Deliveroo ‘hack’ hits restaurants in the pocket

Customers claim their food hasn’t arrived

TAKEAWAY customers in Fallowfield have been claiming that their orders were never delivered and demanding refunds – despite delivery drivers taking photos of the food on the doorsteps, a restauranteur has claimed.

The man, who has asked to remain anonymous, wants people to realise the impact the scam is having on local businesses.

He says the issue has become much more widespread in the past year. As a former student in the area, he says he’s aware of the method being shared as a ‘hack’ and a way to ‘cheat Deliveroo.’

He says people falsely claiming that their order is missing or damaged need to understand the impact the scam has on independent businesses like his.

He says: “I’m getting calls claiming food hasn’t arrived every single day now. It’s 10 to 20 phone calls a week and it’s always from student areas. It’s something that’s really picked up since lockdown.

“I’ve had to deal with so many claims this year already, it’s quite a chunk of time. If all those refunds had happened I’d be an extra £2,000 down, and we’re already 70 per cent down.

“It upsets people and it completely ruins the morale in the kitchen.

“Chefs are proud of what they make and our drivers work for me full-time – it’s their only source of income.

“Most of them are music industry people I’ve hired since their industry went down.

“They’re all people who need the work and for them to be told they’ve not delivered to the right address or something’s not up to scratch, it shocks the whole team.”

He says he’s implemented a system to prevent fraudulent claims, but it’s still left the business with a mountain of admin. His drivers share their route, take photos of the front door and ask the customers to confirm their name before handing over the food.

Deliveroo says customers are flagged in their system if they claim a refund on a high percentage of orders and that repeat offenders are blocked.

“We go through a series of checks to find out what happened once the order left the restaurant,” a spokesperson said. “For example, we look at whether the rider was in the vicinity of the customer’s address, or if the rider contacted the customer to let them know they arrived.”

The Fallowfield business owner doesn’t know if refunds have been awarded until he gets his monthly invoices from Deliveroo.

He says it’s not an issue he experiences when people order from him directly, which makes him believe people think they are ‘cheating’ Deliveroo.

“As soon as the restaurant calls, they hang up the phone,” he says.

“They seem to think it’s not affecting an independent restaurant, that their actions are affecting Deliveroo.

“When they get a phone call from the restaurant, every single one of them goes silent and hangs up.

“It is fairly wrong.

“I don’t know how people can do that to a small independent business.”

I don’t know how people can do that to a small independent business.