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FI bought some groceries and paid via UPI to the rider’s personal account.
There were some UPI issues. When I contacted my bank and UPI, they both told me that the payment will take 3 working days to resolve and the money will be debited 3 days later. So I contacted Zepto and told them they needed to wait 3 days for the payment and they said they will be contacting the store manager and informing the rider accordingly. UPI and bank told me not to make payment without receiving declined message. I informed Zepto all of this.
However, the rider kept calling me and asking for money. Since I had raised an issue I thought they had internally sorted the issue and that the rider was harassing me unnecessarily trying to scam me. Finally today he turned up at my doorstep with other men insisting I pay them. Inspite of repeated calls to Zepto they did not take any responsibility for putting me in such a vulnerable position and harassment from their employees. When I called them in SOS they offered me ₹50 to my Zepto account!
I came to know today that they had not sorted the issue internally and the rider thought I was fleecing him off money! He had come to threaten me because they were harassing him to collect the money. Zepto placed him in a position that forced him to my house.
PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING:
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Edit 1
Some more context because people claimed I am click baiting:
1. Just because the rider harassed me out of his desperation doesn’t change the fact that he hasn’t committed a criminal offence by turning up at my doorstep with intent to hurt. The only reason I did not call the police on him is because I can see he is from a financially backward situation and he is acting out of fear and misinformation. While I am at a vulnerable position as a single woman living alone I also have class privilege. It took all of me not to get the law involved. My work was interrupted and I couldn’t step out of my house the whole evening because of fear of these young men standing on my road and shouting. It was a harrowing experience for me. I repeat he was forced to do so by the store incharge. That is how the hierarchy works.
2. I did not rely on rider payment but on COD. The rider is supposed to provide me Zepto UPI Id but provided me his personal one.
3. Labour malpractices are that they put the onus on the rider to collect the money using his personal payment id. He is a very young man he doesn’t understand that he is getting into line of the fire. They did not train him adequately. Their policy specifically says they don’t use personal payment ids. I, as a customer should not be making payment to him, the rider. I can only claim refund when there is a Person to Business transaction that fails not a Person to Person. When he fails to collect the payment he bears the consequences of delayed payment not the enterprise. Then they harass him, the most vulnerable, to harass the customer to collect the payment. In such a situation the enterprise or business should bear the consequences. This is exploitation 101.
4. Next my personal data should not be used for any other purposes other than delivery. In this case the rider and a few others turned up at my house and threatened me and my neighbours. Inspite of my repeated complaints and Zepto management guaranteeing that the rider will be informed due process was not followed. This is breach of security data. All of this is in their policies which we agree before using the app. They should not allow my data for any other purposes other than delivery and the rider shouldn’t get my personal phone number which they shared with him.
5. Inspite of my repeated complaints and Zepto guaranteeing that the rider will be informed, I was in contact with Zepto and the rider throughout the last 3 days updating them both on my payment status. I made three levels of escalations over the course of 2 days and yet no resolutions and many false promises. Customer care is a scam at Zepto. Zepto has made sure that they are safeguarded when the process fails and lets the riders take the brunt of their lack of business ethics.
6. The rider turned rogue suddenly because his father ended up in hospital and he saw me as the aggressor. He is just a victim of his circumstance.
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Edit 2:
I have edited this post multiple times because it is tiring to navigate through ill-informed opinions. I expected actual expertise on legal matters here not be inundated with speculations that fully digress the matter at hand.
My question is legal: What can I as a consumer do to hold Zepto accountable for the company’s labour malpractices and worker exploitations? This is not regarding this particular rider.
Especially to the men on high-horses who are quick in opinions than in intellect, spare me the mansplaining on how privilege works. Also pointless suggestions like “stop using services like Zepto” is unhelpful. Yes, mass boycott works if protesters lead with that but not as individuals refraining from converting to a consumer. As a gig worker myself, I am aware of these social dynamics and I depend on these systems for my livelihood too.
