Report the problem from the affected order's Help or Support screen as soon as you can. State exactly what went wrong, attach clear evidence, and ask for a defined remedy. You can request a refund to the original payment method, but the app or restaurant usually decides whether the order qualifies for a refund, credit, or partial adjustment under its own policy.
This information is for U.S. consumers. It covers complaints made through delivery apps and the separate process for disputing certain credit-card charges. It is not legal advice.
Preserve the evidence first
Collect the details before food is moved, discarded, or eaten:
- Take photos of the food, packaging, receipt, seals, spills, and incorrect items.
- If an item is missing, photograph the opened bag and everything that was delivered.
- Save screenshots showing the order number, estimated delivery window, actual delivery time, order total, and payment method.
- Write down each missing, incorrect, or damaged item by name.
- Keep packaging, receipts, and remaining food until the complaint is resolved, especially if food may be unsafe.
- Do not eat food that appears spoiled, contaminated, tampered with, or unsafe just to create evidence.
Photos can show a spill, broken seal, wrong item, or incomplete order. They usually cannot prove a meal's temperature by themselves. If food arrived cold, explain when it was expected, when it arrived, how long delivery took, and why it was no longer reasonably usable.
File the complaint in the app
Most food-delivery apps follow a similar order-based support process:
- Open Orders, Past Orders, or the digital receipt.
- Select the affected order.
- Choose Help, Get help, Order Issues, or Report a problem.
- Select the closest category, such as missing item, incorrect order, late delivery, damaged packaging, food quality, or order not received.
- Upload photographs and include the order number.
- State the remedy you want.
- Save the support message, case number if one is shown, and any refund or credit confirmation.
Use the category that best matches the facts, then explain the situation in the description. Do not describe an order as undelivered merely because it was disappointing or incomplete. DoorDash has a specific exception for an order in which every delivered item is wrong; see the DoorDash section below.
Match the request to the problem
A precise request gives support something concrete to review:
- Missing item: Name the item and ask for review of its amount, including any applicable tax or adjustment.
- Incorrect order: List what you ordered and what arrived. If the entire order was wrong, say that clearly.
- Late delivery: Give the promised window and actual arrival time. Ask the app to review the delivery charge or order total.
- Cold, spilled, damaged, or poor-quality food: Describe the condition and whether the food was usable. Request a partial or full refund based on how much of the order was affected.
- Order not delivered: Provide the delivery address, delivery status, driver messages, and any delivery photo or other record.
- Unauthorized charge: Use the app's account-security process and contact your card issuer. This is different from a complaint about food quality or a missing item.
Don't combine unrelated issues into a vague complaint. A short timeline and item-by-item description are more useful than a general statement that the order was bad.
Complaint message template
You can adapt this message for an in-app chat, form, or email support channel:
Subject: Refund request for order [order number]
Hello,
I am requesting a review of order [order number], placed on [date] for $[amount].
The order arrived at [time]. The issue was [missing item, incorrect item, late delivery, spill, or food-quality problem].
I ordered [items ordered] and received [items delivered]. I have attached photos of the food, packaging, and order details.
Please review this request for a [full refund, partial refund, or item-level refund] to the original payment method.
Please confirm the resolution and any case number.
Thank you,
[Name]Platform-specific routes
App menus and support labels can change. Start with the order record and use the support route attached to that transaction rather than relying on an old phone number or an unverified search result.
DoorDash
Use the order's Help or Order Issues flow in the DoorDash app or website. DoorDash asks customers reporting missing or incorrect items to provide clear, original photos that show the items received. Where practical, show all delivered items visible and unwrapped.
For a missing item, a photo of the opened bag and remaining items can help show what was delivered. For an incorrect item, photograph the item you received.
DoorDash gives a specific instruction for a delivered order in which every item is wrong: report it as Order never arrived under Order Issues. If you use that route, explain in the description that the order was delivered but the entire order was incorrect. See DoorDash's guidance for missing or incorrect items.
Uber Eats and Postmates
Open the affected order in the Uber Eats or Postmates account and use the Help or support option connected to that order. Select the relevant issue, describe the discrepancy, and attach photographs.
