Delivery driver hospitalized after customer attacks them over $5 order
Topics: News, UK News, Food and Drink, Police
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: FG Trade/Getty / Halfpoint Images/Getty
Topics: News, UK News, Food and Drink, Police
Working in retail during the festive period can be hellish, and one person's job was made even harder after encountering an aggrieved customer.
Whether it's a supermarket or department store, I think we can all agree that customer-facing roles over Christmas are more difficult than usual.
With this in mind, you'd like to think that people would go out of their way to be kinder to those working their asses off - but this wasn't the case for one delivery driver.
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An unnamed driver who picked up an order from British supermarket Sainsbury's struggled to find parking at the beginning of their shift, and then encountered another issue when they found it difficult to locate a customer's home in Colchester, Essex, UK.
It took ten minutes for the driver to get through to the customer on the phone as they tried to find their house, but by this point the customer had already grown fed up of waiting for their food.
Eventually when the driver found parking and the customer went to meet the driver, things ended up turning physical, with the unnamed retail worker allegedly being punched in the face.
In total it had taken them 90 minutes to deliver the food, all for the sake of being paid £4 ($5).
It's unclear which delivery service they work for.
They've taken to social media to share their story in the hopes of raising awareness about some of the difficulties delivery drivers face.
"I started at 5pm and got an order from Sainsbury’s in the city centre and faced heavy traffic," the anonymous post began.
"Finding parking was a struggle, and the journey to the CO49 area took 35 minutes.
"Upon arrival, locating the customer's address became another ordeal.
"After waiting for ten minutes, the customer finally answered, expressing anger and blaming me for the address mishap.
"Despite my efforts, the situation escalated when her husband confronted me in the parking area, using disrespectful language.
"When I tried to calm him down, things turned physical, resulting in an unexpected punch to my face."
The driver was hospitalized after the incident and notified the police of the ordeal.
A spokesman for Essex Police has since issued a statement to the Colchester Gazette.
It read: "We were called to Victoria Gardens in Colchester shortly before 6pm on Monday, December 4, following reports of an assault.
"The victim was punched in the face and went to hospital after sustaining minor injuries.
"Enquiries remain ongoing, and no arrests have been made at this stage."
UNILAD has also contacted Essex Police for comment.
The driver shared their story in a bid to 'shed light on the challenges we face as delivery drivers'.
"Please be patient and understanding," they wrote.
"The order mentioned above took me an hour and a half for just £4 ($5)."
It's cool to be kind, folks.