The GrubHub promo problems

[Grymmjow]

I really hope SE will do something about this. If they don't this will be the last promo event I'll be taking part of. Most likely they won't which is pretty sad.

[Maxilor]

Did you use a credit card? If you did, tell them that you are considering performing a chargeback and if they still copy paste the terms and conditions, actually do the chargeback.

As someone who has worked at a bank for the better part of their life please take this advice: don't do this.

Performing a False Chargeback is a serious risk and at best will get your card deactivated.

At worst it will get your bank account closed and will add a nice big 'FRAUD' hit to your Credit Report which will make it a nightmare to buy a car or a house in the future.

[Yahallo]

You'll be wasting their time, they'll deny your claim for terms and conditions

Grubhub doesn't handle the chargeback, at best they can try to dispute it.

As someone who has worked at a bank for the better part of their life please take this advice: don't do this.

Performing a False Chargeback is a serious risk and at best will get your card deactivated.

At worst it will get your bank account closed and will add a nice big 'FRAUD' hit to your Credit Report which will make it a nightmare to buy a car or a house in the future.

It's not a false chargeback. They are essentially performing false advertisement with the promo and it can be argued that if you did not get the emote then you did not get the order you wanted in its entirety as part of the order. Furthermore, if a large number of people do for the same reason, it would add credence to their chargeback. If you made a good faith effort to resolve the problem with the merchant and they were unable to do so, then it would be a legitimate reason to issue a chargeback. In addition, you can cite all the varying and differing reasons that people are receiving for why they are not receiving the emote as further evidence of Grubhub's incompetence and inability to resolve the problem in a satisfying manner. As long as you did make a good faith attempt in trying to resolve the issue with Grubhub first and they were unable to do so, then it will be a legitimate reason to issue a chargeback.

One reason you definitely can point out is the whole lottery reason people received, when in the terms and conditions of the promo on the Grubhub website states it is on a first come first serve basis. A lottery system completely contradicts the first come first serve explanation, and I can say for sure that while I made the order on Saturday, I got the emote; so if someone made their order before Sunday, but did not get the emote, then Grubhub is violating their own terms and conditions for the promo. Grubhub is a service and failure to properly provide said service, including the promos, and an inability to properly resolve the problem is reason enough for a chargeback.

[Dogempire]

Snip.

Not really, Grubhub doesn't sell FFXIV emotes, they sell a service where people deliver food from restaurants to your front door, and in terms of the actual order, there isn't anything to dispute because you didn't pay for the emote, you paid for the food. You may have bought the food because you wanted the emote, but nowhere is the emote listed on the receipt for the items you ordered nor is there a charge associated with obtaining said emote

It would be considered a false chargeback because you're essentially asking for the money back from a merchant who already rendered services, and said merchant would just simply provide a copy of your order and any proof that the items arrived at your house if you did submit a chargeback considering your issue is that you never got an item that you never paid for.

Fact of the matter is that in these chargeback cases to get a refund for items you never received you have to actually have a receipt for said item to get refunded, and since you paid $0 on that item there is no dispute to be started, no line item in your bank account that you can submit a chargeback on, and the things you actually paid for were delivered as promised.

It sucks but it's an issue that SE needs to resolve as they're still responsible for actually generating the codes for the emotes, even if Grubhub's handling of the promo was terrible. Maybe you can talk to their customer support and they can refund you, but from a dispute perspective there's not really anything they can do.

[Yahallo]

Not really, Grubhub doesn't sell FFXIV emotes, they sell a service where people deliver food from restaurants to your front door, and in terms of the actual order, there isn't anything to dispute because you didn't pay for the emote, you paid for the food. You may have bought the food because you wanted the emote, but nowhere is the emote listed on the receipt for the items you ordered nor is there a charge associated with obtaining said emote

It would be considered a false chargeback because you're essentially asking for the money back from a merchant who already rendered services, and said merchant would just simply provide a copy of your order and any proof that the items arrived at your house if you did submit a chargeback considering your issue is that you never got an item that you never paid for.

Fact of the matter is that in these chargeback cases to get a refund for items you never received you have to actually have a receipt for said item to get refunded, and since you paid $0 on that item there is no dispute to be started, no line item in your bank account that you can submit a chargeback on, and the things you actually paid for were delivered as promised.

It sucks but it's an issue that SE needs to resolve as they're still responsible for actually generating the codes for the emotes, even if Grubhub's handling of the promo was terrible. Maybe you can talk to their customer support and they can refund you, but from a dispute perspective there's not really anything they can do.

The promotions are part of the service and are a method to get people to use the service. An unsatisfactory promotion means an unsatisfactory service. Also, if you do check your orders, it does list if a promocode is used. It doesn't state which promocode is used, but it does state if one is used. You can't say a promotion is not part of the service, especially when it is used to attract people to the service. Furthermore, it wouldn't be considered a false chargeback even if you did lose the dispute. Not all lost disputes result in fraud, as intent is key when determining if it a chargeback is fraudulent or not. When you issue a chargeback, you put in the reason for it and in this case, it is clear that the customer legitimately believed that they did not receive the service as advertised. A false chargeback would only be if you had the intent to commit fraud in the first place.

[Purrsnikitty]

Signed up specifically to post this - much like everyone else I was having issues inputting the code, grubhub's promo field would say accepted but then immediately go back to being blank and nothing to show for it on my receipt. I waited to see if I would get the code anyway since people have stated they received it anyway and nothing there too.

Okay, mildly irritated. The real kicker was a friend of mine who forgot to input the ENDWALKER code and talked to customer service only to be told they can't apply the promo, got the emote code anyway. Like, what? As far as I know they didn't order twice so now I'm regretting not setting aside the mental battery to be given the run around by grubhub's customer service.

