Help with McDonald's Refund

plh56

Hi, I'd like to know what my rights/options are for this situation as I seem to be stuck and getting nowhere...

In November I stopped at a motorway service station on the other side of the country to where I live and ordered a McDonalds for my family using the kiosks. I paid with Google Pay and got a collection number. While waiting for the food there was a power cut and the service station staff evacuated everyone immediately from the building to the car park. After waiting around in the rain for half an hour there was no one around to help and no sign of power being restored so I eventually gave up and left, and then stopped at the next service station and ordered from a different resturant instead, thinking that hopeully the McDonalds wouldn't charge me for the non-completed order.

A couple of days later I noted the pending charge had gone through so I emailed the store using the email address on the collection slip. Eventually I got a reply saying I'd need to come back in to the store to get a refund. I explained that this is not possible as it's hours away from me and the manager said he'd speak to head office. A few days late he called very apologetic and said that head office had advised I'd have to contact them directly and start the request all over again as they wouldn't let him forward on the details.

I therefore emailed Mcdonalds customer services as instructed, explained the situation again and waited. I got a few automated "sorry for the delay emails" then I was asked to provide some details I had already given which I did again. I then heard nothing so chased again a few days later and was asked to provide proof of purchase. I therefore sent a photo of the collection slip and waited a few more days for a response. Eventually I got the following:

"Thank you for your message, and I apologize for any frustration caused regarding your refund request. I understand that you've already spoken with the store manager, but unfortunately, we are unable to process refunds directly. As customer services, we only have access to orders made through the MyMcDonald’s app via Click and Collect. The store holds the relevant till and kiosk information and is the correct place to process the refund for in-store or kiosk orders.
We regret that this has caused confusion, but please contact the store directly at <store-number>@uk.mcd.com to resolve the issue. Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding."


The store is still insisting they can't help unless I drive across the country to them (which will cost more than the meal so out of the question!) and now said they could only offer instore credit for their franchise which only has stores nowhere near me so is not use at all so how do I get a refund? Who is correct in this siutation, why can't the store refund over the phone or the head office at least give me a credit for use in any McDonalds nearer me?

voluted

As this is a franchise then McDonalds UK wouldn't be the ones to refund you, the store would.

molerat

Chargeback via your card provider.

km1500

what card was linked to your google pay?

Alderbank

I think the confusion derives from what the restaurant manager meant by 'Head Office'.

Many McDonalds franchisees own and run a number of restaurants. It will be that franchisee's Head Office that you need to speak to.

Call the restaurant again and ask for the name and address of the franchisee. That must by law be displayed in the restaurant. Alternatively if you tell us the restaurant's location we might be able to help you.

You are correct that you don't need to physically revisit the point of sale to get your refund for goods paid for but not supplied, but you do need to know the legal entity who your contract is with.

plh56

Thanks, confusion about what he meant by head office is an interesting thought. I double checked the email address the store manager gave me. It was customerservices@mcdonalds.co.uk which seems pretty clear that he didn't mean that franchisee's head office sadly. Re. chargeback, I checked again what card I used with Google Pay and it was my Amex. I therefore went into the Amex app, found the transaction and raised a dispute for services not received. It said it was pending review. A few minutes later I got an email saying "Inquiry Resolved" stating the amount will be refunded. So that was impressively easy - I thought they'd ask a lot more quesions and wait for Mconalds to respond but seems not.
Thanks for all the advice!

eskbanker

plh56 said:

Re. chargeback, I checked again what card I used with Google Pay and it was my Amex. I therefore went into the Amex app, found the transaction and raised a dispute for services not received. It said it was pending review. A few minutes later I got an email saying "Inquiry Resolved" stating the amount will be refunded. So that was impressively easy - I thought they'd ask a lot more quesions and wait for Mconalds to respond but seems not.

They will give McDonalds the chance to respond but refund you provisionally while waiting for that, and reverse the refund if it's challenged....

born_again

molerat said:

Chargeback via your card provider.

Sadly not as will be classed a contactless payment (as was in person). No chargeback rights for non receipt.

Jumblebumble

born_again said:

molerat said:

Chargeback via your card provider.

Sadly not as will be classed a contactless payment (as was in person). No chargeback rights for non receipt.

Purely to satisfy  my own curiosity[ could you provide some evidence that this is the case with Amex.
It seems very odd that Amex would allow a company to take money up front and then not deliver contactless or not as it seems this would be a perfect vehicle for dishonest merchants  ripping off their card holders

DullGreyGuy

Jumblebumble said:

born_again said:

molerat said:

Chargeback via your card provider.

Sadly not as will be classed a contactless payment (as was in person). No chargeback rights for non receipt.

Purely to satisfy  my own curiosity[ could you provide some evidence that this is the case with Amex.
It seems very odd that Amex would allow a company to take money up front and then not deliver contactless or not as it seems this would be a perfect vehicle for dishonest merchants  ripping off their card holders

You have to remember that chargeback is intentionally a very basic system, it's not meant to be a replacement for the court process which can consider all the nuances. 

For non-receipt for mail-order (showing my age) if it's paid or not simply comes down to the evidence from the courier. If the courier says it was delivered a chargeback will fail, if the courier says it wasnt delivered the chargeback will succeed. 

What evidence will the OP have that the goods weren't received? 


The other question is how much the charge was for? In my own experience with AmEx they dont process a chargeback for under £15, in their words the process costs them more than that, but instead may waive the charge as a guesture of goodwill. You'd assume they monitor the rate of chargebacks to ensure someone isnt falsely claiming a chargeback knowing it won't be investigated. 

eskbanker

Jumblebumble said:

It seems very odd that Amex would allow a company to take money up front and then not deliver contactless or not as it seems this would be a perfect vehicle for dishonest merchants  ripping off their card holders

Just to add to the above post, you need to remember the roles and responsibilities of the various parties here - it's not a case of Amex 'allowing' anything, as they're simply the card issuer in this scenario.  The merchant's bank is the one which has the direct relationship with the merchant and so will have visibility of all chargeback activity, which would permit enforcement action if necessary....