How to reduce refunds and preparation errors in delivery

The best dispute is still the one the restaurant never has to file.

Some refunds can be cut directly by improving the preparation process.

The aim, however, isn’t to pile on checks to the point of slowing the kitchen down.

Focus your efforts where errors actually happen.

1. Measure before you change anything

Start by analysing several weeks of refunds.

Sort them by reason:

• missing item
• wrong item
• wrong order
• quality
• multi-bag
• other

Then identify the items most often involved.

That way you avoid overhauling the whole process to fix a problem that only accounts for a handful of cases.

2. Check your menu and options

Some complaints don’t come from the kitchen at all but from a gap between what the customer thinks they ordered and what the restaurant thinks it should prepare.

Regularly check:

• descriptions
• options
• extras
• meal deals
• sides
• unavailable items

A badly set-up menu can generate entirely avoidable complaints.

3. Create a single checkpoint

Avoid scattered checks.

An area clearly marked as the last preparation step lets you check the order just before sealing.

It’s also where evidence can be captured.

4. Deal specifically with commonly forgotten items

Drinks, desserts, sauces and sides are often added at different stages.

If they come up often in refunds, adapt the process.

For example:

A drink should no longer be treated as an afterthought but as a mandatory check step.

5. Label multi-bag orders

As soon as an order needs more than one bag, the risk of partial delivery rises.

Use clear labelling:

1/2 – 2/2

or any other system that can’t be misread.

The rider and the team can see straight away that there’s a second bag.

6. Check the handover

A perfectly prepared order can still be handed to the wrong rider.

During busy periods, the waiting area must avoid confusion between similar orders.

Checking the number at collection can reduce this risk.

7. Keep usable evidence

Photographing the order before sealing lets you check afterwards what was actually prepared.

But the photo has to be:

• sharp enough
• properly framed
• taken at the right moment
• linked to the order
• easy to find

Otherwise, the team won’t use it.

8. Analyse confirmed errors

When the evidence shows the restaurant really did forget an item, don’t just write the case off.

Record the reason.

After a few weeks, you’ll be able to identify the main causes of losses.

The aim then becomes:

Reduce the number of errors before they even lead to a complaint.

A process has to work during the rush

That’s probably the most important criterion.

A process that’s excellent at 3pm but impossible to follow at 8.30pm isn’t a good process.

So every extra action must be:

• quick
• obvious
• built into the preparation routine
• as automatic as possible