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Deliveroo April Fools' Joke Backfires In France (bbc.com) 50

French Deliveroo customers who received fake bills for hundreds of euros' worth of pizza have failed to see the funny side of the April Fools' joke. The BBC reports: On April 1, thousands of customers of the delivery platform across France got confirmation emails for orders totaling over $530. Many took to social media to express anger at the stunt. Late on Thursday Deliveroo informed its customers via Twitter and email that it had not been serious. "We confirm that it was an April Fool's joke," the clarification read. "You can enjoy the evening by ordering the pizza of your choice." But few customers were amused. One of them said he had "almost had a stroke" after receiving a 466-euro invoice for 38 pizzas that he had never ordered. Many recipients said they panicked and tried to call their banks to block any payment.
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Deliveroo April Fools' Joke Backfires In France

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  • They got a free pizza out of the deal. As we say in Canada "That's better than a kick in the nuts with a frozen mukluk".
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Charlotte ( 16886 )
      Not funny when people panic, block all their accounts and need to pay to get new bank cards.

      This could easily be a penal justice matter in France similar to mail fraud in the US.
      • If you panic and cancel all your cards because you got an invoice then I'm afraid there's just no help for you. Maybe think about using 2FA if you're that worried about it.
        • If you see suspicious activity you should put a stop on your credit and debit cards. Then sort it out instead of allowing further charges to pile up. If you've ever dealt with a bank, they're pretty useless when it comes to reversing fraudulent charges when compared to a credit card company.

          • Which is why you should limit your use of Debit Cards. National credit cards have an appeals process that allows you to challenge and reverse fraudulent charges. With a debit card, once the money is removed from your account, it's gone. It's extremely difficult to get the funds back, and most have zero protection for fraudulent charges. Exceptions exist at some banks, but this is the general policy.

            --
            • by hjf ( 703092 )

              Remember kids: America is NOT the world, and rules are different in every country. So if you're american, don't assume it works like that all over the world, because IT DOES NOT.

          • Just as an FYI, credit card companies are banks. The Visa and MasterCard logos are for the networking system the transactions get processed through. But each credit card has an underlying bank behind it. You can look at your Sams Club card, for example, and see that it is issued by Synchrony Bank. The Home Depot card is issued by Citibank. Etc.

          • An email invoice isn't account activity.
            • by lufo ( 949075 )
              An email invoice coming from the right sender and with the right format IS suspicious activity, suspicious enough for me to think the merchant's systems may have been compromised.
              Any communication, even if it's coming from a nonsensical address with crazy format is suspicious enough for me if it's addressing me regarding any service I have actually purchased, as it may mean they got some kind of data leak.
        • When using a debit card you stop all payments on said card. When using a credit card you have a couple of more options.

      • Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          What if you're just tired of the childish April fool's day bullshit?
          This wasn't someone reading a stupid headline and believing it, but rather a business actively sending them a fake invoice.
          I would drop that business like bad habit immediately.
        • by Anonymous Coward

          No, I have to wait three days.

          I sent them a two million dollar invoice in return. The debt collection agency only requires 72 hours of no response to log it with the court. Neither the debt collectors or the court will care about the date!

          It also doesn't much matter my invoice was a joke too, or that I sold it to collections to be extra funny. That just means I personally won't see any of that money.
          But as one debt collection agency sells the debt to another every month once shown they don't owe it, they

        • by Anonymous Coward

          I don't think you understand how prank's work.
            The more unnecessary distress the other person Causes themselves Through their gullibility the funnier the prank.

          That's how it used to work, between people that are close. Nowadays, friends don't pull pranks on each other. Everyone hates this day.

        • by Calydor ( 739835 )

          April 2nd was a bank holiday. Everything is closed for Easter. Meanwhile someone who's gotten hold of your credit card details can clean out your account over the course of the weekend because 'it was probably just a prank'.

        • I don't think you understand how prank's work. The more unnecessary distress the other person Causes themselves Through their gullibility the funnier the prank.

          No, the more unnecessary distress your prank causes someone the more of a cunt it makes you. You finding it funny whilst the other person suffers to the point they're doing things like calling up a bank etc and thinking they're in real trouble/danger isn't pulling a prank, it's being a twat and if you can't see the difference you need to go get some help.

