Enough safeguards vs bogus online orders

Grab Philippines and Foodpanda Philippines told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that riders victimized by bogus customers are fully-compensated and that they do not shoulder the expenses for the ordered goods

Food delivery service riders have enough safeguard from “no show customers” or those who cancel confirmed orders or fail to show up at the delivery address even if the rider had already paid for the items.

Online delivery service applications Grab Philippines and Foodpanda Philippines told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that riders victimized by bogus customers are fully-compensated and that they do not shoulder the expenses for the ordered goods.

“In events of no-show orders, our rider partners are fully-compensated while consumers are given corresponding penalties,” said Grab Philippines public affairs Nicka Hosaka during the virtual hearing of Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship on Senate Bill (SB) 1677.

Hosaka added that in the system started in August last year, customers are now paying their orders directly to their merchant partners. This deviates from the company’s former policy where riders have to pay for the purchased products beforehand.

“As you have noted, this bill was passed in July 2020. Since then, there have been similar versions in the House and we have manifested that Grab has actually changed its policy,” she said.

“As of August 2020, there is no longer an advanced that is done by the riders. In fact, we slowly rolled out (a system) wherein our merchant partners or restaurants will directly receive the payments for orders,” she added.

SB 1677 or the Food and Grocery Delivery Services Protection Act aims to provide measures that will protect individuals engaged in food and grocery delivery services.

Senator Lito Lapid, sponsor of the measure, described delivery riders as “front liners who took the risk and continued working and providing for our needs during the time of

community quarantine and lock down.”

With this, the senator said they should be shielded from said instances by requiring companies to establish a mandatory reimbursement scheme for cancellation of orders.

For their part, FoodPanda Philippines Regulatory and Public Affairs Manager Rose Romero said that their delivery riders never made advanced payments from the start since they provide tablets for their partner stores which serves as a direct ordering system.

It was FoodPanda too, Romero said, which pays the merchants in case of fraud orders.

“In terms of fraud orders whether committed by the consumer or rider, it is actually the company that bears the cost of the order,” she added.

This means that FoodPanda riders were never victimized by prank orders as they never pay the orders from their pockets, according to the spokesperson.

In events of no-show orders, our rider partners are fully-compensated while consumers are given corresponding penalties.

Prompted by the restrictions set by quarantine due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the food delivery service industry bloomed under the so-called “new normal.”

This made way to the rise of “no show” customers which riders have been complaining.