Zomato, a food delivery service, has been the target of an alarming scam. Vinay Sati, a Zomato customer, wrote on LinkedIn about his experience of paying for and ordering burgers from Burger King online.
However, what Sati told in the viral LinkedIn post wasn’t new to Deepinder Goyal, the founder and CEO of Zomato. “When I heard about the Zomato scam, I had goosebumps,” Sati wrote in the post. According to the post, the delivery boy told Sati not to pay online the next time because he could get their food for less by using cash on delivery (COD) rather than Zomato’s online payment system.
The delivery man allegedly stated that the customer could still receive the entire order by paying only a portion of the total cost. He would falsely report to Zomato that the customer had refused to accept the delivery. As Sati stated, I ordered some Burger King burgers from Zomato yesterday and paid for them online. When the delivery man arrived 30 to 40 minutes later, he advised me, “Sir, don’t pay online next time.” He said, and I asked, “Why, brother?” He stated that the next time you order food worth Rs 700–800 through COD and you only have to pay Rs 200 for that food. “I will show Zomato that you have not taken the food, but I will also give you the food you ordered.” On LinkedIn, Sati wrote, “Aap bas mujhe 200, 300 dena or 1000 ke khane ke maje lena.”
The customer also questioned the efficiency of Zomato’s management, including CEO Deepinder Goyal, and expressed concerns regarding the company’s lack of oversight. He also wanted to know what the company’s alumni from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are doing to address such issues.
“Deepinder Goyal ji, please do not claim that you are unaware of this taking place? And if, despite knowing everything, you are unable to resolve the issue, then what are your IIM staff doing?”
Goyal responded that he had been working to close the loopholes and was aware of the con.
Sati stated that he was surprised by the proposal but decided to expose the scam rather than take advantage of the loophole.
