A man has documented his quest to apologise to his food delivery driver after the DoorDash employee mistakenly assumed he was yelling at him, when he was actually yelling at his dog.
Mark Polchleb, who goes by the username @markp_ on TikTok, shared a video of the incident, which was captured by his doorbell camera, to the app last week, where he expressed his guilt over the encounter.
In the clip, Polchleb began by asking that “someone please tell this sweet sweet [DoorDash] man I was yelling at my dog and not at him” as he filmed himself lying in bed.
The TikToker then proceeded to share the recording of the food delivery, in which a man could be seen waiting at Polchleb’s doorstep to deliver his food as a dog barked from inside the house.
The delivery driver then asked whether he should just leave the food on the front step, at which point Polchleb could be heard loudly telling his dog to move out of the way. “Get away from the door mate!” the TikToker, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, yelled.
Unfortunately, it appeared the DoorDash driver mistook the order for being aimed at him, with the employee moving away from the door as he tried to take a photo of the McDonald’s bag for proof of delivery, before wishing Polchleb a good night.
On TikTok, Polchleb revealed that he hadn’t realised what had happened until after the delivery driver had left, at which point he had felt immense guilt over the misunderstanding.
“I’m genuinely losing sleep over this. He was so sweet and my dog is a menace,” he wrote in the caption.
As of 13 July, the video has been viewed more than 36.1m times, with hundreds of viewers also sharing their horror over the misunderstanding.
“Great, now I’m gonna lose sleep over this. Update me when he knows it wasn’t directed towards him,” one person commented.
Another said: “Omg I would be crying and throwing up. Bless him.”
“Oh nooo, I thought it can’t be that bad… but it was worse,” someone else wrote.
Others asked Polchleb whether he had any luck identifying the DoorDash driver to apologise, with the TikToker revealing that he was trying to make things right.
“I just need him to know. I only put two and two together when I was downing my Creme Brûlée McFlurry moments later,” he wrote in the comments.
In a follow-up video, Polchleb revealed that he had been in contact with DoorDash support, after mistakenly believing the delivery man worked for Uber Eats at first, to see if there was a way he could speak with the employee who had delivered his food.
According to Polchleb, because two days had passed since the delivery, DoorDash said he wasn’t able to contact the driver directly, nor was he able to adjust his tip. However, a support agent for the company offered to speak with the Dasher directly about the incident.
“So, that’s as good as I can do for now but it’s honestly not good enough for the empath in me. So we need to do more,” he continued, before revealing that he had learned the driver’s name was Sami.
In the video, Polchleb then offered an apology directly to Sami, in the hopes that he or a relative would see it and pass on the message. “Sami, if you happen to see this, I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding if you misunderstood and thought that I yelled at you. I genuinely wasn’t, I was yelling at my menace of a dog,” he said, adding that he hoped to be able to get in contact with him because he wanted to tip him or buy him a McFlurry. “I’m hoping you see this, I’m so, so, so sorry.”
In another follow-up, Polchleb revealed that he had found Sami, and thanked the TikTok community for its help. “MAJOR UPDATE. We found Sami!! Thank you so much TikTok. I love this community! I’ll keep you all posted after my opportunity to connect,” he captioned the video.
The TikToker’s efforts eventually captured the attention of the official DoorDash TikTok account, which revealed the company planned to award Sami “Top Dasher status for life” and “extra Dasher pay”.
“Our hearts. We’re so inspired by your love and kindness for Sami that we’re going to award him Top Dasher status for life and extra Dasher pay,” the company wrote in a TikTok comment, which Polchleb praised as an “awesome response”.
He added: “It makes my heart a little bit happier knowing that Sami finally knows that I was yelling at my dog, not him, and now DoorDash Australia have come to the party and sweetened the deal even more for him, which is amazing.”
In a fifth update, Polchleb revealed that he was finally able to meet with Sami in person after the delivery driver’s daughter saw the TikTok. “His daughter stumbled across my original TikTok after around 7m views, and I was able to connect with her, and then her dad,” he said.
In the video, Polchleb drove to meet Sami, with the TikToker explaining he wanted to say “thank you in person and make sure he was happy”. He then celebrated the DoorDash employee with a card and a gift, while Sami’s family decorated the home with balloons.
“It was great to meet him and his family, who are so, so proud of him,” Polchleb said. He also revealed that Sami has been working to earn money to visit his son.
In the comments under the video, a user who identified themselves as Sami’s daughter expressed her gratitude for all the support and shared a GoFundMe page for Sami. According to the description on the GoFundMe, Sami came to Australia eight years ago as a refugee and hasn’t seen his son, who lives in France, in 10 years.
As of Wednesday, the fundraiser has raised more than $4,400 ($6,500 AUD), surpassing its $2,000 AUD goal.
The heartwarming conclusion to the saga was met with an outpouring of support from viewers, who were grateful to see a happy ending to Polchleb and Sami’s story.
“I am screaming, this is the best series on TikTok I have ever seen. Wow, I can sleep peacefully after watching this, many thanks forever,” one person wrote.
Another said: “I’m so glad that this had a happy ending!”
“What an amazing story! More kindness like this please,” someone else wrote.
The Independent has contacted DoorDash and Polchleb for comment.
