‘The absolute condescension in which this man spoke to me’: Customer says Qdoba worker was rude to her because he assumed she was a delivery driver

A case of mistaken identity led a bartender just trying to get a burrito on the way to work quite an earful from a Qdoba worker—who assumed she was a delivery driver rather than a customer. She's captured her narrative of the event on TikTok to condemn the employee's behavior.

The video comes courtesy of Denver-based creator Santana (@maybesantana), and her harrowing tale of bad customer service generated more than 325,000 views in less than 24 hours on the platform.

As she relayed in the TikTok, she's worked in food service for a long time, and as she put it, "I totally get how rude and horrible DoorDashers and Uber Eats drivers can be." She even confesses, "I can't even tell you how many times I've been cussed out by food delivery drivers."

But then she delivered her thesis: "But I don't think that those experiences and prior interactions give any food service worker an excuse to just be an absolute monster to every food delivery driver that they encounter after those specific instances."

When Santana went to get the burrito she ordered from Qdoba on the way to work, she reports an unpleasant encounter with the Qdoba worker she eventually got her order from, as well as the "absolute condescension in which this man spoke to [her]."

@maybesantana he then tried to insist that it was going to show up to my apartment (it did not) lol #customerservice #serviceindustry #doordasher #server #storytime #restaurantlife #fup #rant ♬ original sound - santana

Emphasizing that she and her girlfriend ordered food from the Qdoba website—not DoorDash or Uber Eats, meaning that there shouldn't have been any confusion when she got to the restaurant that she was a customer and not a delivery driver.

However, she reports less-than-friendly treatment when she arrived to pick up her food.

After the employee pointed her to the pick-up area, she explains, "I go over to the shelf. I see a bag. It's not my bag. So I take a step back, and I patiently wait, like, whatever, maybe they're still making it. But then I realized that everyone on the line is staring at me and nobody's making food. So I make eye contact with them."

At that point, they have an exchange establishing that the order is not there, and then, she claims the employees said that they already made her order. Then, as she recounts, "There's a guy with his back towards me and he just goes, 'It's probably not your pickup time for delivery yet.'"

While she noted the comment was "interesting," she was nonplussed, not yet clueing in that she was being mistaken for a delivery driver.

But it then became clear in her next exchange with the worker, who reportedly said, "You're probably just mixing up your delivery. Somebody came by and got that."

"This isn't for delivery," Santana explains. "He's like, 'Yeah, like for your Uber Eats or DoorDash or like wherever you work; like you probably got your stuff mixed up. Somebody already got that.'"

Then, pausing slightly for effect, she continues, "I was like, 'this isn't for delivery. This is for me.'"

At that point, the worker changed his tone. "Suddenly, motherfucker straightens up and was like, 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry.'" She went on to say that he "went full customer service mode after being rude as fuck, condescending and dismissive."

This didn't help her, as waiting for the food that hadn't materialized made her late for work.

"This whole situation would be avoided if you weren't a fucking asshole to what you assumed to be delivery drivers — which I'm sure you are to actual delivery drivers," Santana says in the clip.

She finished with a punchline of sorts: "Anyways, I got Starbucks before work."

Commenters chimed in, horrified by the bad customer service and also relating to the treatment of delivery drivers.

"This is why I stopped delivering for DoorDash and UberEats," one remarked. "I was never rude but always talked to as if I was a POS for just existing."

Another agreed, "I was so polite and always got talked to like I was a criminal."

"I was an Uber Eats driver for years," a further commenter recalled. "I went out of my way to be nice to service workers. Even brought them candies around holidays." The commenter then followed up with, "Most of the time, they seemed shocked I was kind."

Not everyone in the comments sided with the delivery drivers (or those mistaken for them). As one contended, "My restaurant’s to-go workers actually lose so much money from DoorDash orders. On top of the fact that they’re rude and demanding most of the time."

The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via Instagram direct message and to Qdoba's public relations department via email.

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