Starting Thursday, California customers finally get what they have been asking for every time a bag shows up missing fries, drinks, or the whole main dish. Under a new state law, food delivery apps can no longer play refund roulette when orders are incorrect or incomplete.
The law requires platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub to issue full refunds when an order is missing items, incorrect, or never delivered. That refund must include everything the customer paid. Taxes, service fees, delivery fees, and even tips are all part of it.
For years, customers complained about getting partial credits, app-only refunds, or being told sorry about your luck when something went wrong. This law shuts that down. If the mistake is not on the customer and the claim is legitimate, the app has to return the full amount to the original form of payment whenever possible.
If part of an order shows up, customers can only be charged for what they actually received. Fees and taxes must be adjusted instead of staying padded. No more paying full price for half a meal. The law also pushes apps to stop hiding behind bots. Platforms are now required to offer access to real human customer support, not endless automated loops when money is on the line. On top of that, drivers are protected too. Even if a customer gets a tip refunded, drivers still keep their gratuity. The apps have to eat that cost.
Culturally, this feels overdue. Food delivery has become a daily survival tool for busy households, parents, night workers, and folks without reliable transportation. Getting shorted on food is not a minor inconvenience when prices are already high and fees stack up fast. California stepping in sends a clear message that convenience should not come with silent losses.
The bigger question now is whether other states will follow. Because once customers see what fair refunds actually look like, it is going to be hard to accept anything less.
