There is nothing better than a takeaway on a quiet night in to alleviate the pressure of cooking and treat yourself to a delicious meal. Sometimes these evenings are paired with a nice film or chats with friends but other times it's simply boredom that drives you to that delivery app.
Most of us would never consider pranking a takeaway place with fake orders, especially when delivery apps and services make you so traceable. One dessert shop in Greater Manchester found their delivery orders flooded with fake requests over multiple nights so took to Facebook to hit back at the "very bored" people.
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Parky's Pics in Wigan received nine fake orders over the course of just two nights, prompting owner Kayley Parkinson to share her wall of shame containing the fake requests on Facebook.
She wrote: "Thanks for your order, unfortunately for you, we know a fake order when we see one and didn’t start to prep it, congratulations on being our first ever one though!
The post continued: "Also, well done on having so much time to click through an entire menu and click all the options, there’s this thing called a job that some of us have which doesn't give us enough time of boredom for it. Personally, I'd be making myself a brew and watching a bit of Grey's Anatomy but you do you hun. Love from Parky's xoxoxo"
Her business, Parky's Pics, was originally launched as a home-cinema rental concept during the pandemic before Kayley and husband Scott decided pivot and open a dessert parlour serving everything from doughnuts and sundaes to hot dogs and nachos.
The odd orders came in through delivery services Just Eat and Wigan Eats on a Sunday and Monday night and Kayley instantly noticed something was up. Some orders had requested the entire menu and all were selected for cash payment on delivery, meaning had she fulfilled them they probably wouldn't be paid.
Kayley called up the first customer to confirm the order and established it was fake with the delivery platform before taking to social media to blast the 'bored' fake customers.
It was then only a few days later when Kayley took to social media again, this time she had received several more orders from people making several fake accounts. She wrote: "Some bored people in Wigan tonight, 2 fake orders this time", with a laughing face emoji.
The persistent prank orders gave Kayley no other option than to suspend cash orders for the time being.
Kayley told Manchester Evening News: "We've had nine of these fake orders in total. The first one was on Sunday, which was ordered through Wigan Eats and totalled £82.
"We're lucky with Wigan Eats because we know them and at the bottom of the order it says how many orders that email address has made. They just say to us that if it's in cash and you're not sure, just give them a call."
They haven't let the set back stop them, although the switch to card only was a little frustrating, she called the pranks "pathetic". Thanks to Wigan Eats, she called the original person and left a voicemail giving them the chance to apologise, although they never showed.
A spokesperson for Just Eat said: "Just Eat is only successful if our restaurant partners are successful and we have a track record of helping restaurants prosper. We have robust measures in place to block activity such as fraudulent orders and remove customers who are using credit/debit cards suspiciously, or have suspicious refund rates from our platform.
"Restaurant partners are always refunded in full when we find any fraudulent activity taking place. We are investigating this with the restaurant partner and if we find that the orders are fraudulent, we will of course take action as appropriate."
Wigan Eats' founder Luke Charlton also said he was aware of the issue and a particular address had been targeted, resulting in the police being notified. The local delivery service has attempted to support restaurants as the fake orders have been going on "for a few years now".
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