Just Eat - Refusing refund - What course of action can I take?

lethalchicken56

We ordered items from Asda, via Just-Eat. 
The first delivery was marked as delivered. It wasn't delivered to us. All address details are 100% correct. Our house is not hard to find, the number can clearly be seen from the main road. 
We tried to contact Just Eat but there was no live chat available at the time. We had to wait until they got back to us via email. 

We assumed we would be refunded so ordered again. 
2nd delivery, same. Said it was delivered to us. It wasn't. 

We finally got through to them via Twitter. They said the first order had already been refunded. (they didn't tell us this). The 2nd order, they said that they had GPS tracking data to show that it was delivered. 

Of course, that's not proof. For all we know the driver could have simply pulled up outside, waited a minute then marked as delivered. Or of course delivered to the wrong house. 

They are refusing a refund on the 2nd order. 

We have spoken to the bank and they insist we must speak with Just Eat. 
We are going to pressure the bank and submit a chargeback (I hope). As far as I am concerned, we ordered a product and Just Eat have failed to supply the goods. Is this not fraud?

They say they cannot speak to the delivery drivers as they do not employ them directly. 

Their email address on their website info@just-eat.co.uk returns a message saying we need to contact via "help" on their site. 
I found a few phone numbers for JE but none of them are helpful, they are all automated messages. 

Is it even worth writing a physical letter? 
I guess I could try the small claims court but it's for £25. I don't know how much small claims court will cost but it's likely to not be worth it. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

elsien

Cost of small claims court is £35 for under 300 quid claim. 

Have you checked with your neighbours at all?
if you request a chargeback, just eat can still dispute it, and show the GPS as proof of delivery just so as you are aware. 

Of course, they can speak to the delivery driver, if they want to. The drivers are self-employed but that doesn’t mean that Just Eat can’t  ask them what’s going on.
They do have a phone number if you want to try and speak to someone in person. 

Probably be cheaper to nip down the shop yourself in future.

Alderbank

lethalchicken56 said:

We have spoken to the bank and they insist we must speak with Just Eat. 
We are going to pressure the bank and submit a chargeback (I hope). As far as I am concerned, we ordered a product and Just Eat have failed to supply the goods. Is this not fraud?

No. 

Fraud is the planned, deliberate taking something from you by deception. It's not stupidity, being disorganised, getting lost, being negligent, pushing the wrong button. Any of those might account for your experience.

When did all of this happen? If it was last night, on a Sunday, perhaps give them a little more time for 9-5 staff to sort it out.

Ultimately, chargeback might be the way to get redress. Don't go to court.

eskbanker

lethalchicken56 said:

As far as I am concerned, we ordered a product and Just Eat have failed to supply the goods. Is this not fraud?

No.

It is failure to deliver the contracted service/product though, which is what's important when claiming a refund from the supplier, either directly or via your bank....

RefluentBeans

As others have said - it’s worth noting that even a chargeback can be disputed as it doesn’t change the contract. So even if they don’t dispute it in time, they could ban you from using the app until you pay it back/threaten to sue you (unlikely they would). 

You also have no right to speak to the delivery driver - that feels unfair to expect them to do that. 

For future reference, not for JE, but for other delivery apps, you can set a code that couriers have to type to successfully deliver the food. It’s good to make sure you get the food and not neighbours. 

Unfortunately I think this is a chalk it up to experience sorta thing. If you’re a regular JE customer then you can say to them you’ll close your account/you’ll lose me as a good customer sorta argument, but it’s kinda up to them if they help you, and if it’s a newish account then they may just politely decline. 

piglet33

i have the same epxerience except i had a code and its clear the driver would not have typed it in Also in my case the delivery address was incorrectly marked as the restaurant address (must have been app technical glitch) and the driver called 1 minute AFTER the order was marked delivered to ask what my address was and then said it would take 5-7mins but never arrived! no way to spaek to just eat in real time but complain via email. its a complete joke. 

piglet33

how can you actually send a formal complaint to just eat?

35har1old

Alderbank said:

lethalchicken56 said:

We have spoken to the bank and they insist we must speak with Just Eat. 
We are going to pressure the bank and submit a chargeback (I hope). As far as I am concerned, we ordered a product and Just Eat have failed to supply the goods. Is this not fraud?

No. 

Fraud is the planned, deliberate taking something from you by deception. It's not stupidity, being disorganised, getting lost, being negligent, pushing the wrong button. Any of those might account for your experience.

When did all of this happen? If it was last night, on a Sunday, perhaps give them a little more time for 9-5 staff to sort it out.

Ultimately, chargeback might be the way to get redress. Don't go to court.

My local council have written to Just
Eat due to large sums of money being lost to local business due to being scammed

user1977

piglet33 said:

how can you actually send a formal complaint to just eat?

Their registered office address (which is on their website) would seem a good place to start:

Just Eat.co.uk Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with registered company number 04656315, whose registered office is at Fleet Place House, 2 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7RF

piglet33

thanks but obviously with snail mail they just ignore- i meant is there an actual email or phone number to submit a formal complaint rather than just request a refund via the app. ie what is the escalation process?

user1977

piglet33 said:

thanks but obviously with snail mail they just ignore- i meant is there an actual email or phone number to submit a formal complaint rather than just request a refund via the app. ie what is the escalation process?

They don't need to have any "escalation process". If you think they owe you money then the normal thing to do (if you're serious) is send a letter before action.

Why is it "obvious" that they'd ignore snail mail as opposed to just ignoring your email or phone number? Besides which, you don't have an email address or phone number, but you do have their address.