Cancelled orders make hungry customers who have taken time to search for and place an order really disappointed. If an order is cancelled there is a good chance the customer won’t order from you or Deliveroo again, and if it happens frequently riders may not want to collect from your site either. This results in additional costs for Deliveroo, including dedicated Care services to manage customer complaints and extra marketing and promotion costs to incentivise customers to place future orders.

How does it work?

Of course, things go wrong and sometimes orders do get cancelled. When Deliveroo has to cancel an order (if we can’t get a rider to you) we will continue to pay you the full order value minus the commission (and [VAT/GST] where applicable).

If you cancel an order, you will need to pay the commission and VAT/GST where applicable) that Deliveroo would have received for that order to cover the additional costs. This will now appear on your invoice. You can find out more about the policy change and how it affects you here [Ireland here].

Below are a few instances where an order may be cancelled:

Deliveroo pays the Partner the full order value minus the commission (and [VAT/GST] where applicable):

Rider is late collecting the order and the customer requests to cancel
Unable to find a rider to deliver the items
Customer cancels order due to rider delays

Partner pays a cancellation charge, equivalent to Deliveroo’s commission (plus [VAT/GST] where applicable):

Unavailable items once a customer has placed an order and the order has been accepted by the partner
Closed earlier than opening hours listed on the app
Order cancelled after it has been accepted

Need more help? Please see our FAQs below.

FAQs

Why are we introducing the policy change?

Finally, cancellations result in additional costs for Deliveroo due to the additional customer care associated with managing customer complaints and incentivising the customer to place future orders having received a poor experience with a cancelled order.

We recognise things can go wrong in both yours and our businesses and sometimes we have to cancel orders. When Deliveroo cancels an order, we will continue to pay the full order value minus the commission (and [VAT/GST] where applicable) that you would have received for the order. If you cancel an order, you will need to pay the commission (plus [VAT/GST] where applicable) that Deliveroo would have received for that order. This will compensate Deliveroo for services such as: costs of bringing the order to you, any rider fees incurred, the costs of managing the customer care process following the cancellation, and additional marketing and promotional activities required to encourage the customer to order again in the future.

What’s the difference between a rejection and a cancellation?

A partner may decline an order at different stages of the order.

Rejection: the first point a partner may decline an order is when it is first sent to the tablet or Point Of Sale (POS) system for the partner to accept an order. If the order is declined at this point, it is known as a "rejection".

Cancellation: if the partner initially accepts the order but decides later to decline the order (e.g. as the dish is no longer available), this is known as a "cancellation".

Will I be charged for rejections too?

No. This is our cancellation policy for how we approach orders cancelled by our partners & Deliveroo, it does not include rejected orders.

What are the reasons for cancellations?

There are different reasons why an order which a customer has placed will subsequently be cancelled. These fall into three broad categories:

No fault, customer requested cancellations - the customer requests an order cancellation, and the Partner agrees to the cancellation request. In this scenario, no charge will be applied.

If the Partner doesn’t agree they can contact us through their Hub account by raising a ‘Invoices & Payments’ ticket and selecting ‘Questions about invoices’. Please ensure referencing the order number of the affected order/s. Please see our Support Policy [Ireland here] for more information on how we handle queries and complaints.
“Deliveroo at fault” cancellations - Deliveroo may cancel an order if, for example, we are unable to find a rider to deliver the items.
In this scenario, the Partner will still be paid the full value of the order, minus the contractually agreed commission + VAT.
“Partner at fault” cancellations - there are two ways in which a Partner will be deemed at fault for a cancellation:

(i) The partner cancels an order (for any reason) after it has been accepted, for example, they realise they don’t have the ingredients required to make the dish.

(ii) Orders cancelled because the Partner is closed when the rider arrives within 15 minutes of the ‘prep for’ time. If the rider arrives after the 15 minutes ‘prep for’ time then Deliveroo is deemed at fault. To note, we apply 15 minutes from either the original ‘prep for’ time or the adjusted time from the ‘Need More Time’ feature, depending on whichever is the latest.

Can you provide examples of situations where I’m at fault?

We appreciate there are many possible situations, here are a few examples;

You close early and the rider arrives less than 15 minutes late from the ‘Prepare for Time’ of the order to be collected. For example, if your site closes at 10pm you will be charged if you accept an order at 9:55pm and the rider arrives to find the site closed at 10:05pm.
If an item is available to order but once the customer places the order it’s unavailable. We encourage you to contact the customer directly to resolve this issue.
You have accepted the order but are now too busy to fulfil it.
Order has been reported missing/a rider has taken the wrong order and wishes to cancel.

