Some people who ordered from Skip the Dishes were left angry.

Kate (who requested anonymity) was planning to celebrate a major birthday in the spring of 2020: her champagne birthday.

Kate, who preferred to go by her first name only, had planned a huge milestone birthday party for the following spring of 2020. On March 26th, she entered her 26th year of life.

Her parents, siblings, grandparents, and aunts and uncles never missed a chance to join her for dinner, and she always looked forward to them.

Only her partner, their child, and herself remained this year because of the pandemic.

Kate decided to make the best of a bad situation by ordering takeout for her family to celebrate her birthday despite the uncertainty of the times.

Including the delivery charge and the gratuity, she spent on her meal. But the food she ordered never showed up.

Kate's order was cancelled after she waited a while for it to arrive, according to the app.

I looked at my phone and saw that the driver had tried to call me to let me know he was on his way, but I hadn't answered. She says, "There were no calls or notifications to let me know he had arrived."

No refunds

Kate contacted the delivery service she had used, Skip the Dishes, through their mobile app, but the representative there told her there was nothing they could do and that she would not be receiving a refund.

Kate claims that the customer service representative she spoke to was quite stern with her, telling her to "pay attention next time."

Kate was dissatisfied with this outcome, so she phoned the business. She was transferred to an agent who was more sympathetic after some waiting on hold. She claimed to be eligible for a refund over a month ago, but has yet to receive her money back.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident; many customers of Skip the Dishes have been left hungry and frustrated after not receiving all of their order but still being charged for it.

My last Skip the Dishes order was delivered via contactless because of the pandemic, so I told the driver to leave it on the front deck. The driver called me shortly after I placed my order to let me know that my food had been delivered. I went to get my food, but it wasn't there," Shana Chartier says.

As an alternative to the app's customer service feature, she says, "I called customer support and waited on hold for an hour before I finally got through to someone." "When I reached a representative, all they said was that they couldn't refund me because the driver claimed he'd already dropped it off. ”

Chartier attempted to contact a manager by phone but was told that she would be required to write an email instead.

A manager called Chartier the next day, and she too told her that Skip the Dishes would not issue a refund. "I was surprised someone even responded," Chartier says.

Unfortunately for Kathy Hardy, she only got a portion of her order. Hardy says, "I placed an order on April 24 (a Friday), but I only received half of it; apparently the other half wasn't available; however, the app still allowed me to include it in my order even though it was out of stock."

Hardy immediately dialed the restaurant's number, and a representative informed her that Skip the Dishes would be issuing a refund to her. Hardy's card wouldn't be charged until Monday because the order was placed on a Friday night. Three days later, she checked her statement and saw the full amount had been charged.

According to Hardy, "I contacted customer support, but they said because it had been more than 48 hours since I placed the order, there was nothing they could do—they wouldn't give me a refund." Hardy has emailed customer service again, but has not yet received a response. I phoned the restaurant's manager, who expressed regret but said nothing could be done. Skip the Dishes was responsible for issuing refunds. ”

Wendy's management even tried to get in touch with Skip the Dishes to get a refund for Hardy, but they were told the same thing.

For the value of the lost item, "he felt so bad that he offered me a coupon for the restaurant," Hardy says.

No contact

Skip the Dishes is comparable to other food delivery services like Door Dash and Uber Eats in that all three share a similar interface for placing orders and a map for tracking orders as they are being prepared and delivered. Skip the Dishes, in contrast to the aforementioned competitors, does not facilitate user communication with their driver at any point in the food delivery process.

When Chartier tried to get in touch with her driver to inquire as to whether or not he had delivered her order to the incorrect address, she came to this conclusion.

I tried to call him, but the app doesn't let riders get in touch with the drivers," she explains.

In contrast to competing food delivery services, Skip the Dishes typically does not issue refunds to customers once an order has been placed, even if the customer never receives the order.

According to Chartier, "if the driver said they delivered it, it was delivered" was the response he received from customer service. "They didn't make any effort to understand my predicament or help me." ”

This is in contrast to Uber Eats, which reimburses customers whose orders are lost even if the customer is partly to blame.

A group of my roommates and I decided to go out for drinks one night a few weeks ago. Due to the late hour, we opted for takeout. According to what Tevin Shadd says, "We used Uber Eats to order about worth of food."

"Unfortunately, by the time the driver arrived, we were already asleep, so we didn't hear him knocking and we never did get our food. The next day, Shadd says, he checked his phone expecting to see a charge for the food that was never delivered. Instead, he found a full refund.

Important details

As a customer, you can use Skip the Dishes to, among other things, "place orders for goods from vendors, receive delivery of the goods, and have Skip provide customer care support between you, couriers, and vendors." The 'Skip Services' (which include order processing and access to the Skip Platform as it may be updated from time to time by Skip) ”

Skip the Dishes "[doesn't] prepare or fulfil any orders for goods or provide delivery services directly and no members of the Skip Group will be liable for any transactions between customers, couriers, or vendors," as stated in the terms and conditions. Through a separate agreement with couriers or vendors, Skip may provide products or services. On the Skip Platform, the Vendor, not Skip, is responsible for providing content such as menus and other information related to the Vendor. ”

According to Aaron Meng, managing partner of the Toronto law firm Aaron Meng Law Professional Corporation, "essentially, this means Skip the Dishes is using outside couriers to do their work and vendors to prepare the food, then they collect a fee as a broker."  

According to him, Skip's position is that the company bears no responsibility for the actions of its third-party suppliers or delivery personnel.

If Skip messes up communicating with its suppliers, couriers, etc., it will have to pay for the damages caused by its own negligence. as they are the intermediary Skip, however, seems to imply that if a courier or vendor causes damage, Skip is not responsible. If a vendor failed to prepare the food, for example, the customer should pursue legal action against the vendor unless the vendor informed Skip that the food had not been prepared. If the customer believes the courier is at fault, they should pursue legal action. But," Meng says, "it's very hard to prove that."

Regardless, he says, "Skip is not obligated to provide a customer with a refund for the fault of its vendors and couriers," per the company's Terms of Service.

According to Meng, the structure leads to a "he said, she said" situation in which neither party has a definitive advantage. What's more, it could encourage drivers to falsely claim they delivered orders and keep the food for themselves if Skip the Dishes isn't required to issue a refund in such cases.

Meng emphasizes, however, that users of Skip the Dishes have the freedom to select alternative food-delivery services if they so choose.

Kate, Hardy, and Chartier all know this to be true.

The app was deleted, and Chartier vowed never to use the company again.

Similar feelings were expressed by Hardy, who said, "I'm totally dissatisfied with them, and I'll never use their service again." ”

When InTheHammer asked Skip the Dishes for comment, they stayed mum.

Instagram user @hecallsmelinda provided the cover photo for this post.