BALTIMORE, Md. — A popular Baltimore restaurant says it is still waiting on nearly $30,000 in payments from Uber Eats dating back to July of this year.
Jollof Bowl, located inside Cross Street Market in Federal Hill, has been open since last summer. While orders have been continuously coming in, founders Andrea Kamara and Lekan Oketunji say money from Uber Eats is not.
“It’s extremely difficult on our bottom line,” Kamara said. “We’re essentially giving away free food, $30,000 of free food because we have not been paid for it.”
The owners say delivery apps are an important part of their business model, accounting for roughly one-third of their sales.
“We’re in a downtown area where parking is scarce, so a lot of people will often order,” Kamara said. “We do maybe about a third of our business on these third-party delivery apps.”
The issue began in July when the restaurant noticed discrepancies in its daily payouts.
Taylor Epps
An order at Jollof Bowl
“We noticed that we weren’t really getting the money we were supposed to be getting on the daily,” Oketunji said. “The customer pays them, and they’re supposed to pay us out, but they’re not paying us out.”
The owners estimate the unpaid balance has grown to approximately $30,000, including outstanding payments and adjustments. So, they reached out for help.
“It’s ‘Oh, we’ll get back to you later, we’ll have someone reach out to you,'” Oketunji said. “You reach out to an email, you get an auto-response back and no follow-up. Thirty thousand dollars later, you’re like, somebody needs to pay me my money.”
The restaurant shared email correspondence with WMAR-2 News showing Uber Eats informed Jollof Bowl on September 18 that payments had been paused because of unusual activity detected on the account.
The owners say they contacted the company seeking a resolution and received a response on September 22 indicating there could be delays because of a high volume of requests. They followed up again and got a response on September 28.
“In this regard, we are currently experiencing longer-than-usual wait times and will respond to your email as soon as possible,” the email reads. “The account hold will not impact your ability to remain visible on the platform. You can continue to accept orders at this time.”
Taylor Epps
Kamara serving a customer
While the restaurant can still see and fulfill Uber Eats orders, Kamara says they have lost access to portions of the platform’s back-end system.
“It’s only because of the foot traffic, and we do have other third-party delivery apps that we are on that we are able to absorb these costs, but we can’t absorb them forever. It’s just been a mess,” Kamara said.
WMAR-2 News contacted Uber on October 8 about the situation. The following morning, the company responded.
“We are aware of the concerns raised by Jollof Bowl regarding outstanding payments and account access. We take these matters seriously and have escalated the issue for further review. Our teams are actively working to better understand the circumstances and address the merchant’s concerns,” a spokesperson wrote. “We are also reaching out directly to the restaurant to provide support as we work toward a resolution.”
Kamara told WMAR-2 News she received a call from Uber around the same time indicating the company was working on releasing the payment.
As they wait for a resolution, the owners hope their experience serves as a warning to other small business operators.
Taylor Epps
The Jollof Bowl pick-up window at Cross Street Market
“It’s just like, who else is being affected like this?” Oketunji said. “Just want everybody to take notice and look through those numbers very diligently because you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table.”
For now, Jollof Bowl continues to fulfill Uber Eats orders while also encouraging customers to place orders directly through the restaurant’s website or visit in person. The restaurant recently expanded its hours and is now serving customers until midnight through its pickup window on East Cross Street.
“We want people to show up, come out here, grab food,” Kamara said. “We’re just looking forward to serving our community.”
In a statement, Uber said it is committed to helping protect communities from scams and will immediately investigate any potentially compromised accounts.
Dining and Cooking