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Although many restaurants remain closed during the pandemic, for those who stay open, eating and dashing remains a problem – and has even forced a Los Angeles restaurant owner to close, reports CBS Los Angeles.
A growing number of restaurants in the city have struggled, according to the Los Angeles Times, as crooks take advantage of internet orders to use fraudulent credit cards or request refunds, claiming they never received a portion or the entire order.
Korean Fusion Cafe “Spoon by H” had the ingredients to be a success in Los Angeles, but it is the epitome of a small business, with owner and chef Yoonjin Hwang working 15 hours a day to run the restaurant with his mother. and his brother.
“We don’t have staff. We don’t have cooks. I have to do everything myself,” Hwang said. “Like so many other small businesses, we have been hit hard by the pandemic. All we could do was take things day to day and do whatever we could to stay afloat.
But as restaurants receive more take-out orders online and through apps, they face a new challenge called “friendly fraud” or “chargeback”. In the scam, a customer orders food, often through a delivery service, then receives their meal, but disputes the charge with the credit card company for a refund.
One day, Hwang received his biggest order in history, for over $ 700.
“He came and picked up the food, then a week later he challenged the charge,” Hwang said.
She lost food and money, and it just kept happening – over and over again.
“I felt incredibly helpless and frustrated. We just couldn’t keep running our business like this,” she said. So she made the decision to close the restaurant for good. Saturday should be his last day, much to the dismay of his customers.
“When I heard it was closing I was just devastated,” said Alyse Whitney, a client.
But customers saw his struggles and stepped in to help, raising over $ 60,000 on a GoFundMe page.
Hwang said, “It has been a wonderful reminder that there is more good in the people around us and in our communities.”
Hwang plans to pay off her debt with the money collected and said she might consider opening a new business someday with the profits, but is unsure when or what type of business.
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