A takeaway owner is furious after a Just Eat customer claimed a refund after complaining that their ice slush drink was 'too cold'.
That’s right – they complained that a drink which is entirely composed of ice and flavouring was too cold.
As strange as that is, there’s also a serious point to be made here, because the owner of Food Station and Shakes in Salford says that there is a ‘loophole’ here that allows Just Eat customers to order a refund and get their money back at a loss to the takeaway through claiming dodgy refunds.
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Just Eat’s policy on refunds was changed last autumn, and it means that takeaways are now charged automatically for any refunds claimed by customers.
They then have the burden of chasing it up and challenging that refund.
Moshin Butt, who runs the business in Ordsall, says he is seeing ‘five to 10 refunds every day’ and has a member of staff that spends two hours each day checking refunds.
The worst of these alleged bogus refunds – Butt claims – was a customer who claimed that his order of four ice slush drinks for £12 was ‘too cold’.
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Butt told the Manchester Evening News: "What are slushes meant to be like?
"You can't sell someone warm slushes, they will melt. They are supposed to be cold. They are giving refunds to the customers any time they do it. It's not good."
He did contest the refund that was made on December 26 last year, but it’s not exactly a rare occurrence, apparently.
Butt continued: "We saw one customer do it, and he had made 136 orders on Just Eat. He knew how to use this loophole.
"We had another customer who made an order with us on three days in a row, and every time he requested a refund for items that were missing.
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"By the third day I went to him personally, gave him the order, we went through it. I said to him, 'there's nothing missing here, don't place a refund, everything is right here in front of you'.
"The next day, he claimed a refund. Three days in a row - he was having a free meal every single day."
In the past, Just Eat used to give takeaways the choice to accept a refund, or the cost was covered by them.
However, the cost of refunds is now taken straight from the restaurant.
Mr Butt obviously feels as if communication from the third party leaves a lot to be desired.
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"When we approach them, we never know if we were going to get our money back or not.
"There is only one email we receive from them to say they have received our query. There's no evidence provided by Just Eat saying why they are giving a refund,” he said.
He added: "Just Eat aren't losing money through this - the only person who is at a loss is the Just Eat partner, the takeaway.
"Whatever we send out, we have to replace with our own money."
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A spokesperson for Just Eat said: "Just Eat is only successful if our restaurant partners are successful and we have a track record of helping restaurants prosper.
"The recent measures we’ve put in place are in line with industry standards and are to ensure an even fairer refunds process for all, such as increasing the time for restaurants to raise any disputes.
"Restaurant partners are always refunded in full when we find any fraudulent activity taking place.
"We’re keen to maintain an open dialogue with the restaurants on our platform and continue to review our policies and processes in this space to support both customers and restaurants alike."
Topics: UK News, Food And Drink, Weird
Tom Wood