“You reported it outside our 24-hour window, so you have no rights”

Why this answer

What actually matters

• Report perishable-food problems immediately wherever possible.
• Internal customer-care deadlines and statutory rights are not necessarily the same thing.
• Delay matters evidentially: photographs, packaging and the condition of food may disappear quickly.

Evidence

What to have beside you

• Order confirmation, item list, customisations and the restaurant/product description
• Delivery tracking, timestamps and any delivery photograph or contact attempts
• Clear photographs of the food, packaging, seals and all items received
• Screenshots of the refund request, refusal, account credit offer and support conversation
• Allergen information shown before ordering and any relevant packaging or labels

If they still refuse

Move the dispute forward.

1. Report the problem promptly through the platform and/or restaurant and keep the evidence.
2. Identify who supplied the food and, where relevant, who supplied the delivery service; those can be different contracts.
3. If a statutory refund or price reduction is due, challenge an app-level refusal on that basis rather than treating the platform policy as the law.
4. For genuine food-safety or allergen concerns, consider the local authority food-safety route as well as seeking consumer redress.
5. Where a trader still refuses a valid monetary claim, consider a card dispute/chargeback or proportionate court action where appropriate.

Read the full rules

Go deeper before escalating.