A takeaway owner says he has had to let staff go because a customer loophole with Just Eat is leaving him out of pocket.
Edris Nosrati says he has now cancelled his deal with Just East because he can't afford to keep using the service for customer deliveries.
The problem comes after Just Eat changed its procedures and removed an option for takeaway owners to challenge refund requests from customers before the money is returned, reports The Echo.
That has resulted in customers getting all their money back from the restaurant after saying food arrived cold, or damaged, with no way for the owner to block the money returning.
Mr Nosrati said: "I left Just Eat and I sent the device back to them, and now a few more shops they are just switching off three or four days a week and they don’t accept any new customers from Just Eat.
"It affected my business but unfortunately I had to reduce my staff and drivers.
"That was so sad for me to lose my best staff, but I had no choice and it wasn’t my fault.
"When some customers want free food they don’t know what will happen next to other people.
"Some people they lose jobs because they want to have a free meal and some big company like Just Eat they don’t care about small businesses."
Mr Nosrati said he and his fellow business owners believe they have been unfairly treated by Just Eat, which takes 14% commission on every order alongside a 50p admin charge.
Deli Group takeaway owner Marc Faulkner said people had discovered they could receive a refund from Just Eat simply by claiming their orders had not arrived, leaving the takeaway owners footing the bill, and safe in the knowledge their claims would not be checked.
Just Eat says that its restaurant partners can still challenge the request retrospectively, and if the refund was incorrect or based on a fraudulent claim the money will be returned.
The company also said customers who appear to be abusing the system could have their bank cards blocked and accounts suspended.
Takeaway owner Masoud Shams said: "So the loophole is customers can order the food and Just Eat will send them an email saying 'are you happy with your meal?' and if you're not you can get a refund.
"So people think to themselves 'if I can get some of my money why not?' So they're putting for refund and Just Eat pay them back in the amount they have asked for.
"But we still get charged for full commission for the order. I have spoken to the area manager regarding this issue and simply she said that's the policy.
"It is wrong, they are not giving away their own money they are giving away small businesses' money.
"We are struggling in this pandemic, we have staff to pay and all other bills. I am even thinking closing Just Eat because is better to close it before I get bankrupt."
One set of invoices, shared by takeaway owner Soran Rashid, showed hundreds of pounds worth of refunds, including three adding up to £55 all registered on October 22 for "cold food".
A spokeswoman 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.
"The recent measures we’ve put in place is to ensure an even fairer refunds process for all, such as increasing the time for restaurants to raise any disputes.
"We actively take steps to ensure our partners are fairly compensated whenever we’re made aware of any activity relating to non-genuine refunds.
"We’re keen to maintain an open dialogue with the restaurants on our platform and continue to review our policies and processes in this space to support both customers and restaurants alike."
