How to Dispute Refunds on Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats

Short answer: You only pay for a refund when the problem was in your control, like missing or wrong items or food quality. Late, cold or undelivered orders are covered by the app when its own riders deliver. To dispute a refund: on Deliveroo, go to Partner Hub, Refunds, within 7 days of the refund. On Uber Eats, go to Uber Eats Manager, Orders, filter by "Shop refunded", within 30 days of the order. On Just Eat, dispute it in Partner Hub as soon as you see the charge. Send a photo or video of the packed order showing the order number or the time.

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Who pays for a refund?

All three apps follow the same basic rule: you pay when the problem was in your kitchen, and the app pays when the problem was on the road.

Problem	Who usually pays
Missing item, wrong item, wrong order	You
Poor quality, badly cooked, food safety	You
Dietary or allergy request not followed	You
Wrong information on your menu	You
Late delivery because of the rider	The app (if its rider delivered)
Food spilled or damaged on the way	The app (unless your packaging caused it)
Cold food because delivery was late	The app (Deliveroo)
Order never arrived	The app, if its rider delivered. You, on Uber Eats, if your own staff delivered

If you deliver with your own drivers, more of these can fall on you. Uber Eats, for example, can charge you for undelivered orders when your own staff deliver. Uber Eats also says you are not charged for refunds caused by fraud.

Refund deadlines: Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats

	Deliveroo	Just Eat	Uber Eats
Where to dispute	Partner Hub, Refunds	Partner Hub (the Partner Hub chatbot can help)	Uber Eats Manager, Orders, filter "Shop refunded"
Time limit	7 days from the refund date	Not given in Just Eat's 2026 guide. Its older help page said 14 days from your weekly invoice	30 days from the order date
Evidence	Photos or video, including CCTV	Any evidence you have	Photos or video
If you win	Money back on your next payment statement	Charge reversed on your next invoice	Decided case by case

The safest habit: check refunds every week, and dispute the same week, on every app.

How to dispute a Deliveroo refund as a restaurant

Open Partner Hub and go to Refunds. You can see pending, issued and rejected refunds.
Open the order and select the item or items you want to dispute.
Choose a reason and add your evidence.
Submit, then follow it in the Refund disputes tab.

You have 7 days from the date of the refund. Deliveroo says photos or video help most when they show a timestamp within 20 minutes of the "order ready" time, or the order ID or receipt. If Deliveroo rejects your dispute, you can reply to the decision email within 72 hours and ask Support to look again. For more on the Hub itself, see our Deliveroo Partner Hub guide.

How to dispute a Just Eat refund

When Just Eat refunds a customer and charges you, you see it in Partner Hub and on your weekly invoice. If you think the charge is wrong, dispute it in Partner Hub. Just Eat reviews the decision, and if it agrees with you, the charge is reversed on your next invoice. Any evidence you send is used in the decision.

Just Eat's current guide doesn't give a time limit. Its older help page said 14 days from the weekly invoice, and that you don't have to wait for the invoice. Dispute as soon as you see the charge.

Also useful: if Just Eat is delivering and the driver hasn't arrived within 10 minutes after your prep time, you may get money back for food you had to cook again. Ask the Partner Hub chatbot for "compensation for a re-cooked order". See our Just Eat Partner Hub guide.

How to dispute an Uber Eats order (order error adjustments)

Uber Eats calls these charges order error adjustments. They are taken from your payout.

Open Uber Eats Manager and go to Orders.
Filter by "Shop refunded" or "Potential deduction".
Choose the order and select Dispute. Give a reason and a short description.
Add photos or video.
Follow it with the "Refund disputed" tag.

You have 30 days from the order date. Only users with Admin or Manager access can send a dispute. Uber says it decides each case separately and can't promise to reverse every one. See our Uber Eats Manager guide.

What is the "refund method"?

Online, "refund method" is the name for tricks people share to get their food free: claiming an item was missing, the food was wrong, or the order never came, when it did. Some people even sell it as a service. It is fraud, and the apps look for it.

Just Eat checks every refund claim: the customer's identity and account, order patterns, how often they claim, photo evidence, GPS trails and chat logs. Big or suspicious claims go to a fraud team. Confirmed fraud is blocked or reversed, and linked accounts can be restricted.
Deliveroo says it doesn't give refunds where it suspects fraud.
Uber Eats says you are not charged for fraud.

Signs a claim may be false: the same customer claims again and again, the claim is always for the most expensive item, or it says "never arrived" when the app shows the order delivered. When you see this, dispute it with your evidence and tell partner support about the pattern. Your evidence is what helps the app see it.

How to stop fake refund claims: a packing checklist

Most of these come straight from the apps' own advice:

Film or photograph the packing area. Deliveroo suggests a tablet or CCTV camera above the packing station. Make sure the time shows.
Photograph each bag before it's sealed, with the receipt or order number in the picture.
Check every item against the receipt. Better still, one person packs and a second person checks.
Seal every bag with a tamper-evident sticker or seal (Uber Eats recommends this).
Write the order number on the bag, and give it to the right rider. A wrong order handed to the rider is charged to you.
If drinks or big items don't fit in the bag, make sure the driver takes them. Just Eat says this stops "missing item" claims.
Pack cold food and drinks away from hot food, so nothing arrives damaged.

And on your menu:

Use real photos and say exactly what comes with each dish (chips, drink, sauce). Just Eat checks claims against your menu and compares the customer's photos with your real food. See food photos for delivery apps.
Mark items out of stock straight away, so customers can't order something you don't have.
Build meal deals as combos, so a refund for one drink doesn't become a refund for the whole meal.

Why refunds hurt more than the money

Missing and wrong items also count against you in the rankings. Just Eat looks at successful orders and accuracy when it orders the restaurant list, and Uber Eats needs an inaccurate order rate of 3% or less for Top Eats. Customers who get the wrong food leave low ratings too. See how the delivery app algorithms work.

Questions

Can I stop the app refunding the customer?

No. The app decides whether the customer gets money back. What you can dispute is whether you pay for it.

Do I pay if the rider was late or the food went cold?

Not when the app's own rider delivered. Deliveroo and Just Eat cover delivery problems like late riders, and Uber Eats doesn't charge you for undelivered or damaged orders when its delivery people are used. If you deliver yourself, you may pay.

What evidence works best?

A photo or video of the packed order that shows the order number or receipt, and the time. Deliveroo says the timestamp should be within 20 minutes of the order ready time.

How long do I have to dispute a refund?

Deliveroo: 7 days from the refund. Uber Eats: 30 days from the order. Just Eat doesn't give a time limit in its 2026 guide, so dispute as soon as you see the charge.

Do refunds affect my ranking?

They can. Just Eat ranks on accuracy and successful orders, and Uber Eats counts inaccurate orders towards Top Eats.

Losing money to refunds?

Unclear dish descriptions, meal deals that aren't set up as combos and photos that don't match the food all make refunds easier to claim and harder to dispute. Send us your listing and we'll tell you what to fix first, free.

About Restaurant Hero: Restaurant Hero audits Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats listings for UK and Irish restaurants: a free diagnostic to find what's holding you back, a £199 full audit to plan the fixes, a £500 audit and fix across every app, and ongoing support if you want it. Get your free diagnostic →

Sources

Platforms change their rules and fees. Figures were checked on the date above. Restaurant Hero is independent. We're not part of, or endorsed by, Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats.

How to dispute refunds on Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats (and stop fake refund claims)