From spilled sodas to customers in pajamas… Three weeks as an Uber Eats delivery driver

For three weeks, our reporter worked as a delivery driver for Uber Eats, completing 150 trips riding an electric bike or scooter in Paris and its suburbs. How much does it cost? How do the platform's algorithms distribute the jobs? What happens when a soda spills on the nuggets? How do undocumented immigrants manage to "work?" Who are the consumers of this "lazy economy"? A behind-the-scenes look at a grueling job and the workings of a multinational with controversial methods, to whom we gave the floor.

At 1:04 p.m., Valentine is waiting for her order outside the door of a chic building in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It's my third errand, my first day as a delivery person . As I grab the bag containing her McDonald's meal, kept warm in the insulated bag, I feel the paper wet: woe, the soda has spilled on the nuggets! During the 2.03 km of tribulations on the bike, the cargo couldn't withstand the vibrations caused by these damned cobblestones. I act as if nothing had happened. But she saw it and winces. I apologize, hiding behind the rookie mistake. "It's not serious!" she forgives. But a few hours later, I discover a "report" on the app for "damaged items."