Here’s how Swiggy’s customer service lies to you

Indian food delivery service Swiggy has been running a pretty brisk business in the country so far. However, the company's journey hasn't been without controversy. Swiggy has often been accused of inflating their order numbers and even of inflating prices of items on their menus. And, we can add another allegation to that list. That of its customer service representatives lying to you. This, we add from personal experience.

First order

This happened first on the afternoon of 13 June. I placed an order from a Cafe Coffee Day outlet nearby. The order was for a coffee and a chilli cheese toast. Instead, I found the coffee and garlic bread in my order.

Admittedly, it took me a while to realise this, since I didn't open the package till about half an hour after the order was delivered. But I then called Swiggy customer care and informed them of the mistake.

The customer service representative on the other end placed the call on hold, saying he would get in touch with the restaurant. He returned a few minutes later saying he's placing a replacement order on my behalf. All good.

About 18 minutes later, I got a call from Swiggy's rider, informing me that the "item isn't available" at the restaurant.

That, evidently means that the customer service executive never actually contacted the restaurant. Because why would they place a replacement order otherwise.

Like a good customer, I took to complaining about this on Twitter, to which Swiggy responded. After trying and failing to get in touch with me a few times, they finally did, on 15 June.

The caller informed me that it was a mistake, accepted that the customer service executive had lied and pleaded that I "give them another chance". My money was refunded to the transaction mode quickly too.

Honestly, I had deleted the app before I got this call. Yet, I downloaded it again, around midnight on 15 June. My mistake.

Second order

I placed an order from Swiggy again, between 12.30 and 1 AM. After a few minutes, I noticed that the app said Swiggy's delivery executive was at the restaurant, but my order wasn't yet confirmed. So, I quickly called Swiggy myself, at 12.54 AM, to check whether my order was confirmed.

The customer service executive proceeded to inform me that my order was indeed confirmed. To which, I specifically asked him if he has checked with the rider who was supposedly at the restaurant. Here's how that conversation went.

Me: So, the app shows that your delivery executive is there (at the restaurant) but my order isn't confirmed yet.

Customer service: Let me check sir.

(A few minutes later) Sir, I can see now your order has been confirmed. I have confirmed the order from my side.

Me: It is confirmed though? Have you checked with the executive?

Customer service: Ya sir, it's confirmed actually.

Me: Ok, ok. Because the app isn't letting me call the executive either. I don't know why.

Customer service: That must be some issue.

Me: But it's confirmed, right?

Customer service: Yes, sir. No need to worry.

At 1.10 AM I received another call from Swiggy's customer service. The person on the other end, evidently unaware of this former exchange, informed me that...wait for it...the restaurant is closed!

Like most frustrated customers, I proceeded to exclaim, shout and hang up. I even send a DM to Swiggy on Twitter, since their earlier DMs were still fresh. I got two more calls from the company after that, neither of which were completed, because I hung up before they could finish.

And what happened of my order, or my money? Well, it remained under the "order processing" status.

Why does Swiggy do this?

The answer to this perhaps lies in a 2017 blog post by parties claiming to be ex-Swiggy employees. The post explained how the company showed fake order numbers to its investors, in order to raise money. Here's an excerpt from that post:

"We know for a fact that our management has lied to investors about our order volumes during the latest fundraise. Our January 2017 order volumes were less than December 2016 volumes. Yes, we had a decline of order volumes in January. But we have seen the investor presentations, and they have shaved off the December numbers in the slides in order to show a linear growth curve across all months of our existence."

While Swiggy rubbished the post in a "note from the CEO" later, cancelling orders is not in the company's interest. Based on my experience, it would seem that the company's customer service has been told not to cancel orders, or perhaps even contact the riders. And given that the company takes care of deliveries only, that makes Swiggy almost impossible to trust.

As a footnote, I should also mention that I have faced similar issues with Swiggy’s service earlier. I had written each of those instances off as one-off incidents, and Swiggy had either refunded my money, or given me coupons/Swiggy credits in return.

But that seems to be the company’s response to everything, instead of actually providing good service.

Update: The second order was finally cancelled about an hour after Swiggy's calls, and the money was refunded.
I also got a call from Swiggy's "escalation team" the next afternoon who, once again, accepted their errors and said the agents who spoke to me were at fault. Later, they offered a cake as compensation, which I obviously refused.