South Florida bakery says Uber driver stole $3K in cinnamon rolls
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The cinnamon rolls are selling out quickly at the Yellow Green Farmers Market. Photo collage: Naomi Feinstein/Axios. Photos: Courtesy of GoFundMe
Editor's note: Days after publication, U.S. Border Patrol confirmed that it had detained the Uber driver, preventing him from making his delivery. Read more here.
A popular South Florida bakery says an Uber driver stole more than $3,000 worth of its cinnamon rolls on Saturday.
Why it matters: Founded by Florida International University students Julie Pierre and Jovan Mitchell in their apartment kitchen, Roll & Dough and its Japanese milk-bread cinnamon rolls have become a viral sensation.
- The bakery, which recently opened at the Yellow Green Farmers Market, has nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram and Tik Tok combined.
The latest: In a now-viral TikTok, Pierre said their Uber driver stole 300 cinnamon rolls they were bringing to Saturday's market.
- She posted the series of messages she sent the driver over the course of nearly five hours.
- "He was supposed to deliver it at 8:48[am]," she said in the video. "He delivered something at 1:16[pm], but the thing is it quite literally said it was failed."
- She said Uber charged her $205 for the trip but only offered a $100 refund.
What they're saying: "This money quite literally pays for my payroll," Pierre added. "It pays for the kitchen that we're using [and] the bakery that we're also in the process of building out. It pays for so much that I literally wanted to cry right there."
- She said the money also pays for school and helps her support the 17-year-old she's a legal guardian to.
- Axios has reached out to Roll & Dough for comment but didn't hear back prior to publication.
Between the lines: To make up for the stolen cinnamon rolls, Pierre said she went to the bakery at 3am and made around 400 cinnamon rolls for Sunday's market.
The other side: In a statement to Axios, Uber said, "The report is very troubling, and not the experience we want users to have. We're continuing to look into this so we can take appropriate action."
- The company has removed the driver's access to the app as it investigates the incident.
What's next: Pierre has launched a GoFundMe to help open a permanent bakery space and buy a van to transport products and equipment.
- Pierre says the incident has taught her that the rapidly growing company "has outgrown third-party transportation."