If you don’t possess knowledge on labour laws and worker exploitation, best to conceal your vast ignorance and lack of perspective? This is not just a consumer grievance question.
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Edit 3:
When I came to know the whole story, I compensated him double the payment due to him for the trouble he faced due to Zepto’s malpractices. Remember this wasn’t my burden to bear but that of his employer, Zepto. I wouldn’t have come for such a basic solution to “just repay the rider already” to this sub. This solves nothing and in fact, allows companies like Zepto to continue placing the burden on consumers rather than employ fair labour practices. I am not proud that I gave into the sad state of affairs and paid the rider off to alleviate my own guilt instead of holding the company I had business with, responsible for its ill treatment and disregard towards its employees’ safety. As a consumer, this should be have been my duty. From a lot of the uneducated comments that suggest I do exactly this, I am also beginning to see why such companies are thriving. We are enabling this behaviour. We can collectively do better.
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WPost it on twitter. They are all ears there. and next time dont pay directly to drivers upi. Prepay on the app itself or keep cash. Also with online, always have 2-3 backup payment methods always ready.
Usually with upi, if a transaction is paused or on hold then it gets failed then and there or it gets completed. If ur bank tells u to wait 3 days then change ur bank lol.
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FI don’t have a Twitter account that will dent their business in any way. This is a fight between an ant and an elephant and I realise that I had failed even before I began.
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AThis i used rapido paid to rapido driver upi it failed showed me your money is safe you will get it back in few days , he kept calling me so i paid him the money which deducted earlier never came back phonepe said it went through after 5 days the rider stopped picking my phone
Small amount big lesson
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CIt’s always with phonepe, iam starting to move away from it unless it’s payment to a familiar source. Earlier the payment was reverted if it failed but now they still push thru even if it takes days.
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CThat’s why I mentioned it’s better to move away from phonepe because instead of reverting the payment they are going thru even after so many days which does not make sense and puts unnecessary stress.
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BI worked in zepto. Riders are supposed to give the full amount received from customer to the zepto by cash or online.
They earn meagre 100 to 500rs per day.
If the amount was big, rider would also feel cheated.
The rider should have given zepto qr code for oayment as they are allowed to give zepto qr code or their person qr code.Coming to your or any upi app, 95% of under process transactions get failed if they do not get completed in 1 hour. The slow and delay processing is being caused by your bank computer systems.
Now as both of you are not aware of this knowledge, both of you are suspicious if each other and do not want to help each other out.
I would suggest that you say to him to wait 3 days and give him your person number. Then raise query in your upi app that transaction has become pending. Almost always within 3 days any pending transaction’s status gets updated to either failed or completed.
Next time always prepay on online stores or give directly on qr code of stores or use better bank company which resolves such issues quickly.
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FThanks for this information. It is horrible how they treat the workers. Even though he came to place and threatened I still feel he is the most vulnerable.
If by tomorrow the payment is still processing, I will pay him extra and close. I don’t care about the money. I am enraged at how Zepto can do this and have absolutely no accountability. I am amazed that there are no labour laws to protect this person and no consumer laws in place to protect me.
I am giving up on this. I cannot fight this fight. I tried.
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BIf you complain about this, the rider will get fired.
However Zepto will continue running. If you want to really hurt them, campaign to stop people from buying from them.
Twist your words when you post on twitter/X so that the employee doesn’t get problems (directly)
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RI am not a fan of Zepto. And I hate their practices and almost exclusively never use them.
But this sounds like you basically shitting on the brand with your clickbait title. Because you say your “Zepto put your life in danger” and the in the next line you say “but I feel the drive (your aggressor) was the most vulnerable”.
You talk about labour malpractices. But I don’t see any here.
With a billion payment solutions on the app itself (including UPI) why would you rely on driver payments?
Also, the driver has to go back and clear the billing for every single Cash on Delivery order irrespective of any issue. It’s his responsibility to collect the payment.
This is not your local Kirana shop. This is a multi-million enterprise, why would you think they’ll make any adjustments or give you any time for your 500 rupees?
