Takeaway boss turns detective to go through customer's bins to find packaging of meal that they had claimed had NOT been delivered in bid to get £23.49 refund
Connor Calland was fuming when a customer claimed their food had not arrivedThe pizza shop owner, from York, double-checked to see it had been deliveredHe snooped around the customer’s bins and found packaging from the mealThe takeaway boss then demanded a written apology from the shamed customer
A takeaway boss ‘turned detective’ to sniff out a suspicious customer’s supposedly ‘missing’ meal by rummaging through their BINS – before confronting them with the scoffed food packaging.
Connor Calland, owner of EborCibus Pizza in York, claims he was contacted by Deliveroo and told that a customer hadn’t received their £23.49 order from two days earlier so had been issued a refund.
After checking with staff that the order of a 12-inch ‘Solar Goat Pig’ pizza, buffalo blue chicken loaded fries and mozzarella dippers had been sent out, the furious takeaway owner took matters into his own hands.
Connor claims to have visited the delivery address and rummaged through the bins where he came across containers covered in buffalo sauce from the loaded fries.
Connor Calland (pictured), owner of EborCibus Pizza in York, was furious when a customer claimed a refund from Deliveroo and said their food had not been delivered
The flabbergasted owner then knocked on the door to confront the customer only to be told by a mortified housemate that they were out.
Undeterred, Connor messaged them demanding an apology of ‘no less’ than 750 words and explanation for the ‘fraudulent’ claim.
Eventually he claims to have received an email supposedly from the shame-faced customer in which they repeatedly expressed remorse and pleaded for forgiveness, blaming the deceit on ‘peer pressure’.
The letter even gushes with praise for Connor and his ‘dedication for his business and business ethics’, while showering him with admiration on how he ‘puts his life’ into his company.
Connor shared the incident on Facebook to raise awareness about ‘fraudulent’ complaints made by customers, which he claims costs the business between £50 to £100 every week.
Puzzled by the claim, he spoke to his staff who confirmed they had sent out the order for a 12-inch ‘Solar Goat Pig’ pizza, buffalo blue chicken loaded fries and mozzarella dippers
The business owner lamented that he had to ‘root through somebody’s dirty bin’ in order to ‘protect the integrity’ of his business.
Connor also criticised Deliveroo for ‘siding’ with the customer and granting them a refund, as they claimed the complainant was a genuine customer who ‘wasn’t abusing the system’.
However Deliveroo said that the refund was issued ‘in line with their policy’ as the customer had claimed that the bag was torn and so food had spilled out as a result – though EborCibus Pizza have a screenshot showing that they were told it was because the order was ‘not delivered’.
The takeaway owner took matters into his own hands and went rummaging through their customer’s bins to find evidence they had received the order
EborCibus Pizza issued a statement saying that they had felt compelled to ‘investigate the matter fully’ because it was not the first time something like this had happened to them.
Owner Connor wrote: ‘I had [an] email this morning [February 17] from Deliveroo stating a customer didn’t receive the order requested Tuesday.
‘I checked with my staff, they confirm[ed] the order was sent and delivered.. I told Deliveroo this.
‘Deliveroo takes customers side (Check the email image) they DOUBLE checked and found their fraud prevention measures did not fail! And by default, WE MUST BE LYING.
‘Fortunately I keep all the tickets, found their address. And visited.
Connor said it was ‘deeply sad’ that he had to go rifling through people’s rubbish to prove the food had arrived
‘How deeply sad is it that in order to preserve the integrity of my business and staff I have to root through someone’s dirty bin. Knowing full well before I did this, that I was going to find my packaging.
‘In the bin we find all our packaging that cross references to the order, the indicative buffalo sauce lining a container. (See images of our packaging).
‘Upon knocking on the door, a house mate answers and claims he’s at work.
‘In the end – Deliveroo still gets 14% commission regardless, we take the hit. And their “Genuine customer, who is not abusing the system” (read the email) received their full refund.
‘Pathetic. Poor morals. Scum.’
Connor then ranted: ‘I woke up that morning and had enough of it, and future ones I’ll do the same.
‘Had so many messages of other businesses saying people had done the same.
‘Deliveroo make it so easy, as their system automatically refunds them and you have to prove they got the goods. Meanwhile deliveroo take their cut regardless.’
In the alleged customer’s grovelling apology letter, which Connor claimed he received hours after finding the takeaway on February 17, they claimed to regret their actions ‘greatly and feel terrible’.
The customer said if they could ‘go back in time’ and change their actions they would and claimed to understand how hard it was at the moment for small businesses.
They even resorted to extreme flattery, by telling Connor that he ‘seems to put his life into his business and the hard work really shows through with what has been created’.
Meanwhile, Connor’s friends and other social media users applauded him for taking matters into his own hands.
When one pal praised him for ‘turning detective’, Connor boasted that he can ‘pretty much do anything’ as he once learned Polish for a stag do.
One wrote: ‘Unreal that you turned detective. 100% students trying it on.’
Another commented: ‘It’s an absolute joke you’ve to physically resort to going sifting through bins and confronting them to prove this! You’ll have delivery drivers with cams on next.’
A fellow supporter wrote: ‘Outstanding work DCI Calland!’
He found success after spotting containers covered in buffalo source from the loaded fries (pictured)
Another commented: ‘So glad you exposed him. I see now why you needed that breakfast the other morning. You were on detective duties.’
Deliveroo said the customer had not claimed the items were not received but had complained because the bag was torn and so food had spilled and items had fallen out – despite their note to EborCibus stating the order was ‘not delivered’.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: ‘Deliveroo takes customer service extremely seriously and, in this case, a refund was issued to the customer in line with our policy.
‘Whilst the restaurant was initially billed for the order, we have since spoken to them and decided not take payment on this occasion.’
A spokesperson for EborCibus Pizza said: ‘It’s regrettable that certain people fraudulently take advantage of goodwill and trust.
‘We had to investigate this matter fully because this isn’t unfortunately a one-time occurrence, it’s happens on a daily basis to small businesses around the UK.
‘Deliveroo does have anti-fraud prevention measures for companies that use Deliveroo riders, but in our case we use our own drivers, and the Deliveroo platform doesn’t have any protection for us. This event happened three months ago, and nothing has changed.
‘We hope our story will perhaps change the mindset of people who believe it’s acceptable to do this, and urge Deliveroo to input anti fraud measures.’
Original Source