Uber Eats Owed This Restaurant Owner $40,000. It Took 8 Months and a News Story to Get Her Paid.

Joy Kim, owner of Seattle’s Kyoto Teriyaki, says she followed every step Uber Eats asked of her. The company says it was a security issue. By Jonathan Small | edited by Dan Bova | Aug 12, 2026 Forty thousand dollars is a lot to wait on when you’re running a small restaurant. But that’s exactly what happened to Joy Kim, who spent eight months chasing down money Uber Eats owed her. Kim, who owns Kyoto Teriyaki on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, had been waiting since November 2025 for the company to pay out nearly 1,500 orders, according to Fox 13 Seattle. She called support, sent emails, updated her bank information. Nothing worked. It wasn’t until Fox 13 Seattle began inquiring about the missing funds that Uber Eats moved. Uber Eats said the delay came down to identity verification required to protect the merchant account, and that representatives made multiple attempts to reach Kim without success. The company said it completed video verification with her in late July and began processing the payment shortly after. Despite the ordeal, Kim plans to keep using the platform. Local customers order through Uber Eats every day, she said, and cutting it off would mean losing a revenue stream she can’t afford to lose. Forty thousand dollars is a lot to wait on when you’re running a small restaurant. But that’s exactly what happened to Joy Kim, who spent eight months chasing down money Uber Eats owed her. Kim, who owns Kyoto Teriyaki on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, had been waiting since November 2025 for the company to pay out nearly 1,500 orders, according to Fox 13 Seattle. She called support, sent emails, updated her bank information. Nothing worked. It wasn’t until Fox 13 Seattle began inquiring about the missing funds that Uber Eats moved. Uber Eats said the delay came down to identity verification required to protect the merchant account, and that representatives made multiple attempts to reach Kim without success. The company said it completed video verification with her in late July and began processing the payment shortly after. Despite the ordeal, Kim plans to keep using the platform. Local customers order through Uber Eats every day, she said, and cutting it off would mean losing a revenue stream she can’t afford to lose. Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he... Read more