A Houston Heights sushi restaurant thought it was doing the community a favor: two California rolls for the price of one. But Sushi by the Heights’ goodwill was dashed when one customer purportedly, repeatedly disputed multiple “buy one, get one free” orders on DoorDash in what the restaurant is calling a scam. Now, that alleged abuse has left the neighborhood bereft of a seriously sweet deal—and exposed a familiar pain point fellow restaurateurs have had to deal with when using online ordering and delivery apps.
Sushi by the Heights revealed July 30 on the Houston Heights Foodie Facebook group that the restaurant was discontinuing its BOGO promo on DoorDash after it became the subject of repeated order disputes.Â
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“We take responsibility when a genuine mistake happens, but we also have to protect our team and business from repeated system abuse,” the restaurant wrote. “We’re truly sorry to those of you who enjoyed the promo. We also hope other local businesses can learn from our experience.”
DoorDash and restaurants
A representative for Sushi by the Heights told Chron they were seeing, on average, at least four disputes every 15 days. They also claimed the disputes were from the same person on two different days. The damages were roughly between $70 to $150 a month
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“In our experience, DoorDash is the platform where we most often receive ‘order not received’ or ‘missing item’ claims,” the representative said. “We respect our customers and welcome fair reviews, and we also believe the process should be balanced for everyone involved.”
Shenanigans with online ordering and delivery apps is nothing new to Pearland restaurateur Ronnie Killen, who’s busy readying the next era of his Pearland steakhouse. Killen has little love for DoorDash, blaming the company for the fall of in-person dining, skewed customer expectations, and bleeding restaurants dry
Killen told Chron each of his restaurants would lose a couple thousand dollars a month in disputes
“Oh man, anytime there was a dispute, we would lose the dispute and we had to come in and have to pay,” Killen said. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the world we’re in. As far as the restaurant, you have to go through that on a monthly basis. If someone disputes it and you don’t have a hard copy like on Toast, you lose.”
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A DoorDash representative told Chron they had reviewed Sushi by the Height’s case and did not identify any fraudulent or suspicious activity related to the BOGO offer. They also said the business was not charged for any of the disputed orders
Per DoorDash, the company uses a “behavioral modeling and customer trust signals” as part of its review process to help assess customer claims. For issues like incorrect orders or quality concerns, customers are typically asked to provide photo evidence
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“Merchants are not charged for issues outside of their control. DoorDash investigates responsibility before assessing an error charge, and merchants have the opportunity to dispute charges they believe were applied incorrectly,” the DoorDash representative said
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Sushi by the Heights hopes that what happened to them can serve as a cautionary tale for other small businesses.Â
“Because as small businesses, protecting against repeated losses like that matters. We want to keep serving the neighborhood and stay sustainable. Thank you for understanding and for supporting your local spots,” the restaurant wrote
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