We appreciate there may be circumstances which are outside your control and which have led you to cancel the order. If you believe this to be the case and you wish to challenge a cancellation charge, you can do so by contacting us through your Hub account by raising a ‘Invoices & Payments’ ticket and selecting ‘Questions about invoices’. Please ensure you reference the order number of the affected order/s. For further information on how we handle queries and complaints, please see our Support Policy [Ireland here].

What can I do to avoid situations where I’m at fault?

We appreciate there are many possible solutions but here are a few to help you out:

Allow riders at least 15 minutes after the ‘prepare for time’ to collect orders which you receive shortly before you close. Although you will not be open to accept new orders it is important that orders placed before you close can be picked up by riders.

If your site closes at 10pm, orders can still come through right up until 10pm. It’s important that once an order is placed, you still have time to prepare the order and it’s picked up by riders before you close. Ensure you manually update your opening hours for dates and times you won’t be open. It may help to set your closing time for the same time as ‘last orders’ in your kitchen.

Doing this is particularly important if you have the ‘auto-open’ feature turned on, alongside ‘auto-accept’, as this will prevent you automatically opening and accepting orders if you are physically closed. To highlight, turning ‘auto-open’ on and ‘auto-accept’ off can result in a ‘timeout rejection’ which you are not at fault and won’t be charged for.

Keep your stock levels up to date, and mark items as unavailable when you have run out of them, so customers don’t order something that isn’t available.
Use busy mode during busy times to manage order volumes. This will tell us you’re experiencing higher order volumes than usual and changes the expected preparation time. Need More Time? Fear not! Simply press this button to tell us you need more time to get your order ready and avoid making riders wait. This feature is currently running as an experiment for select partners and may be subject to change.
Check the order ID on the rider’s device matches the order they are being given and don’t leave orders unattended.

How do I view my cancellations?

The charges will appear on your invoice and payment statement. Example below:

Can I dispute a cancellation charge?

We appreciate there may be circumstances which are outside your control and which have led you to cancel the order. If you believe this to be the case and you wish to challenge a cancellation charge, you can do so by contacting us through your Hub account by raising a ‘Invoices & Payments’ ticket and selecting ‘Questions about invoices’. Please ensure you reference the order number of the affected order/s. Please note, you will be able to dispute these charges up to 4 weeks after the invoice statement date. Any disputes after these 4 weeks will be instantly rejected.

For further information on how we handle queries and complaints, please see our Support Policy [Ireland here].

How is the cancellation fee calculated?

In the event of a “Partner at fault” cancellation, Deliveroo will charge you a fee equal to the commission (and any other fees) which you were due to be charged for that order (plus [VAT/GST] where applicable), i.e. an amount equal to the total fee for that order calculated in accordance with your current contract with Deliveroo. The fee will apply in the event that:

(i) you cancel an order after accepting it; or

(ii) a rider cannot collect an order you have accepted because you are closed when they arrive at your business, and they have arrived within 15 minutes of the “prep for” time provided by Deliveroo for the order.

This charge will compensate Deliveroo for the costs of the cancelled order which may include e.g. the costs of bringing the order to you, any rider fees incurred, the costs of managing the customer care process following the cancellation, and additional marketing and promotional activities required to encourage the customer to order again in the future.

Full detailed section on how this is calculated can be found in the policy here [Ireland here].

What do I do if a customer calls and asks to cancel an order?

If the customer has made an error, or has changed their mind, and you are happy to agree to the cancellation, you can let us know via the Restaurant live order support line. Alternatively, ask the customer to contact us through ‘Order Help’, by clicking on their order in the Deliveroo app, and we will call you if we need to agree to the cancellation.

Do other food delivery platforms also charge for cancellations?

Yes, others within the food delivery industry are known to charge or take other steps in cancellations such as putting those frequently cancelled orders ‘on pause’. All delivery aggregators operate in different ways, our primary focus is on providing the best possible experience for Customers, Partners such as yourselves, and our rider community.

What recommendation do you have on opening and closing hours?

Update your Deliveroo opening hours for dates and times you won’t be open. This will ensure you are not receiving orders when your business is closed. This is particularly important if you have the ‘auto open’ and 'auto accept' features turned on, as this will prevent you automatically opening and accepting orders when you are physically closed. Learn more on scheduled orders here.
Please account for kitchen operating hours if it varies from your listed opening hours.
Allow riders at least 15 minutes after the ‘prep for’ time to collect orders which you receive shortly before you close. Although you will not be open to accept new orders, it is important that orders placed before you close can be picked up by riders.