A Deliveroo takeaway has defended charging a £130 'small order fee' for a meal for two, saying it believes the cost is 'justified'.
Alegria Gomes, 29, didn't fancy cooking after a long day at work on 5 May and decided to order food from New Thai Kitchen in Barking, East London.
But when she went to the e-basket, she quickly decided against the takeaway after spotting the 'expected' £3-£5 small order charge had been hiked to a whopping £130, bringing the total cost to £160.99 for her Pumpkin Katsu Curry Deluxe Box (£9.25), Prawn Dumpling Soup (£8.95) and bottle of sparkling water (£1.75).
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There was also a delivery fee of £9.99 and a £1 service charge added to the order total.
After opting for an oven pizza instead, Gomes tweeted a screenshot of her pending takeaway order, writing: "Maybe moving to Islington wasn't a great shout."
Ironically, Gomes wasn't even eligible for the '15% off when you spend over £25' deal as the pricey small order fee wasn't included in the subtotal - meaning she was a fiver short of the offer.
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The takeaway has since argued the order fee was 'justified' because of the distance it would take to deliver to Gomes in nearby Islington - which, according to Google Maps, would normally take between 28 minutes and one hour at that time of night.
Alegria, originally from Camden, North London, said: "It was almost like an immediate rejection. I thought I'm not spending £160. I was looking forward to a takeaway but my craving died as soon as I saw that price.
"If I'm too lazy to cook I don't mind paying the normal £3.99-£4.99 charge, but you expect to spend that much on a slap-up meal in Knightsbridge, not sitting at home in your apartment.
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"You could spend that much to have a really nice dining experience, not two plastic takeaway bowls. It's very different.
"We had spent ages trying to order something so eventually we just gave up and made an oven pizza instead."
Gomes said she 'wasn't annoyed' by what happened as she 'got a laugh out of it', adding: "Living in London and Islington is notoriously expensive anyway, so I found it nice to be shocked by the price because you get used to how expensive stuff is. That was funny.
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"I've not thought to order anything from there since, definitely not if it's going to cost that much. I'm sure they'll have had no orders because of that charge."
She also didn't think to contact Deliveroo, realising it would have been easier to just make food herself.
New Thai Kitchen claims it calls customers if their order is subject to a large charge to check they're happy to go ahead with the order.
A spokesperson for the takeaway said: "As a service provider we have a certain distance that we cover. If the order is beyond that, the minimum order amount has to be so much.
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"The customer has the right to cancel the order, and if we see an order like this we call them up and tell them they are being charged a certain amount and ask if they still want to go ahead, then we can cancel it for them.
"If we have a customer in Central London, it wouldn't be feasible to send an order of £5 an hour and a half journey away.
"The fee is justified because if you think about it anyone can order through Deliveroo from anywhere so you have to have to look at the distance that's covered.
"The owner has set up the minimum order with Deliveroo, so if it's out of our range the minimum order has to be a certain amount."
Deliveroo said the minimum order fee of £15 had been reached on Alegria's order, so the additional charge was due to the delivery distance.
It said it is in talks with New Thai Kitchen - which is not a full Deliveroo partner and therefore arranges and pays for its own deliveries - to 'advise them on how they can improve the customer experience'.
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: "At Deliveroo we want our amazing customers to have the best food delivery experience possible.
"To show our appreciation to our customer, we have sent some free credit to ensure they have a great experience next time.
"We have also spoken to the restaurant partner to advise on how they can improve the customer experience."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News