Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal directly addressed criticism regarding the platform’s declining customer support experience, stepping in personally after a former associate called out the issue on social media.
Ravi Sutanjani, a growth and partnerships professional in the Indian startup ecosystem and a former Zomato employee from its early days, publicly criticised the food delivery platform’s customer service on X (formerly Twitter). In his post, he alleged that connecting with a customer support agent had become “nearly impossible” and highlighted the brand’s reliance on email correspondence over real-time human support.
“Zomato’s customer service has gone significantly down in the last 2–3 years,” Sutanjani wrote. “Nearly impossible to connect with an agent. They want customers to e-mail for serious issues and they claim to get back in 72 hours. Brands should have human customer support.”
The post quickly garnered significant traction online, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views and attracting users who echoed similar grievances.
Within hours, Deepinder Goyal responded directly to Sutanjani’s post, signalling his intent to resolve the issue personally. “Hi Ravi, can we connect on this? This is not by design, and I would love to get to the bottom of this. I would really appreciate your help,” the Zomato CEO wrote.
Goyal’s swift and hands-on approach drew praise from many users, though others pointed out that the issue appeared systemic. “If this is not by design then how is every user asked the same thing? i.e. to mail. It’s like the end of the chain. Once all scripted answers are over this is the last resort,” one user replied.
Sutanjani also responded to Goyal and wrote, "Appreciate the acknowledgment, sir. I had a very detailed discussion with someone senior from the escalation desk this morning. Just dropped you an e-mail, happy to connect and share my PoV. Thank you."
Another shared their experience with the platform’s automated support, saying, “Nowadays, any issues, be it wrong order or missing items, the chat support just directs you to send an email, and a reply is within 48 hours. The human and instantaneous connect is long lost.”
The incident sparked a wider conversation about the erosion of real-time customer support across platforms, especially in fast-moving consumer-facing businesses such as food delivery.
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