Actually, that chargeback may come back to bite you. It was very much
of a whiny nature to have submitted a chargeback for food that was actually
delivered but was late.

You signed the receipt at the door right? ...if so good luck with the chargeback
as it will be disputed and won in the merchants favor.

Many merchants subscribe to fraud prevention services. One of the services
offered is a reporting database which is essentially a merchant built list of
credit card holders who have wronged a merchant in some manner financially.

If your information lands up on such a list you could find your card
inexplicably being declined by merchants even if you have sufficient funds.

The intention of chargebacks was to provide some recourse for customers
who have become the victim of fraud... not for customers to use the process
in a fraudulent manner which has become very prevalent.

I am a fan, just not a fan of all of it. I laid out the facts; readers may decide for themselves whether they care about the nit I picked. Nothing passive aggressive about that.

Once happened to me and I begged the waiter not to remove anything from my bill because it was AMEX Small Business Saturday and I had to spend $25+.

I did not.

Then I would advise that vendor to change that practice
and get a signature on the receipt during delivery... and
to add your information to the fraud list because quite
honestly what you did was fraudulent.

I can't say I've ever had to do a chargeback on food/restaurants... Usually it can be resolved by calling the restaurant and working out a solution from there.

Worst I had was a Papa John's which I could see from my room. Took 4+ hours for them to deliver. Each time I called to get an update I was told "the driver's on the way." The pizza arrived obviously 4+ hrs old and COLD. That's when I politely refused delivery and asked for a different one. He didn't seem pleased, but I had already called ahead to the shop right as he left.

I think a restaurant calling you within 5 mins to inform you they're out of something is EXCELLENT service. Yes, ideally they have their stuff together so that they never run out of anything, but it does happen, even for the best of them. Now, if they substituted something without telling you and it shows up (say fish instead of steak), then yes, by all means piss & moan. And yes, that has happened to me. And no, I don't eat fish.

I've also found that attempting to be nice goes a long way. The delivery drivers are often just handed a bag and an address slip/receipt. They're not the ones to be upset with.

FWIW, Over the years I've had far more comp'd meals due to excellent patronage than poor service/food quality. Getting comp'd $150+ meals because the wait staff & manager actually like you is a very humbling and rewarding experience.

I did nothing fraudulent. I submitted an honest description of the problem to my credit card issuer. If they find my rationale unacceptable, they can decline the chargeback.

Come to think of it, I might be using the wrong term. I opened a dispute. In my mind that's a chargeback, but you could be thinking of something else.

I am very familiar with merchant accounts, credit card processing and
chargebacks.

What you did is called a "friendly chargeback" which is fraud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargeback_fraud

Yes. Seems you're more interested in getting free stuff than getting good service. And the chargeback is downright improper.

That is not applicable to my situation. I made clear I did receive the calzone. This was not the nature of my dispute.

If good service is unavailable, free stuff is the best alternative.

But it is available. At the competition. Which is a lot easier to do than trying to get something for free for common poor service.

LOL, I once had an experience with Pizza Hut where it took 2 hours for the pizza to arrive, and then, when it did, we couldn't enjoy any of it, as the deadbolt on our hotel room door had broken, in the locked position. The poor delivery person stood outside the door for quite a while, and finally, we told them to leave the pizza outside the door and slide the receipt under the door so we could sign it. :)

I've found that if one is a regular at restaurants is a great way to get meals and drinks comped.

Good service is also available at the calzone place and at Pizza Hut. I know because I've ordered dozens of calzones and hundreds of Pizza Hut pizzas, all without issues until the problems described in my original post.

I only seek compensation from places I will return to.

That's an interesting comment - you only seek compensation from places you will return. I'm willing to bet many of these places will soon be "firing" you as a customer - and they would be right to do such.

I've had multiple occasions where a server has taken an order, and come back a few minutes later to say 'sorry, chef says we are out of X' - I don't think that is any different.

Most restaurants with online ordering don't have the ability to make real time changes if they run out of something, I am not quite sure what you expect them to do? They can a) call can says sorry, and offer an alternative (including the option to cancel the order) or b) deliver something else. You must have provided your phone number for them to call you, so I would say you expressly consented to them calling you in that instance.

On the being asked to move, I would expect nothing more than a thank you (although I have been pleasantly surprised by a comp'd drink on occasion). I have no issue helping a restaurant out provided I am asked politely, thanked, and not stuck somewhere much less desirable (by the washroom etc.). I don't expect anything in return at all.

It was fraud; however, I am not going to get into further argument with
you about the issue. :rolleyes:

Most of us deal with vendors seeking some service or product and do not
automatically go into compensation mode when things do not go as expected.

Some people are their own worst enemy. I've dealt with weird people in many professional roles and people who are ignorant and unwilling to deal with their own weird personal behavior end up paying the price for it every day in their personal and professional lives.