“You deserved that.”
When you’re celebrating a milestone birthday, you want everything to go perfectly. But sometimes even the most carefully planned moments can go sideways in an instant—especially when balloons are involved.
In a viral video with more than 480,000 views, TikToker Kiya (@kiyascallin) shared what was supposed to be a glamorous birthday moment that took a sharp turn.
“Imagine buying a $80 Uber Black truck for your bday to take a cute video and the $30 balloons you bought just flew away because the driver opened the trunk,” she writes in the text overlay.
In the video, you can see Kiya posing in front of the car’s rear passenger seat in her birthday outfit. But her body language quickly changes when, in her peripheral vision, she sees all her balloons floating away.
At that point, there’s nothing she could do, and her face shows it. Her expression shifts from serving looks to pure shock and annoyance.
In the caption, Kiya explains that she’d specifically discussed filming the video with the driver, and he knew no one was at the back of the vehicle to retrieve the balloons.
“So why in the hell would you open the trunk and nobody is back there,” she writes in the caption.
The video sparked intense debate in the comments, with some viewers suggesting Kiya was being overly demanding of her Uber driver, but she defended herself in a follow-up video.
“That’s how I know you and your mama is broke as [expletive] because this is not a regular uber [expletive]. It’s not a regular uber,” Kiya says.
Kiya emphasizes that Uber Black drivers use company vehicles, not personal cars, and that, for the $80 she’s paying for premium service, the expectations are different. Plus, she reiterated that the driver explicitly agreed to the plan.
“Why the [expletive] your [expletive] gonna pop the [expletive] trunk and think that you can run to the back and catch it?” she says.
Kiya also pushed back against suggestions that she should have driven herself or taken a regular Uber.
“I don’t drink and drive so now you’re inserting yourself to tell me to do a crime to risk my life,” she says.
And to those calling her materialistic or an attention-seeker, she has a simple response: It was her 30th birthday and she enjoys the attention.
She acknowledges that mistakes happen, but that didn’t change the fact that her balloons—and her planned video moment—were gone.
“We all human; we all make mistakes. But that don’t get my balloons back, so yes in that moment I was upset,” she writes in the caption of her follow-up video.
Uber Black isn’t your standard rideshare. According to Uber, the service is designed as a premium option featuring luxury vehicles with leather seats and professional drivers who maintain a minimum 4.85-star rating.
Drivers must meet stricter requirements than those for standard UberX, including commercial insurance and compliance with state or local livery regulations. The vehicles themselves must be six years old or newer with black exteriors and black leather interiors, per The Rideshare Guy.
Uber Black riders also receive perks such as ride preferences (temperature and conversation level), a five-minute grace period before wait fees apply, and 24-hour access to premium customer support.
The cost difference between Uber Black and Uber X is significant. While average Uber drivers earn around $23 an hour, Uber Black drivers typically earn higher rates due to premium fares.
However, drivers on the UberPeople forum note that the service comes with substantial overhead, saying that commercial insurance can cost $750 or more per month, and that Black requests are far less frequent than UberX rides, especially outside peak hours.
One Boston driver reported that on a typical Friday evening, they’d see 60 UberX requests and 30 Comfort requests before getting a single Black request.
Kiya’s video clearly resonated. As of this writing, it has over 515,000 views and more than 1,000 comments.
Many people wondered why the balloons weren’t tied to something or weighted down. Some took issue with what she believes the Uber Black experience should entail.
“Idk why y’all think these Uber drivers are y’all personal assistants,” one said.
“I take Uber Black exclusively and they are NOT paid for this. Their job is to get you from place A to place B,” another wrote.
A third called it “crazy” to pay $110 for a video. “You deserved that,” they added.
However, others thought that the driver made an unacceptable mistake.
“I think it’s pretty implied to not let balloons fly away, video or not,” said one of Kiya’s defenders.
Motor1 reached out to Kiya via TikTok direct message and comment and to Uber via TK. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.
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