The video of a woman stealing from an Uber driver’s tip jar went viral on social media
The woman can be seen “clearly” taking from the tip jar at the end of the ride, right before she exited the car. Now, it’s been only a day since the video was posted online, and she’s been identified as Brooklyn teen with a Facebook and an Instagram account. She goes by the name Gabrielle Canales on Facebook account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXtbnykFNZr/
NY Post contacted her and asked about the incident. She replied, saying that she only took $5 from the tip jar and returned it later. At this time we cannot confirm or deny whether the Uber driver, Bhuiyan, got the money back from Gabrielle.
It is worth noting that Uber has permanently banned Gabrielle from using the app after the video went viral. Uber spokesperson told Fox News, “What’s been shown has no place on our app, and the rider’s access to the app has been removed." Uber also said that since the incident took place, they have reached out to the driver, but did not elaborate to what kind of help Uber is offering to the driver.
Gabrielle’s Facebook account is still active, but it seems that she has blocked users from leaving any comments on her wall. The same status is on her Instagram account as well.
https://www.instagram.com/almightygabita/
Opinion: Uber should have been at the forefront of this controversy. The response provided by Uber was rather tame. They did not offer any help to the driver, even after he sent them the video. Uber told Bhuyian, “The rider responded to us and advised us that she didn’t steal your cash from the tip jar." and added, “If you believe the rider has your cash as captured from your dash cam and is refusing to return it, you may want to initiate a formal investigation via the police.” Huh? Instead of confronting the passenger about the video evidence and banning her, Uber decided to take her word on it? Uber needs to do a better job when it comes to trusting the drivers. As we all know “Customer is always right” is a bunch of baloney and Uber need to see through all that BS and help the drivers when they need them the most.
