Although many restaurants remain closed during the pandemic, for those who stay open, dinner and running remain a problem – and even forced the owner of a Los Angeles restaurant to close the store, reports CBS Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles Times, an increasing number of restaurants in the city have struggled as scammers take advantage of Internet requests to use fraudulent credit cards or request refunds, claiming that they have never received part or all of an order.
Korean Fusion Cafe “Spoon by H” had the ingredients to become a success story in LA, 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 is brother.
“We have no employees. We have no cooks. I have to do everything myself,” said Hwang. “Like so many other small companies, we were hit hard by the pandemic. All we could do was take it from day to day and do what we could to stay afloat ”.
But as restaurants increasingly take delivery orders online and via apps, they face a new challenge called “friendly fraud” or “chargebacks”. In the coup, the customer orders food, usually through a delivery service, and receives the meal, but disputes the charge with the credit card company for a refund.
One day, Hwang received his biggest order of all time, for more than $ 700.
“He came and took the food and, a week later, disputed the charge,” said Hwang.
She lost her food and money, and it kept happening – indefinitely.
“I felt incredibly helpless and frustrated. We just couldn’t continue running our business like that,” she said. So, she made the decision to close the restaurant forever. Saturday is set to be his last day, much to the chagrin of his customers.
“When I found out it was closing, I was devastated,” said Alyse Whitney, a client.
But customers saw their difficulties and helped, raising more than $ 60,000 on a GoFundMe page.
Hwang said, “It has been a wonderful reminder that there are more good things in the people around us and in our communities.”
Hwang plans to pay off his debt with the money raised and said he might think about starting a new business someday with the earnings, but he does not know when or what type of business.