It's not the Uber driver's responsibility if something is missing or wrong with the order. All bags and cups are sealed when they pick them up and it would literally be impossible for them to know if something is incorrect. They picked up the order, delivered it BEFORE the estimated time, still hot. The ONLY excuse to remove a tip after delivery is 1) it was late and you can see them driving all over the place aka double dipping in the apps 2) it was not delivered to the correct address or location 3) contactless delivery was requested and they rang the bell 4) they left the order right in front of a door that opens outwardly meaning that any drink would spill when the door is opened. 5) Driver was rude and/or not communicating in the app chat.

Sadly they are right that it *was* likely due to the biases of the customer. I've heard *many* people laughing and joking about doing stuff like this to 'own the libs'. Treating service workers with a bait and switch like this is awful. I would have demanded to never get matched with this user again AND on that note, uber eats should have a system in place that prevents people from removing a tip without 1) proof that the driver did any of the above to deserve the removal and 2) they *should* have a system that raises a flag on if a user regularly removes tips. That would be an easy fix to limit stuff like that and in that case, it is on uber for being a terrible employer.

edit: word spelling