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A woman showed the bizarre text exchange she had with her GrubHub driver who she learned ate the food she ordered in a now-viral video.
Posted by TikTok user @ihitrockbottom, the video amassed more than 400,000 views as the messages from the GrubHub driver evolved from telling the customer how far away she was to informing her that she ate her food and that it was her birthday.
"I handled this well," @ihitrockbottom's caption read. "Happy birthday grub hub driver."
A spokesperson with GrubHub told Newsweek in an email that the company encourages diners to contact their Customer Care team if something goes wrong.
"This diner did just that, and we refunded her order and gave her a discount to use toward her next order," the spokesperson said. "Because she was such a great sport about this less-than-ideal experience, we were also able to connect with her and send her a $50 gift card."
The spokesperson said they are investigating the incident and will take more action as they learn more details.
According to a study conducted by Circuit, nearly 80 percent of food delivery drivers said they ate their customer's deliveries.
StateFoodSafety, a food safety education company, said there are three important points to delivering food safely: no cross-contamination, good personal hygiene and following the rules of temperature control.
TikTok user @ihitrockbottom showed the messages she exchanged with her delivery driver, first asking when she can expect to receive her food. Her delivery driver told her she was making a stop before dropping off @ihitrockbottom's order.
Minutes later, @ihitrockbottom received a text that said her delivery driver's boyfriend ate her food.
"Obviously I'm upset, but I didn't want to make a scene, so I respond, 'Wait what lol how do I cancel my order. Hope u enjoyed my tacos. Lol,'" @ihitrockbottom said.
The delivery driver told her she didn't know how to cancel the order and said @ihitrockbottom was "just so far."
TikToker @ihitrockbottom responded and said it was "all good" and that she would figure out how to get in touch with GrubHub.
The delivery driver replied and said it was her birthday and needed plans to celebrate.
"U really balling on a budget," @ihitrockbottom texted back. "Happy birthday."
She concluded her video by wishing a happy birthday to the delivery driver and said she hoped the driver enjoyed her meal.
"I'm glad I funded your birthday dinner with you and your boo," @ihitrockbottom said, noting that she received a discount coupon from GrubHub after she complained and a refund.
Viewers took their thoughts about the exchange to the comments section.
"I wish I was as kind as you," a viewer wrote.
"The fear of being a Karen has made everyone a doormat," another viewer commented.
"Sometimes anger is okay," one TikTok user wrote.
Newsweek reached out to @ihitrockbottom for comment.
Other videos featuring delivery drivers have previously gone viral, including a clip that shows a DoorDash driver who confronted a customer who he claimed cost him his job.
Another video showed an order that was waiting to be picked up by a delivery driver for 10 minutes, but the woman who published the clip said no one accepted the order because the customer did not leave a tip.
Several delivery drivers discussed the "evils" of "tip baiting."
About the writer
Catherine Ferris is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting for the U.S. Trends Team. She ... Read more