While many restaurants remain closed during the pandemic, For those who stay open, dining and boisterous remains a problem – even forcing a Los Angeles restaurant owner to close the store, CBS Los Angeles reports.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a growing number of restaurants in the city are struggling as scammers take advantage of internet orders to use fraudulent credit cards or request a refund, claiming they never received all or part of an order.
The Korean Fusion Cafe “Spoon by H” had the ingredients to become an LA success story, but is the epitome of a small business, with owner and chef Yoonjin Hwang working 15 hours a day to run the restaurant with her mother and brother.
“We don’t have staff. We don’t have chefs. I have to do everything myself,” said Hwang. “Like so many other small businesses, we were hit hard by the pandemic. All we could do was take it every day and do everything we could to stay afloat.”
But as restaurants increasingly receive takeout orders online and through apps, they are facing a new challenge called ‘friendly fraud’ or ‘chargebacks’. In the scam, a customer orders food, often through a delivery service, then receives their meal, but disputes the cost with their credit card company to get a refund.
One day, Hwang got her largest order ever, for over $ 700.
“He came and picked up the food, and a week later he disputed the charge,” Hwang said.
She lost the food and the money, and it just kept happening – over and over.
“I just felt so incredibly helpless and frustrated. We just couldn’t keep running our business like this,” she said. So she decided to close the restaurant for good. Saturday will be her last day, much to the dismay of her customers.
“When I found out it was closing, I was devastated,” said Alyse Whitney, a customer.
But customers saw her struggles and stepped in to raise more than $ 60,000 on a GoFundMe page.
Hwang said, “It is a great reminder that there is more good in those around us and in our communities.”
Hwang plans to pay off her debt with the money raised, saying she might one day open a new business with the income, but she doesn’t know when or what kind of business.