Just Eat's "shady?" T&Cs

Soldato
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I thought I would make a post about this, ok its far from a national crisis but something I found quite interesting and a little concerning.

I have not checked the T&C's of other similar services, but my guess would be they all all the same.

So, ordered something from Just Eat, something missing, went on their online help chat, complained blah blah, the part missing was the only thing the mrs could eat so did kinda ruin our evening, but that isnt the point.

Part way through, it became apparent that, the contract of sale is not between you and Just Eat, but actually between you and the restuarant, even though Just Eat take your money at point if sale. Personally I really dont like this, becuase it passes the liability away from them to the restaraunt, although the resturant didnt take the money so I assume wouldnt be responsible for any kind of refund? To me, when the liability is "shared" between two parties this could make things very difficult to sort out.

I very rarely used the service anyway (3 times in fact) and after this would never use them again.

As a side note, not compeltely unrelated, but the first time I ever used them was at my parents house in London, I Setup a new account, put everything through and the food came etc no issues that time.

Some time later, I used them again, again no issues, and after checked my crdit card statement and nothing, assumed I had used my mums card the first time, not changed the details, so I text her to thank her/apologise for a free meal lol.

The third time of using, before ordering I was VERY careful to check the card the account had registered to it, and it was mine..... anyway ordered the food it turned up but with the issue as above.

Part of the complain tthe third time, they agreed to refund the value of the missing item.

After checking my card statements very carefully, it turns out just eat have not charged my card on any of the three times I have ordered from them lol!

Oh well...... I wont loose sleep over it.
 
Associate
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TBH I try to avoid using Just Eat as much as possible now, as I found out that they cream off most of any profit that takeaways make for their 'service'. While the chains such as KFC etc might be OK with this, it can really hurt the smaller local takeaways, especially in smaller towns and villages. Quite a few of my local takeaways have their own web-ordering setup, and they often incentivise you to use theirs rather tha Just Eat's fronting service by offering a 10% discount, which shows you how little Just Eat pass on to the retaurant.
 
Soldato
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The restaurant prepares it and delivers it, i'm not sure why you wouldnt expect them to be liable. It's not Just Eat's fault if the restaurant **** it up is it?

but your contract is* with Just Eat

If you buy a TV from Curry's, then your contract is with them, and if there's a problem you go back to them, even though they didn't actually make the TV.

If you buy something online and it turns up looking like the courier played football with it, you go back to the retailer, not the courier directly, even though the retailer haven't actually delivered it.

It's no different in this case - yes the restaurant/takeaway are the ones actually making the food, but Just Eat are the ones providing the service.



* should be - based on the OP's post, it appears they are trying to weasel out of that?
 
Soldato
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Not used just way since they started charging.
99% of takeaways round here now have their own app or website you can order off.
Any others just phone.
 
Soldato
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Woburn Sand Dunes
but your contract is* with Just Eat

If you buy a TV from Curry's, then your contract is with them, and if there's a problem you go back to them, even though they didn't actually make the TV.

If i buy a tv from Curry's then it'll be coming out of Curry' stock, or ordered direct from the MFG by Curry's, to be delivered by Curry's choice of courier to me. Do Just Eat cook the food or arrange the delivery? do they have any involvement outside of handling payment and passing on order details?

1.3. Product Orders: We provide a way for you to communicate your orders (“Order” or "Orders") for products (“Product” or "Products") to delivery or takeaway restaurants in the UK (“Restaurant” or "Restaurants") displayed on the Website. The legal contract for the supply and purchase of Products is between you and the Restaurant that you place your Order with and we will conclude the sale of Products on behalf of, and as commercial agent for, the Restaurants in all cases.

Why do people have an issue with this?
 
Soldato
OP
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If i buy a tv from Curry's then it'll be coming out of Curry' stock, or ordered direct from the MFG by Curry's, to be delivered by Curry's choice of courier to me. Do Just Eat cook the food or arrange the delivery? do they have any involvement outside of handling payment and passing on order details?

No but they take your money.

Any other kinda of transaction I can at least think of, the party that takes your money at point of sale is responsible for fulfilling that contract.

Where is this case it appears they do not.
 
Soldato
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Right, but why is that an issue? Why would you rather hold Just Eat responsible for a restaurants crappy food or service than the restaurant itself, when it's the restaurant who confirms your order, tells you when it's being delivered, cooks it and sends it?

