Foodpanda Rider Delivers Without Food When Order Couldn’t Be Cancelled
Ordering food delivery has become part and parcel of our lives.
However, from time to time there may be glitches in the system that couldn’t accommodate real-time changes, causing frustration for riders and customers alike.
On Sunday (24 Jan), a rider was forced to deliver ‘nothing’ to a customer simply to complete an order that couldn’t be cancelled on both the vendor and Foodpanda’s end.
The customer then took to Facebook to share the exasperating incident with Foodpanda’s customer support.
Customer’s order could not be collected
In the early hours of Sunday (24 Jan), the customer made a McDonald’s food delivery order via Foodpanda.
However, her rider contacted her soon after, telling her that McDonald’s has already switched to their breakfast menu, hence they couldn’t proceed with her order.
He then told her to cancel and make a new order.
However, when the customer tried to cancel her order, Foodpanda’s customer support informed her that her food will be arriving soon.
Foodpanda customer support did not allow order to be cancelled
The woman then tried to explain the situation to the customer support staff.
But, they did not seem to acknowledge the predicament she was in.
Instead, they insisted that her order was simply delayed.
The customer repeatedly explained herself and requested for Foodpanda to clarify with the rider.
Despite this, Foodpanda continuously told the customer to wait for her order, saying it was being prepared.
Much to the frustration of the customer, they did not allow her to cancel the order.
Rider had to deliver ‘nothing’
When the customer relayed to her rider that she could not cancel the order, both did not know what to do.
In spite of the maddening situation, they remained courteous, apologising to one another.
However, they seemed to have reached an impasse, with the customer support still adamant that the customer had to wait for her order, not allowing her to cancel it.
Eventually, the rider decided to just make the trip down empty-handed to complete the order.
The customer notified Foodpanda’s customer support of this, seeking a refund for the order.
Unfortunately, the support staff said the customer will be charged for the order if she insisted for it to be cancelled.
You can view the full exchange on the Facebook post here.
Foodpanda apologises, says they’re current investigating
A Foodpanda spokesperson told MS News that they are currently in touch with the woman to rectify the issue.
Below is their statement in full:
We are truly sorry for the frustrating incident that both Ms Teo and our rider experienced. We are currently investigating the matter and are in touch with Ms Teo to rectify the issue.
We take customer feedback very seriously and are taking steps to ensure that protocols are adhered to by our customer service teams, riders, and merchant partners to ensure the best possible experience for everyone.
Hope customer & rider will be compensated
Despite being very understanding throughout, it’s unfortunate that both rider and customer were caught in a pinch which resulted in an unnecessary delivery and a hungry stomach.
While it was a complex situation, this incident revealed the need for a more flexible and understanding customer support system.
Hopefully, Foodpanda will compensate them for their troubles and improve their system so such incidents will not recur.
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Featured images adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
