Operating since 2001, Yemeksepeti has entered a major renewal process since the beginning of 2022. However, this change seems to have taken the platform of the years back, not forward. So what are users experiencing?
Yemeksepeti, which brought the online food ordering culture to the whole of Turkey, was founded in 2001 by Nevzat Aydın. German fast order network for $589 million in 2015 Delivery HeroThe company sold to “The highest value sale in the history of Turkey” was recorded as.
In fact, after 2015, things got better for Yemeksepeti. With the power of Delivery Hero, the company, which expanded outside of Turkey, became one of the pioneers of the fast-paced market order sector in Turkey with the Banabi brand, which it would later face many competitors. The renewal process that started did not work for the company either.
The beginning of a big change… The new era of Yemeksepeti started with the departure of its founder:
First of all, it should be noted that this change is normal for the business world. Mert Baki, who has been working as a senior manager in the company for many years, took over as CEO after the departure of founder Nevzat Aydın in November 2021. A few months later, in May 2022, Yemeksepeti, whose web and mobile application design was completely renewed, is unfortunately remembered for the negative experiences it has given to the end users and business partners, rather than its successes.
Before the design change, the main problem was data security concerns: However, it was Yemeksepeti’s attitude and not security that magnified the problem:
The crisis, which started with the claim that the data of 30 million users, which we summarized in the video above, was seized, was a difficult entry to the new era for Yemeksepeti. However, what magnified the problem was not the data being stolen, but the company’s persistent refusal to do so. Despite its rejection, the KVKK imposed an administrative fine of 1 million 9000 thousand TL on the company, which was not a deterrent at all, 3 months after the incident. After the sentence, the events were largely forgotten.
So why is it important for KVKK to impose deterrent penalties? Actually, this has nothing to do with Yemeksepeti directly. In an environment where everything is increasingly digital, all companies must take responsibility and unfortunately, it is often the penalty that triggers security investments. For example, Facebook Cambridge Analytica It still continues in the USA and Europe after the scandal. However, similar incidents across our country are quickly forgotten, and the legal process results in penalties that will not disturb large companies.
Even after such an event, the worries did not go away: Even months later, some users stated that food was ordered unannounced via registered credit cards:
If these security-based complaints made in June 2022 are true, it is clear that most of the data allegedly stolen is still in the hands of malicious people. Today, when you tell your e-mail address, there are platforms that say whether it has been captured by hackers before, but Yemeksepeti does not provide regular information to its users, and when financial grievances occur, it receives reactions.
Yemeksepeti users cannot feel the company by their side at this point. In the digital age, it should not be difficult to accept that data leaks are a natural result and take steps such as informing users who have been harmed and warning them to change their card information.
The data breaches that are now certain to have happened, the unanswered users who stated that they were victims, the delayed corporate disclosures made with the aim of “rejecting what happened” disinclined the users of Yemeksepeti:
As a result, many people left Yemeksepeti and started using other applications as they now have different options.
Still, good steps are not being taken. For example, the Muhtarlik feature, whose function could not be fully resolved, was removed from the platform:
No one had been able to figure out why such a “gamification” feature was used, and what the points earned by ordering were for other than ranking. It’s good that it was removed…
In addition, the Yemeksepeti unmanned delivery robot began operating in Yebo in such a period: However, there was no initiative that received a response from the general public.
Unmanned order deliveries made in Caddebostan, Istanbul, showed that the company is not behind its global competitors in new generation technologies. The news of the “use of the ordering robot” was not a big deal for a user who had difficulty in meeting his more basic needs of the delivery robot or was worried about information security, and this concern was not addressed by the company.
Simultaneously with all these events, there was another event that affected Yemeksepeti’s overall quality and position in the eyes of the society: Courier actions.
Nevzat Aydın, who was the head of the company at that time, first responded to the working conditions that were controversial in 2021. However, as the economic conditions got tougher, these reactions took on flesh and bones and turned into actions.
Simultaneously in January, couriers of companies such as Trendyol and Hepsiburada started to take action because their economic demands were not met. For Yemeksepeti, this process took longer, approximately 3 months, compared to other companies. You may remember that Haluk Levent, who solved the Migros case, stepped in and tried to make the case smoother… Claims that the couriers were dismissed when interviewed with the press were recorded, and even a former courier made the statement “Even breathing is a crime”.
The actions of the couriers are not unique to Turkey or companies in our country. As the effects of the pandemic started to disappear with 2022, the order applications that we use less entered a downward trend. In fact, an investigation was launched by the Ministry of Labor in New York against Getir, Turkey’s first decacorn. It should also be noted that an increase in the number of such cases is expected.
From the point where Yemeksepeti has come, restaurants that are business partners also started to complain:
The claim that orders were made from closed restaurants created a completely different agenda. Restaurant owners think that this situation will make customers suffer and may cause wrong judgments about their own businesses. And they’re right… Who would want to place an order that will never come?
It was even seen that some restaurants advertised as follows due to the problems in Yemeksepeti:
There are also allegations that restaurants are not aware of the orders placed:
The grievances experienced are not only limited to the technical problems in the applications:
The situation is sometimes summarized on LinkedIn as follows:
Some customers have also started to report their problems to restaurants as order notes:
