Food delivery provider Foodpanda had 564 consumer disputes from January to last month and failed to attend many mediation sessions with local governments nationwide, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said.
In a news release earlier this month, the committee said that it investigated consumer complaints and mediations for Foodpanda and rival Uber Eats during the period, when the number of delivery orders jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uber Eats had 80 consumer disputes, the committee said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
Of Foodpanda’s consumer disputes, 368 resulted from delivery drivers canceling orders after customers could not be reached, 108 were related to the quality or quantity of food, 41 concerned the service of delivery workers, 11 were about the ingredients of orders, eight were over prices and 28 concerned other issues, the committee said.
Of the Uber Eats disputes, 38 were linked to its Eats Pass promotional program — a NT$120 monthly subscription that allows orders of at least NT$199 without a delivery fee — with people complaining that the subscription renewed the next month without confirmation, it said.
Another 14 were due to order cancelations, nine were related to the quality or quantity of food, eight concerned the service of delivery workers and 11 were related to other issues, it said.
The frequency of Foodpanda’s absences from mediation sessions held by local governments was higher, which the firm attributed to strikes by delivery workers during the Lunar New Year holiday and a rising number of orders in the period, it said.
The committee urged the companies to participate in mediation to show that they care about consumers’ rights, as well as to comply with regulations.
Before placing an order, consumers can consult lists local governments publish online of corporations that have failed to attend mediation sessions without proper reasons, it said.
When a dispute arises, people can call the national consumer protection “1950” hotline, or file an online complaint on the committee’s Web site, it added.
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