The "small number" of customers affected would be contacted with an offer of full compensation, HelloFresh said. Photo: RNZ / Dan Satherley
A food delivery company says a "technical glitch" led to some people being overcharged.
Consumer NZ earlier this week said it had received numerous complaints from HelloFresh customers billed for meal kit subscriptions they paused or cancelled.
The watchdog said some were also having to pay for return postage, but HelloFresh insisted it was not in the wrong.
The weekly food delivery service runs on a subscription model, but customers can opt out of some packs if they don't like what's on offer - and as long as the request was actioned by a certain date, they do not have to pay for it.
On Wednesday HelloFresh said it had found a flaw in its system, and was working to resolve the issue.
"After a further in-depth internal investigation together with our global tech team we've tracked down a temporary technical glitch in regards to customers pausing their subscriptions," the company said in a statement.
"We are sorry about the inconveniences and will make sure this won't happen again in future."
The "small number" of customers affected would be contacted with an offer of full compensation, it said.
RNZ first reported on the problem back in January 2020.
Some said they had even contacted HelloFresh to tell them their app often failed to record when they wanted to skip a delivery.
"Their argument is you should have contacted them to say the app wasn't working in time," one customer told Consumer NZ, "but (a) you don't know it hasn't worked and (b) they know full well it doesn't."
Consumer said HelloFresh earlier denied any problems with its software, with "no identified issues with the website or the app functionality in the back end".
"It is a process that customers are always refunded if any inconsistencies are discovered," a spokesperson for the company said.
Consumer NZ head of content Caitlin Cherry said HelloFresh customers should take a screenshot when they opt out of a delivery to prove they did it by the cutoff date.
"If you skipped your order within the specified timeframe, but HelloFresh refuses to provide a full refund, you can contact your bank to request a chargeback, provided you have paid on a credit card or debit card. Alternatively, you can escalate the matter to the Disputes Tribunal.
"Finally, report any issues to the Commerce Commission - that way the Commission knows about matters affecting New Zealanders."