Directly Asking the Customer Not to Place Further Orders
There have been increasing reports of damages caused by so-called “problematic regulars” who repeatedly order and then cancel delivery food orders. However, delivery platforms are said to be neglecting the issue by simply issuing refunds to customers each time, without taking further action. Critics argue that if refund policies are not improved, not only small business owners but also delivery drivers and ordinary consumers could all suffer losses.
On September 27, criticism of delivery platform refund policies was mounting in small business owner communities. Mr. A, who runs a sandwich shop in Seoul, uploaded a video titled “How to Get Free Delivery from Company C: Full Disclosure” to his YouTube channel 'Bbisajang' on September 19.
The video details the difficulties Mr. A experienced with customer B, who canceled delivery orders more than 10 times over about three months, as well as Company C’s response to the situation. Mr. A explained, “While working, we suddenly receive a text notification that an order placed through the delivery platform has been canceled. Unless we call, we can’t even find out the reason for the cancellation.”
According to Mr. A, customer B placed 46 orders in a month and canceled 9 of them. Despite carefully following all of B’s requests, the customer would nitpick minor shortages in ingredients or request refunds simply because the delivery was about 10 minutes late, repeatedly engaging in this “refund abuser” behavior.
Mr. A also recounted that on one occasion, the customer requested “no spoon or fork” in the order, but even after sending a knife, B tried to eat the sandwich outside the house and canceled the order claiming, “I can’t eat it because there’s no knife.”
Mr. A further stated, “The customer always writes several complicated lines of requests, so our staff put in a lot of effort to make the order exactly as requested. Even so, we still get calls asking, ‘Did you really put just a little bit of sauce? Did you really only put half the cheese?’”
Eventually, when B placed another order, Mr. A included a handwritten note. In the note, he wrote, “You keep blaming us for your own mistakes and getting refunds for all sorts of reasons. I will not tolerate it any longer. Please make this your last order. If you order again, I will cancel it.”
Another small business owner posted on the Naver cafe “It Hurts to Be the Boss,” saying, “It seems like more people are abusing Company C’s delivery platform after realizing that refunds are issued without much scrutiny. They ask for a refund if the food is just five minutes late, claiming it’s cold; they order crispy items and then say they’re too crispy, like snacks, and ask for a refund; sometimes, they get refunds for strange reasons without any real explanation.”
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