SEATTLE — An ordinance enacted by Seattle City Councilmembers is causing Uber Eats customers to pay the price-- and not just in the city of Seattle.
KING 5 is now hearing from app delivery customers in cities outside of Seattle, like Bothell and Lynnwood, who expressed their frustrations about being charged the fee in response to an action taken by councilmembers who never represented them.
In a statement to KING 5 Monday, an Uber spokesperson said, "Unfortunately, wide-sweeping regulations, including Seattle’s Delivery app ordinance, often have broader ramifications. Due to the increased costs associated with operating in the broader Seattle area, consumer fees are increasing within the broader Seattle metropolitan area."
It all began when the PayUp bill was approved by the Seattle City Council and went into effect on Jan. 13. Its intention was to guarantee a minimum wage for app-based delivery drivers. But as KING 5 reported, apps like Uber Eats and Doordash began charging customers $5 more per order to counteract what they've said are increased operating costs based on Seattle's regulation.
A spokesperson for the office of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell told KING 5 Monday, in part, "Should the data show there have been unintended impacts for workers and small businesses, we are always open to making improvements through Director’s rules, in collaboration with the City Council and our labor partners."
But even customers in an entirely different county are feeling the burn from this.
"I was like, 'Wow, okay," said Jacquelin Rollins of Lake Stevens.
A Snohomish County resident, Rollins could not believe her eyes when she saw her bill after ordering delivery on Uber Eats.
Both her delivery address and the address of the business were in Lake Stevens.
"An order from Starbucks for three people should not be like $50 or $60," said Rollins.
On her itemized receipt, she noticed a $5 "Local Operating Fee."
"And so I sent a text message to Uber Eats and said, 'Hey,' you know, 'Why am I being charged this?'"
Uber Eats' response was this: "Your order was created in Lake Stevens, which is a suburb of Seattle, and therefore incurs the aforementioned fee. Customers in Seattle will now see an additional local operating fee on all delivery orders to help compensate for the new delivery people's pay rate," wrote a customer service representative.
Rollins shared her frustration with us.
"36 miles away, and in another county, and we're a suburb of Seattle? It's like, no," said Rollins.
So she pushed back, and Uber Eats refunded her.
"Sorry to hear of your experience. I’ve issued a refund of $8 a courtesy," the message read.
But the only problem is that she went back the following week to order delivery from McDonalds on Uber Eats, and they still charged the $5 fee.
"They're still charging Snohomish County residents the prices that they say are because of Seattle," she said. "That's not right."
This story comes as the latest in KING 5's continuing coverage of the frustrating impacts that we are hearing have resulted from the fee added by apps. Among those vocal about their dismay are disabled residents, local restaurants, and-- ironically-- delivery workers, as we've reported. According to the app companies, the fees were a direct response to Seattle's new minimum payment ordinance for app-based workers.