A Valley restaurant owner who was owed $50,000 from Uber Eats finally received his money after reaching out to the Let ABC15 Know team for help.
Yusuke Kuroda is the owner of Origami Ramen in Phoenix. He says his restaurant is a showcase of his Japanese heritage.
“It’s food culture and anime culture,” Kuroda explained.
The restaurant relies on delivery orders, especially since the pandemic changed people’s eating habits.
"The customer, especially after COVID, people order a lot of takeout," Kuroda said.
When Yusuke realized Uber Eats hadn't been depositing the restaurant’s earnings for two years, he began calling and emailing the company trying to get answers. He says he would call every single day.
"When I woke up, I called them and said, ‘How's my status?’ and I just follow up on my case," Kuroda explained.
Despite his persistent efforts for weeks, he says he couldn't get connected with anyone who could explain the problem or provide a solution.
"I keep asking, and I keep pushing them,” he said.
Desperate for help, Yusuke turned to an unlikely source for advice.
"Actually, I asked Chat GPT," he said with a laugh.
The AI chatbot directed him to Let ABC15 Know.
In his email to the consumer team, Yusuke wrote: We are trying our best to continue serving our community, but this has become an overwhelming burden. That is why I am reaching out to you. We truly need help.
Within days of Let ABC15 Know reaching out to Uber, an account manager called Yusuke. He was told the company had detected fraud on his account, and they said that is why payments had been suspended.
Uber sent Let ABC15 Know a statement saying: We’re sorry that the merchant experienced this inconvenience. In some instances, a temporary hold may be placed on an account when security-related changes are made to help protect against potential fraud. We remain committed to safeguarding our platform and working collaboratively with merchants to resolve issues as quickly as possible. Restaurant owners experiencing similar issues should reach out to restaurants@uber.com for support.
The company followed through on that commitment. Yusuke shows us he received a payment from Uber for just over $50,000.
"I really appreciate it,” Yusuke said, “As a small business owner it's really hard to contact the big corporation. It's huge. It's giant.”
He encourages other small business owners facing similar challenges to speak up and seek help.
With his financial burden lifted, Yusuke can now focus on what he does best – sharing Japanese culture with the community. He's even planning to open another business in the coming year, a matcha café.
Do you have a consumer issue that you need help with? Let ABC15 Know! Email Consumer@abc15.com