I sincerely hope that the people who received nothing out of this can get some opportunity to receive the emote but at the same time, those hopes aren't very high. What a poorly handled promotion.

I had this happen to me as well. What a waste of money. I could have gotten the same food for much cheaper, but I wanted the emote.

[Nicoia]

There's no grubhub service where I live nor where a friend of mine in Canada lives. So a friend of ours ordered twice from GrubHub to get us the code. He didn't have to, we offer to pay for the food or even use GrubHub to send him food instead. He spent probably around 40-50 dollars just so we could get these emotes. This is someone that doesn't even play FF but likes to listen to use in Discord when we play. I don't think it said anywhere at the time that the email used for GrubHub had to be tied to the email used for your Final Fantasy account, so he essentially wasted money to try and get this code for us?

Honestly I'd rather they just release anything special they do through the E Shop. You don't have to worry if the third party is going to handle it correctly, and no money goes to shady ass companies like GrubHub.

((Also, I didn't get to partake in the Butterfinger one as I am allergic to peanuts and stay away from them. I also don't know anyone that would want butterfingers, or much less understand why I need to buy them for a mount on a game lololol))

[Dogempire]

Snip.

Eh, a customer will legitimately believe they're justified in filing a dispute to get money back on the Netflix membership they never used for 6 months yet never canceled, doesn't mean they're not wasting anyone's time

If you want to file a dispute on the Grubhub charge then feel free to, but they'll likely deny it on the grounds that you received the product (AKA the food) and that the pizza emote from the promo code isn't something you paid for or were really guaranteed to get (Depending on where you pull the promotion info anyways)

I say likely because depending on the purchase amount they might just decide to take the loss as submitting chargebacks costs money (Around $25-35 a transaction, at least for Visa, but it depends on the transaction) but that's usually only in cases where there's fraud and it's not worth the time to investigate because it's a low dollar amount, and in your case it would just make a lot more sense to deny the case under either Terms and Conditions or under Unable to Assist simply because the issue is something that the bank can't assist with (Considering it's not a bank's job to make sure you get your emote), and you'd have to take it up with the appropriate parties (Grubhub and Square Enix) to resolve the issue.

[Baihe]

I can't even begin to express my frustration and disappointment in this promotion. I made an order for a friend on Grubhub during the evening of December 14th, and due to the warnings of a close friend I made sure to read and understand the promotion requirements on both the official event page along with what Grubhub had posted about the promotion on their own website. I even contacted customer support to make sure that the code was applied right after making my order online. The gentleman who was assisting me that evening was very helpful and told me that the code was successfully applied. (Chat log underneath.)

It was really a pleasant exchange, and I went on to wait until December 17th comes along! No emote. I wasn't really surprised about the outcome since I ordered on the 14th, and thought that they would continue to email the rest of the codes out later on, but I am now beginning to realize that it may not happen... So, I contacted Grubhub support once again and this time the support I received was disappointing...

Because the support agent is now telling me that the promo code wasn't applied after all and that they are sorry for the experience. It really made me speechless, and all I could say was..."So, the argent lied?"

It was a mess, and they just suggested that I write a ticket to Square Enix...

(First chat log! During the day of the order! December 14th PST)


(Second chat log! December 18th PST! I used a more official name since it was a more serious chat. Had to remove my name)


That is my experience! Here's to hope that it gets fixed!

[Yahallo]

Eh, a customer will legitimately believe they're justified in filing a dispute to get money back on the Netflix membership they never used for 6 months yet never canceled, doesn't mean they're not wasting anyone's time

If you want to file a dispute on the Grubhub charge then feel free to, but they'll likely deny it on the grounds that you received the product (AKA the food) and that the pizza emote from the promo code isn't something you paid for or were really guaranteed to get (Depending on where you pull the promotion info anyways)

I say likely because depending on the purchase amount they might just decide to take the loss as submitting chargebacks costs money (Around $25-35 a transaction, at least for Visa, but it depends on the transaction) but that's usually only in cases where there's fraud and it's not worth the time to investigate because it's a low dollar amount, and in your case it would just make a lot more sense to deny the case under either Terms and Conditions or under Unable to Assist simply because the issue is something that the bank can't assist with (Considering it's not a bank's job to make sure you get your emote), and you'd have to take it up with the appropriate parties (Grubhub and Square Enix) to resolve the issue.

As long as there is reasonable doubt that a customer was satisfied with the service, it would not be considered fraud, which eliminates the risk to the customer in filing the chargeback. On the other hand, if enough people file a chargeback against Grubhub, they can actually suffer consequences with the bank even if they successfully win the disputes. Furthermore, as a number of Grubhub representatives stated that it was a random chance for you to get the emote rather than it being first come first serve, then they have proof that Grubhub did not follow the promotion as advertised (as it states first come first serve on Grubhub's version of the terms and conditions). I am pretty sure that Grubhub not following their own terms and conditions and issuing a statement that contradicts the terms and statements proves legitimate dissatisfaction and would prove that the chargeback was not made with fraudulent intent; thus there would not be any risk to the customer. Rather than risk it with the bank, there is a chance that Grubhub would just refund the order if they are facing a significant number of chargebacks, as just dealing with those disputes can be more trouble for them than jsut refunding the order.

Also, the bank would first determine if the customer's reason is legitimate then they would notify Grubhub for them to dispute if they wish.

The system is essentially stacked against the customer, and this is probably one of the few tools a customer has to use. Just going through customer service is more likely to just have them send you in a wild goose chase; you have to make them not properly resolving the issue to have some sort of inconvenience for them (or get lucky with a customer rep that just gives a refund), and the threat of chargebacks (especially if a large group of people make the same chargeback threat) is one of the few things that can pressure them. You essentially want to make it more trouble for them to not give the refund.