Uber driver is not willing to return groceries I forgot in his car.

I took an Uber from work to my place yesterday. Five minutes after I was dropped off, I realized that I forgot my grocery bag with meat and had cost me R300. I called the driver and he said he was at a nearby mall. Instead of him driving for 30 seconds to give back my items, he requested that I walk to collect my things. I walked for like 7-10 minutes and when I got there, he wasn’t there. My battery died and had to go back home to charge it.

When I got home, I tried calling him and he told me that he’s in jhb cbd and if I want my item, I must go there to collect them... ( I mean, who goes to such a dangerous place? Especially at 8pm?) I refused and asked him to come, and would pay for his petrol. His response was, “I’ll see if I’m lucky enough to get a trip to your area”. I didn’t know what to say, so I hung up.

Today morning, I sent Uber a message complaining. Their response was that I need to wait 24 hours for the driver to respond. I made it clear that I had food that could spoil if not being put in a fridge but they insisted that I wait 24 hours.

I then tried to call the driver around 2pm. The guys is a ****. He said he’s been trying to call me. But he’s lying, I had my phone with me the whole day. He never made an attempt to call me since yesterday, and he still insisted that I come to jhb cbd to collect my items.

I understand that it’s not the drivers fault that I forgot my items in his car but I think drivers should be rude when talking to clients and their unprofessional behaviors is unacceptable.

I work in Sandton and after taking two Uber’s today, they drivers told me that it’s almost impossible for a day to pass without receiving a trip to Sandton. So surely, there is a high chance that the driver was in Sandton but it’s just that he doesn’t want to give me my items back. I’m suspecting that he might have eaten some of the food that was there.

I know it might seem unreasonable to fight for food worth R300 but I will not eat the food should the driver decide to return them and I’ll also not allow my food to be eaten by a rude, unprofessional and inconsiderate driver. I’d rather give them to a homeless person.

Please tell me what you think.

Thanks.