Restaurant messes up order, entitled customer blames delivery driver.

There's nothing better than an oblivious person coming to the internet for validation only to det dragged for flith. Here is such a story:

'AITA for reporting a delivery driver who I thought was lying to get out of doing more work?'

A now deleted account writes:

So today for lunch I decided to order from a Mexican restaurant through one of those food delivery services. I’ve had a bad experience or two where my order was missing some items, but the drivers would always be gone before I realized and could catch them to fix the issue.

I’d always have to report it through the app’s support chat, which is such a pain to use because they obviously outsource their representatives and it’s frustrating trying to communicate with them. I usually give up after a few messages back and forth.

When my driver arrived, I told her to stay so that I could check the bag and make sure everything was there. I noticed she kind of raised her eyebrow for a moment but otherwise she stood quietly and waited. Sure enough, a couple things were missing. I politely said she needed to return to the restaurant and get my missing items.

In a very neutral, rehearsed-sounding tone, she said that it’s “against company policy to do that and I should contact support through the app.” I explained that I preferred not to deal with support. She said they’re the only ones who can help and she’s really not supposed to go back to the restaurant.

I was a bit annoyed at this point so I asked what the company policy was on making sure orders were correct. She said that restaurants close the bags for the drivers and they’re not meant to open them or the containers inside. Something about food safety violations and not being trained (?). After a moment she apologized for the trouble and left.

To me, this honestly just sounds like a bunch of BS excuses to get out of doing her whole job. If they “can’t go back to the restaurant,” how are customers supposed to get their food/money back? If they “can’t open bags to check the orders” how do they even know they’re delivering the right food? It makes no sense to me.

So on the page where I rate my driver and can leave feedback, I made a note of my situation and explained why I thought she was in the wrong. I then left one star and revoked my tip. A bit later I was talking to my sister over the phone, who I thought would enjoy the story because she works for a different-but-similar delivery company.

My sister said “did you ACTUALLY think she was gonna go back to the restaurant?” I laughed, thinking she was taking a dig at a competing company’s drivers, but she just said “I’m not joking, you literally reported her for following the rules.”

At first I thought my sister had misunderstood a part of the story or something so I kind of brushed it off, but now based on her reaction and what both her and the driver said, I’m wondering if they’re right? AITA (Am I the a-hole) for reporting her and taking my tip back because I thought she was lying?

What do you think? Was her driver lying, or does OP not know how delivery companies work?

Reddit had no sympathy for OP and ruled a big ol' YTA (you're the a-hole).

From KamMom:

YTA. Did you expect her to unwrap your burrito and make sure it had cheese on it too? The driver was correct and to revoke your tip was an AH move.

dobbysreward agrees:

YTA. Like major a-hole. Haven't you ever picked up take out yourself? They always hand you the bag. In this case, they hand it off to someone else who hands it to you. Your problem is with the restaurant, not the app. If you think the customer service sucks, stop using the app and file a chargeback.

DoctorCaptainSpacey writes:

Look, it sucks if the restaurant forgot an item, but in no way, shape, or form do I want a delivery person opening my food items. Also, it is not their fault in the slightest that something was forgotten. They are literally there to pick up and drop off your food, nothing else.

I could understand checking for 4 items total, but how do you know the place didn't pack things together? (I've had that happen, the restaurant put two orders of the same app in one box instead of wasting 2). And most of the time the restaurant staples or ties bags closed. I'd be disgusted if it came opened from the delivery person.

OP is the biggest a-hole for thinking its the drivers fault at all or that they are there to cater to OPs whims. I've never been a delivery driver but I can only imagine how much of a PITA it'd be to have to waste time driving back to a restaurant for missing items 40 times a day.

Loserlosing666 points out:

YTA. She doesn’t work for the restaurant, it’s not her fault items are missing, she wouldn’t have even known what you f*cking ordered. She is literally employed (at a very low wage) to take things from one place to another. She is not your personal runner. She told you the policy and you were a total AH to her. You think she’s lazy? Why don’t you go to the restaurant yourself and have your hissy fit there.

davidbatt says:

YTA. I knew as soon as you described her as 'Your driver' and you 'told' her to stay.