How does pointing the finger at Just Eat make more sense?
 
Soldato
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If i buy a tv from Curry's then it'll be coming out of Curry' stock, or ordered direct from the MFG by Curry's, to be delivered by Curry's choice of courier to me. Do Just Eat cook the food or arrange the delivery? do they have any involvement outside of handling payment and passing on order details?

Why do people have an issue with this?

Because it's not as simple as that - a company's T&Cs can say what they want, but they hold no legal weight if they are in contravention of legislation.

You are placing your order with Just Eat and are paying Just Eat. They are the ones failing to provide the service/goods you have paid them for. If the restaurant they are then using to provide that service fails to do so, then the responsibility to resolve that should lie with Just Eat.

If you believe that the contract exists between you and the restaurant, then at what point in the process do you communicate directly with the restaurant in order to create that contract? :confused:
 
Caporegime
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So if your foods missing you actually call just eat expecting them to call a restaurant then call you back.

me i just call the restaurant and they apologise and drive out missing food.

Instead if i want my money back ill ring just eat and complain.... because they dont give a **** and its just a tiny loss of profit.

If just eat took responsibility they would be liable for food poisoning, Lactose free incidents, all kinds of BS that im sure isnt in their interests.

THey are not an all encompassing Ebay mega corp. Glorified payment taking company.
 
Soldato
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Because it's not as simple as that - a company's T&Cs can say what they want, but they hold no legal weight if they are in contravention of legislation.

You are placing your order with Just Eat and are paying Just Eat. They are the ones failing to provide the service/goods you have paid them for. If the restaurant they are then using to provide that service fails to do so, then the responsibility to resolve that should lie with Just Eat.

If you believe that the contract exists between you and the restaurant, then at what point in the process do you communicate directly with the restaurant in order to create that contract? :confused:

It is that simple. The contract between you and the restaurant is formed at the point the restaurant accepts your order, which is sent on via just Eat. The service Just eat provides is that of an interface between you and the restaurant. Food Hub's terms are exactly the same by the way :)

Surveyor said:
In most cases PayPal aren't responsible for fulfilling the contract for things you purchase.

Good point!
 
Caporegime
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No but they take your money.

Any other kinda of transaction I can at least think of, the party that takes your money at point of sale is responsible for fulfilling that contract.

Where is this case it appears they do not.

Every website uses a payment gateway, so are you going to start holding them liable for goods and services they provide payment services for?
 
Man of Honour
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I was briefly involved with one of the for-runners to just eat (and hungry house) - they didn't make it very far unfortunately because they were the 'merchant of record' so liable for the delivery/order.

People were ordering food, taking delivery and then charging back the order with their credit card issuers at an alarming rate.

As the company couldn't prove delivery they couldn't contest the claim (and the industry was in its infancy so the card issuers weren't really sure how to deal with it fairly) - they lost money at an alarming rate due to these false claims and shut pretty quickly - lessons were learned and the second generation of services adjusted to take advantage of that.

Fees wise remember that card processing costs around 2%, advertising can be pretty expensive, as does the software and customer service staff, so 15-20% isn't crazy. Hell app stores like apple and google play take 30% (+plus membership fees) and uber a little more than 25%. Also creating your own app for ordering is a very expensive proposition for a takeaway, making it easier for customers to find and order from you is a huge thing!

If you want to help the takeaways then your right don't use the services, but for new customer acquisition just eat etc is really beneficial.
 
Man of Honour
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Every website uses a payment gateway, so are you going to start holding them liable for goods and services they provide payment services for?
no, theres specific contracts in place for this, although to a degree the PSP/card issuer/card aquirer (and even PayPal) can be liable if the company goes under / fails to deliver or commits fraud.
 
Man of Honour
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but your contract is* with Just Eat
I have not read the Just Eat contract so I might be completely wrong. But maybe they are just like ebay or Amazon Marketplace in that your contract is with the seller of the goods and no with ebay or Amazon.

If you buy something online and it turns up looking like the courier played football with it, you go back to the retailer, not the courier directly, even though the retailer haven't actually delivered it.

I had this argument recently with John Lewis when I bought a washing machine from them and had a problem with it. Their customer services point blank told me that my contract (not just the warranty) was with the manufacturer. I wrote to the chairwoman of JL to point out their incorrect legal position.
 
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