New Westminster man says SkipTheDishes won't refund fraud after account hacked
Credit to Author: Stephanie Ip| Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2019 23:19:06 +0000
A New Westminster man is warning others to avoid SkipTheDishes after the food delivery company apparently refused to refund a fraudulent charge after his account was hacked.
Reid Campbell, 29, received an email alert Thursday evening that a change had been made to his account information. When he logged in to the SkipTheDishes app, he realized someone had hacked his account, added a new delivery address in Montreal and ordered $95 of food.
The order was from Dunn’s Famous, a 24-hour diner popular for smoked meat sandwiches, and was destined for the Montreal address, while Campbell was here in B.C.
Campbell immediately changed his password and contacted SkipTheDishes to alert them of the fraud, while watching the app’s GPS tracker showing the delivery driver and the order’s progress.
“Losing the money sucks, being hacked sucks but the part that really fuelled the fire is the fact that the driver was at the restaurant when I discovered this,” said Campbell.
“I had gone to chat support and said, ‘Hey, my account’s been hacked, this isn’t my order, please cancel it.’ And they were unwilling to do so because the order was already prepared.”
Campbell, who works in film, said he then went back and forth with a chat support agent before he finally got a phone number for the Winnipeg-based headquarters.
Over the weekend, he spent about four hours combined either on hold or being passed around to different departments, only to be told he should contact his financial institution for a refund. Since the order was placed on a debit card, Campbell was told by his bank it would be three to four weeks before it could be refunded.
Eventually, SkipTheDishes told Campbell his case would be escalated but nothing was done for the charge.
“It wasn’t my bank card that was compromised, it was my SkipTheDishes account,” he said. “That’s the problem I have, they just seem to be brushing it away, hoping the bank will refund me.
“I believe (SkipTheDishes) are liable and they are do nothing to help me. I’ve tried the chat lines. I’ve tried the call lines, I’ve tried everything. They’re completely unwilling to help me.”
Campbell’s not alone in his frustrations attempting to have fraudulent SkipTheDishes charges reversed. Such hacks are known as “account takeovers,” according to the Account Security section of the company’s website.
In October, Global News reported on a number of customers who had been hacked through their SkipTheDishes account and charged for orders that were based in other provinces; some saw charges of hundreds of dollars placed on their accounts within a short amount of time.
In those cases, SkipTheDishes told Global that “the fraud reports were isolated and denied its systems were hacked.” Postmedia has reached out to SkipTheDishes for comment on Campbell’s case but had not received a response on Sunday.
A glance through the app’s Facebook page also reveals a number of unhappy customers airing grievances of poor deliveries, incomplete orders or less-than-ideal customer service.
While Campbell can live without the $95, it’s an inconvenience that comes right before Christmas, and right before his work goes on hiatus until January.
“I will live without the $95 but somebody else might not,” said Campbell, who is now opting for Door Dash or UberEATS instead.
SkipTheDishes is a website and app that allows diners to order food to be delivered from local restaurants. The company serves most major metropolitan areas in Canada.