An Edinburgh mum is furious after JustEat took £48 out of her account for an order that she says she cancelled before a driver was assigned.
Caitlin, who lives with her three-year-old daughter who has autism, says that the company has essentially taken their week's food budget for nothing and left them reliant on a food bank.
The caring mother ordered a food shop on Friday May 26 at 11.36am from Asda in Chesser using JustEat but at around 11.58am she received a response saying that there were several items that were unavailable.
READ MORE: Edinburgh's cheapest petrol stations this month as supermarket enters ranking
She instantly cancelled the order before a driver was assigned and she claims that JustEat initially agreed to refund her shop order. But she was later horrified to find out that the company would be keeping her £48 as a 100 per cent cancellation fee.
“I ordered a grocery shop on Friday so we would have things that night and in the morning, it was Asda at Chesser through JustEat,” she said.
“It worked out cheaper than the Asda online delivery because Asda charged £8.50 for same day delivery. When they were sorting the order they cancelled a bunch of items, so I cancelled the whole order straight after that update and was just going to suck it up and go to the shops in the morning.
They asked me how I wanted to be refunded and I selected ‘now’ and I even got a notification saying my refund was on its way but after that they wiped all my history and told me that I had accepted their 100 per cent cancellation fee.
“It is honestly ridiculous! When I saw that items were unavailable I cancelled it immediately. They stated in their terms and conditions that there is a ‘grace period’ only they don’t state how long that is open for.
“It surely can't be the same minute that I'm informed of changes! They are claiming I accepted these terms but I don't understand why anyone would choose to pay £48 for nothing?
“I would understand if it was a restaurant where the food had been prepared but all of these items would have been reshelved and sold again. I was sent a confirmation email saying I would be refunded and only became a bit suspicious when all my orders on my account were erased.
“Losing out on £48 has meant my daughter and I have had to use food banks and rely on support through the council and borrow money from family. I always make sure my daughter has everything she needs, I don't know how we would get by sometimes if we didn't have the support we have.
“I still don't understand how they can just take our money like that, I'm not able to work because of disabilities and my daughter has autism and needs extra sensory equipment and tools, so £48 is a lot of money to pay for thin air.
“I just deserve to be paid back.”
After being contacted by Edinburgh Live, JustEat apologised to Caitlin and said that her experience fell below their standards and that a full refund would be sent to her account.
A JustEat spokesperson said: "We want our customers to have a positive experience when ordering their food online and are sorry to hear that in this case, this customer's experience did not reflect the high standards we would hope to deliver. We can confirm that a full refund has been issued and we have been in direct contact with the customer."
READ NEXT:
West Lothian man tell of heartbreaking dementia diagnosis at just 58
Edinburgh student forced to fight off dog in street as it mauls her poodle
Terrified Edinburgh shopper chased down busy city centre street by 'knifeman'
Edinburgh train to host Fringe performances onboard with drag, comedy and music
Abandoned East Lothian hospital with 'levitating' nurse uniform and dolls lined-up