Forget Zepto, even if you go to a restaurant in your city. And your payment fails. You have to pay the money again, till it credits. And if your money isn’t returned, you can come back and ask for a refund after showing sufficient proof.
In this entire transaction, you didn’t use Zepto’s technology either. You used a third party tech (UPI) which failed.
The driver initially trusted you. But he must’ve panicked when the money didn’t credit even in 2 days and came to ask you to settle the amount. He wasn’t mistreated by Zepto.
So I don’t know what your qualm is.
The onus was on you to pay. The screw up happenes on your end.
You could’ve taken the driver’s number. Made the payment again. And told him that in case your payment becomes successful he can reverse the payment.
But no, you decided to exploit the poor dude.
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FI did not rely on rider payment but on COD. The rider is supposed to provide me Zepto UPI Id but provided me his personal one.
Labour malpractices are that they put the onus on the rider to collect the money using his personal payment id. He is a very young man he doesn’t understand that he is getting into the fire. They did not train him adequately. Their policy specifically says they don’t use personal payment id that. I as a customer should not be making payment to him, the rider. When he fails to collect the payment he bears the consequences of delayed payment not the enterprise. Then they harass him, the most vulnerable, to harass the customer to collect the payment. In such a situation the enterprise or business should bear the consequences. This is exploitation 101.
Next my personal data should not be used for any other purposes other than delivery. In this case they turned up at my house and threatened me and my neighbours. Inspite of my repeated complaints and they guaranteeing that the rider will be informed. This is breach of security data. All this is in their policies which we agree before using the app. This is a Security breach. They should not allow my data for any other purposes other than delivery and the rider shouldn’t get my personal phone number which they shared with him.
I am as an individual cannot make any change because the government allows businesses like these to operate with full impunity. I tried my best to call out and maybe mildly inconvenienced a few managers with the escalations. While I understand your self-righteousness in calling me out, as a customer I am vulnerable as well. It is this attitude of blaming the victim that puts the onus on the most vulnerable to take accountability on failure from the end of such enterprises to be run, make money and continue with opaque business practices. We can collectively do better.
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PThis is the main issue with UPI. If your payments are stuck, then you can’t say surely if the money will be reversed in your account or will be credited to the beneficiary account.
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FI had contacted both the UPI and bank services and both categorically suggested me to not make a second payment till this one gets declined because I had authenticated it and they will neither be able to cancel or reverse it.
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NYour UPI and bank were not a party to the transaction. They were your agents only, involved by you.
If you had to use UPI, why not on the app itself?
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NSo you knew there was an issue with your bank’s UPI, but you chose to trouble the delivery guy still?
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ECommunication is the key in these type of situations. Recently, same thing happened with me in Ola Bikes ride.
I paid via UPI and it was showing me pending. As I was getting late, I exchanged my number and sent him screenshot of payment pending. Whenever the guy asked about payment, replied properly. In 3 days, it got sorted.
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BFirst of all, realise this with every brain cell in your body..
What is or was a minor inconvenience for you (potential future hazard aside) is that rider’s bread and butter!
Secondly, since this is a legal sub and your question is somewhat legally inquiring, if you have to escalate, you’ll need to follow the due escalation process of reaching out to Grievance redressal. Ref: https://www.zeptonow.com/company-details and / or file a consumer grievance on the online portal. if that doesn’t work, fight it in court!
If you believe there’s a danger to your life, file a police complaint.
But most importantly, there’s not a doubt that the rider would’ve offered his own UPI account to simply help you get over with the payment. Now since your faulty UPI / PHONE / NETWORK / BANK SERVER couldn’t be relied upon and failed to make the payment twice, it’s literally not his fault but ‘Yours’, not legally, but morally.
He has to pay back Zepto somehow, and what exactly do you think will happen when he’s made to loose half of (or more than that) his daily earnings one day for Zero fault of his? You’re blaming it on his training, great, so fight it with who trained him but let him off the hook. Surely that amount was worth filling his stomach for one meal.