If the order is not visible in the app, check the order confirmation and account website for a support link tied to the transaction.
Grubhub
Select the order in the Grubhub app or website and use the available Help or order-support option. Include the restaurant name, order number, missing or incorrect items, and amount charged.
Check the receipt to identify who processed the payment. If a restaurant's direct ordering system charged you rather than Grubhub, contact the business that charged the order as well.
Other delivery services
The same recordkeeping approach applies to regional and smaller delivery apps: open the receipt, choose the closest issue category, attach evidence, and save the support record. Refund terms, review periods, and available remedies can vary by app, location, order type, and payment method.
If the app denies your request
A denial may not be the final response, but keep the follow-up focused:
- Save the denial, support messages, and any explanation.
- Reply in the existing support thread and request a manual review.
- Restate the specific problem and add evidence you did not include the first time.
- Ask whether a refund to the original payment method can be considered if the app offers credit instead.
- Confirm which business charged the order and contact that business if appropriate.
- Record any partial refund or credit that is issued.
Avoid opening duplicate complaints for the same order unless support directs you to do so. Multiple cases can make the record harder to follow.
When a credit-card dispute may help
A card dispute is separate from the delivery app's refund policy. The Federal Trade Commission describes credit-card billing errors that can include charges for goods or services you did not accept or that were not delivered as agreed. That does not create an automatic right to reverse every unsatisfactory food order.
For example, an order that never arrived may present a different dispute question from food that was merely less hot than expected. Do not describe a food-quality disagreement as fraud unless someone used your card without permission.
For a qualifying credit-card billing-error dispute, the FTC's credit-card dispute guidance says to:
- Write to the billing-inquiries address shown on the statement, not the payment address.
- Make sure the issuer receives the written dispute within 60 days after the first statement containing the error was sent.
- Keep a copy of the letter and supporting documents.
- Include the order receipt, delivery timeline, photos, app messages, and any promised refund.
- Expect written acknowledgment within 30 days unless the issuer has already resolved the matter.
- Expect resolution within 90 days after the issuer receives the dispute.
If you recently changed addresses, the FTC notes an additional condition: the issuer must have received written notice of the address change at least 20 days before the end of the relevant billing period.
Tell the card issuer that you first tried to resolve the issue with the delivery company. Continue paying undisputed portions of the bill and follow the issuer's instructions while it investigates. If the app later provides a refund or credit, notify the issuer so you do not recover the same charge twice.
The FTC's 60-day, 30-day, and 90-day framework concerns qualifying credit-card billing disputes. Do not assume the same process applies to debit cards, prepaid cards, bank transfers, or payment-app balances. Contact the provider for the applicable error or dispute procedure promptly.
Food safety, allergens, and injuries
A refund request is not a substitute for a health or safety report. If food appears contaminated, contains an undeclared allergen, includes a foreign object, or may have caused illness:
- Stop eating it and preserve the packaging, receipt, and remaining food if it is safe to do so.
- Seek urgent medical care for a serious reaction or emergency.
- Report the incident to both the delivery service and the restaurant.
- Contact your local or state health department about a restaurant-related safety concern.
- Use the FDA's Report a Problem page when the issue falls within the agency's jurisdiction.
Tell support if someone became ill, needed medical care, or experienced an allergic reaction. Do not send food samples or sensitive medical records through routine customer-service chat unless the company provides a secure process or an investigating authority requests them.
What controls the outcome
Three different systems can affect a food-delivery complaint:
- The app or restaurant's policy controls the ordinary refund or credit process for missing, incorrect, late, damaged, or poor-quality food.
- The payment provider's rules control a credit-card billing dispute or another payment dispute.
- Food-safety and consumer-protection rules may provide reporting routes or additional remedies depending on the facts and the state.
The FTC credit-card process is not a rule requiring a delivery app to resolve every complaint within 48 hours, and it does not guarantee a cash refund for every late, cold, or disappointing meal.
Open the affected order, save the evidence, and submit one specific request through the app's support channel. If that fails, preserve the support record before using the payment-dispute process that matches how you paid.