        • I don't think you understand how prank's work.

          I do understand how apostrophes work though.

      • by Aereus ( 1042228 )

        The thing I find most ironic about this situation is how these sorts of "random large invoices" are a super common scam/phishing tactic. Although anyone who preemptively cancels their cards without checking if they were actually charged kinda deserves what they get. The organization I work for probably blocks several hundred of these exact scams per week from mailboxes.

    • Mukluk?

      "Gazeebo!"

      "Macadamia!"

      "Baluga!"

      "Bulbous bouffant..."

    • They got a free pizza out of the deal. As we say in Canada "That's better than a kick in the nuts with a frozen mukluk".

      That's probably more than most Americans get from winning class action suits, after the lawyers have taken their cut.

  • April fools!

    I raped your daughter!

    April fools!

    I threw a pipe bomb into the mailbox!

    April fools!

    I stole your identity and donated 10k to nambla in your name!

    April fools!

  • by burni2 ( 1643061 ) on Friday April 02, 2021 @10:06PM (#61230990)

    You are fired!

    Who was in charge to accept that idea and didn't stop it, needs to be part of those infamous 2nd April Fools Jokes:

    Reason: "Lack of Common Sense "

  • by ClueHammer ( 6261830 ) on Friday April 02, 2021 @10:24PM (#61231018)
    Its not fun or amusing, its is a waste of time and resources. As with all things, show you disapproval by boycotting the companies involved.
  • Terrible Joke (Score:5, Informative)

    by phalse phace ( 454635 ) on Friday April 02, 2021 @11:59PM (#61231218)

    That's a terrible April Fools joke considering many of those people who were pranked are also early investors who got burned by their IPO... like pouring salt in a wound.

    Deliveroo IPO debacle leaves small investors with bad taste [reuters.com]

    London-based amateur trader Amy Lee wasn’t sure whether to buy shares in Deliveroo’s stock market debut but decided eventually to take the leap, swayed by ad campaigns on the food delivery company’s app.

    “I took a gamble,” she said. “It was my own fault, but I think I was swayed by the thought ‘surely Deliveroo wouldn’t advertise a bad product to their customers through their app. That would be stupid right?’”

    Lee and others like her who were allocated shares worth a total of 50 million pounds ($69 million) are nursing paper losses after Deliveroo shares plunged as much as 30% on their London Stock Exchange debut on Wednesday.

    Deliveroo IPO slump burns 70,000 retail investors [yahoo.com]

    Tens of thousands of retail investors who invested in food delivery startup Deliveroo's initial public offering are facing heavy losses after the company's share price collapsed on its first day on the stock exchange.

    IPOs are usually only open to institutional investors like pension funds and asset managers but Deliveroo let its customers and the general public invest through a platform called PrimaryBid. Around 70,000 individuals put £50m into the company.

    Deliveroo sold shares at 390p in its IPO but the company's share price promptly sunk 30% on Wednesday when the stock was officially listed on the London Stock Exchange. Shares were still more than 25% lower by mid-afternoon, changing hands at 285p.

    • I have a good part of my retirement fund invested in shares and would never have thought investing in Deliveroo was a good idea. It might possibly work in the short term - although so far it has not - but their business model is too skewed to be a sensible long-term option. There is a German equivalent - Delivery Hero - which has even made it to the DAX, the top 30 shares in the country.
      There are two big strikes against both companies:
      - neither has yet made a profit, even with a freakin' pandemic boosting

  • Looks like somebody at Deliveroo's management has too much spare time. Maybe they should get to work as a rider for a while.
  • by The Evil Atheist ( 2484676 ) on Saturday April 03, 2021 @01:38AM (#61231388)
    Turns out there are limits to humour.
  • by codeButcher ( 223668 ) on Saturday April 03, 2021 @02:53AM (#61231522)
    Now I know about Deliveroo and that they deliver pizza! And to avoid them, if they should ever start operating in my locale.
  • Look what I can do, I'm sure you will not regret! we will fun together. My contacts ==>> https://utka.su/profile7942 [utka.su]

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

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