car.

Jon said when his food didn’t materialise, he contacted Uber Eats to demand a refund, but they told him that the driver’s photo proved he had received it.

And it was only when he produced CCTV evidence of the driver taking the food away that Uber Eats agreed to reimburse him with £39.44 for his family dinner.

Jon, who also works as a freelance photographer, said he was particularly concerned that other people were falling foul to the trick up and down the country.

He said: “Obviously, if I hadn’t got the CCTV footage, then I would be stuck, and I wouldn’t have got my money back or anything.

“But what about the other houses that don’t have cameras? I’m more concerned about who else this has been happening to.”

Jon said the alleged theft took place on Sunday evening, at around 6:20 pm, after he’d ordered the food from Lucky House Chinese Restaurant, in Blackpool.

He said: “Basically, I ordered from Uber Eats, and I was sat waiting. It seemed to be taking a while, so I phoned up the takeaway to find out what happened.

“They turned round and said it got delivered a while ago, and when I looked on the Uber Eats app, it showed a photo of it being delivered.”

Jon said the restaurant owners told him to contact Uber Eats to let them know he hadn't recieved his food.
But the company later informed him that the image of the takeaway next to his door was proof that it had been delivered, and said he therefore could not claim a refund.

He explained: “Uber said I definitely received it because there is a photo showing that I received it, and I wouldn’t be given a refund.”

Jon then decided to look through his CCTV, believing that a guest at the hotel may have taken the food parcel.

But he was shocked to see that the delivery driver was in fact behind the alleged theft.