His way of handling the situation is incorrect beyond comparison, but everyone is a product of their circumstance, and he’s doing all what he knows to do. If he fails to understand and continues to threaten, you may offer a police complaint in your local Thana instead.
But be a little empathetic please, give him cash, learn from this lesson, and pay up in advance going forward if possible to avoid repeating this scenario. It’s not that difficult!
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FAt no point in any part of the thread have I blamed the rider for the situation even inspite of him creating a dangerous situation for me. I agree with you that he is a victim of his circumstances. Please read the extensive description. I have held Zepto responsible for all of it.
There is no bait here for your rage.
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BUnfortunately, I am a victim of incorrectly utilising my time (like many others before me) of having to go through your extended and repetitive verbiage just to make sense of why somebody would do what you did!
The same however cannot be said for yourself who has clearly failed to grasp the entirety of the solution that I had posted and has only taken heed to a portion of it and termed it as rage. This classic selective absorption philosophy and the entitled mindset is the reason why posts like yours don’t invite genuine help to begin with. I hope that someday you see it, if not today in the heat of wanting to justify everything you have done up until this point.
I have simply jumped into it trying put forward your legal options should you have chosen to take them although needless to say that none of that was more than a google search away. But also to compel your moral and ‘human’ side.
To err is human.. to forgive, divine. Show some empathy!
At this point I cannot help but feel sorry for the rider. I’m sure you’ll do whatever you need to do and it’ll be the right thing in your mind, so all the very best..
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FDear victim, I am sorry for what you went through. I have scanned through your comments and you put forth exactly 0 number of legal options. Reading your comments has regressed me but I hope do you recover from this experience soon.
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BSo it’s true folks, Idiocy clubbed with illiteracy is indeed the new pandemic.. and this dumbass here is the prime example..
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NThe fact of the matter here is that you failed to pay him. He doesn’t have to care about what your app or bank says, because they aren’t his employer or his bank.
His mistake was to deliver the items to you when your payment failed. He should have taken the items back and returned to the store. Whether he asked to do that or not is not clear here.
He was not right in coming to threaten you (your story seems to keep changing – you said he intended to cause harm to you, but then you don’t describe that either.
Two wrongs don’t make a right – so he’s wrong, but the initial error was on your part.
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EAlways pay in advance. Can’t trust the delivery partners. They’ll say you paid in GPay but isn’t reflected and will make you pay again from PhonePe and steal your money
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CSome people are really such drama queen. Just pay him again. There is a very high chance that your UPI will not go through and money will return.
In case your account is debited twice, just raise a request at Zepto level and they refund the entire amount. I have been in your situation twice, and got my money back.
I can say Zepto is surely doing a lot of shady UI/UX practices etc, so personally I prefer walking to nearby grocery store.
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FThe dilemma here is not regarding paying the partner but the business’ malpractices. Surely those who look for drama will find the drama.
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PBhai you are expecting the driver to trust you that you are not lying and you will pay after 3 days .form his perspective you are at fault.You can also trust the driver and pay him back again through cash or by someone’s else upi
But no you have to act entitled in front of these poor labourers
Even zepto isn’t responsible for this shit , how can zepto trust you that you’ll pay back of the payment had failed .If you didn’t what can they do .
And telle if this happens at some restaurant or any other place with pay later scheme , toh do you think they will let you go home without payment and wait for 3 days
Stupid shit people do and then blame others -
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WDude tbh there was absolutely no need to stretch the issue. You could have simply paid the rider and kept that screenshot with yourself. The company would have refunded you.
Similar situation I have encountered in the past with rapido , zomato , one other app also I can’t recall it’s name and in all those situations I was super chill and did pay the amount because I knew I had the receipt for it and I can take it forward and everytime I got my refund !!
Sach me Bhai kuch log hote hain thode drama wale (main tuje bhi nahi kehraha hu)
Bas kehraha hu thoda chill mijaaz ka ban aur ese drama wale logon se dur reh. At the end of the day tera peace of mind teri safety is way more than that 50 or something rs.
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