Houston restaurant claims Uber Eats hasn't paid it for orders totaling $20K since opening
Uber says it's a simple fix
A family-owned restaurant in Houston claims it's waiting on a hefty check from Uber Eats worth tens of thousands of dollars.
It's an issue that Uber argues is fairly simple to resolve.
Birria Los Primos said it hasn't received a single payment from the online food ordering and delivery platform since opening in March. Uber Eats has accounted for about 700 orders for the restaurant, Emily Garcia, who manages Birria Los Primos for her father, Oscar, told FOX Business.
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After calculating how much those 700 orders cost – on average $31 per order – Garcia came up with a figure to the tune of at least $20,000. Although that does not account for the commission Uber Eats takes from each order, she said.
"We really weren't expecting one of those issues to be with…a third-party delivery company that is supposed to actually make our lives easier for us," Garcia said. "They're supposed to bring in, you know, new customers for us."
Birria Los Primos in Houston, Texas. (Cesar Monroy)
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The problem started back in March when Garcia was trying to update their bank account information. On May 11, Garcia said she finally heard back from the company, which sent the proper bank form they needed to complete in order for their bank info updated.
"By this point, we had realized we hadn’t received a single payment from Uber Eats since opening in March," she said.
The family-owned business – desperate to recoup the funds – said it's been waiting over four months but remains empty-handed.
Birria Los Primos in Houston, Texas. (Cesar Monroy)
Garcia sent over a dozen emails and made numerous phone calls to try and get answers. In June, they were told that their account had been updated.
However, the restaurant claimed on its Facebook page. that Uber has "yet to give a clear resolution or an exact timeline on payment."
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An Uber Spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement that they have "spoken and emailed with the owners of Birria Los Primos this week to clarify the information needed to verify their account and process their payment immediately."
Per its policies, Uber said it will periodically request basic information from merchant partners in order to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements of payment processing.
However, the owners "have declined to provide this information." Once they do, Uber will be able to issue an immediate payment, according to the company.
Still, Uber told FOX Business that it will "continue to make every attempt to resolve this issue."
Birria Los Primos in Houston, Texas. (Cesar Monroy)
Aside from their current battle with Uber, though, the restaurant was already dealing with issues such as a "lack of available staff and a ridiculous increase in the price of produce," according to Garcia.
"Anything you can think of from like napkins…up to the vegetables with fresh produce that we use on a day to day basis, everything has exponentially gone up in price," she said.