In an unusual incident, Zomato delivered an incorrect food order to a student in Hyderabad, prompting a peculiar reaction from the company. When the student, Ananya, raised her complaint about receiving chicken 65 instead of the ordered chicken manchurian, the response from Zomato was surprising: “please have it.”
Ananya placed her order for chicken manchurian through Zomato, but received chicken 65 instead. After noticing the error, she contacted Zomato’s customer care, a task made challenging since the introduction of their AI chatbot, Zia, which handles customer complaints.
Despite her efforts, the customer care representative, Syeda, was unable to resolve Ananya’s issue and instead encouraged her to “please have” the incorrect dish. Ananya shared a screenshot of her conversation on X, expressing her frustration: “I ordered chicken manchurian, not chicken 65.”
After five minutes, Syeda replied, “We request you to please have it… we are sure you will love it.” Ananya shared the exchange on social media, captioning it “Average Zomato experience.” The post quickly gained traction, accumulating nearly half a million views in just one day.
average zomato experience pic.twitter.com/8EcoP9SN1P
— ananya🍉 (@ananyapotatoe) October 14, 2024
Reflecting on the bizarre response, Ananya said, “I was frustrated but that response was so unexpected that I just burst out laughing.” Later, Zomato contacted her to offer a full refund for the incorrect order.
Many users on X found humor in Zomato’s response, sharing their own customer service experiences. One user commented, “Better than asking for photos of missing items,” while another remarked, “Zomato customer care is a joke. Scammers at best. I’ve switched to Swiggy.”
A user named Ishan tagged Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal, urging him to improve customer care responses, stating, “Hey Deepinder Goyal, improve your customer care responses, instead of just blindly running after profitability to keep shareholders happy.”
In response to the viral post, Zomato issued its standard reply: “Hi Ananya, we’re truly sorry for the trouble you have faced. This is not the kind of experience we ever wanted for you. Shoot us a DM with your registered phone number/order ID, and we’ll get things sorted at the earliest.”
