Uber scams bike messengers too! It's not only the UBER drivers.

As an UBER Bike Rider I can tell you that it’s not just the sexual harassment of Female Engineers, or Travis Kalanick yelling at UBER Drivers that sucks. 

UBER CEO, Travis Kalanick is treating bike riders unfairly too.

Aside from the fact that bike deliveries are made in rain, snow, sleet, and hail, there are no benefits, no stability, no overtime, and they won’t even let you use the BATHROOM at the headquarters.

Additionally, wages when broken down, don’t even amount to minimum wage.


I went to the Manhattan headquarters to go over my paycheck since the many emails back and forth couldn’t get me any satisfaction. I had to pee so badly and I asked to use the restroom, where I was told that it wasn’t allowed.

THE RIDERS, who you EARN 20% off of, are NOT ALLOWED TO PEE?

After a few days out on the road biking for UBER BIKE MESSENGER AKA UBER EATS AKA UBER RUSH, I’ve realized that the only way it makes sense to ride for UBER is when there is a promotion.

Uber scams bike messengers in NYC!

Aside from the fact that UBER takes 20% of all fees, bike riders are being treated poorly. For instance, if a rider gets a call in a snowstorm that is 15 minutes away and doesn’t accept it, they are penalized by getting a bad rating from UBER.

This Is My SNAPCHAT Story 

The day starts off with a text from UBER promising an additional 10$ extra per ride from 8–11am.


Thankfully it wasn’t raining or too cold when I woke up ready to make the big bucks.  I, along with many other bike riders all turned on our apps at 8am assuming we’d be making at least 50 bucks extra during the morning rush from 8-11. During a three hour shift, riders can usually make at least 5 deliveries (depending on locations).

At about 8:15, I was pinged for a pick up at Wandering Bear Coffee in Soho. 

I thought it was odd when I saw so many of my RIDER COLLEAGUES showing up at to the same place and I inquired about the promotion.

UBER was sending free breakfasts to a specific number of lunch clients, to entice them to start using UBER for breakfast deliveries.

Each of us was handed 2-3 bags and our apps showed us where to take them. After my second delivery was finished (I was on 34th Street), I waited and waited for more deliveries……NOTHING.

At 9:13 AM, UBER Sends another text announcing that the breakfast deal was sold out? See above.

Since breakfast was NEW for UBER EATS, it was highly unlikely that any more orders were coming through, so the concept of working from 8-11 was a complete and utterly alternative fact.

$10 dollars extra per order? Only for the breakfast promo?

What the messengers did not know that UBER did know, is exactly how many deliveries were going to be made. There was no honest plan to pay for 3 hours of deliveries because:

  • The Promotion was OVER as soon as the bags from Wandering Bear were delivered.


Later that evening, I received a call from the marketing gal who I just so happened to hand my card to after she saw me “snapchatting” my experience at the pick up site.

She told me she saw my FACEBOOK post and wanted to explain that her TEXT was misleading and she was sorry.

That didn’t make up at all for the fact that I got up early and expected three hours of work, not one hour and two deliveries.


UBER ONLY pays for real deliveries, so although it may take 10-15 minutes to get to a pick up, or 30 minutes to get home from a delivery, none of that time is paid for.

PLUS, there are ALWAYS problems with the paychecks. Every time I get paid it takes me 20 minutes of emails back and forth to get the proper payment.


I understand that “Joanne” is paying a lot of money to get her egg salad on a bagel delivered to her lazy ass, because she can’t make egg salad herself and “Joanne” doesn’t give a fuck that someone is out in the pouring rain risking life and limb, in the hopes of making enough money to put food on their own table.

It would be nice if “Debbie” could tip me for making sure her “Skinny Pizza” gets to her apartment in good condition while I pray that my brakes aren’t too wet to avoid running into a garbage truck on the way there.

Get a dozen eggs and a jar of mayonnaise next time, you cheap POS.

If you have the audacity to have someone bring you an egg salad sandwich on a bagel from 2 miles away in a snowstorm, you can cough up two dollars for the freezing and soaking wet bike rider. You can.


You want me to pick up something at 14th Street and deliver to 144th street? Are you fucking kidding me?

That is a 7.5 mile bike ride….in the rain.

Since I don’t know where the delivery is until I get to the pick up…if I decide to cancel the trip, I get penalized.



Typical Payout?

Unless there is a significant boost, the payment just isn’t worth it.

What do you think about UBER?

Would you want to work for them?

Vicki Winters

Thanks for being my guest on The Vicki Winters Show.

I'm A Food, Travel, Video Blogger with ADHD.

"I'm All Over The Place."



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