Freebies are usually taken kindly by the customers, however a free delivery package of tomatoes has not gone down well with an X (formerly Twitter)user, who called out Swiggy Instamart for practicing ‘Dark Pattern’.
In an X post, the user that goes by the name Bengaluru Man wrote that he received free tomatoes from Swiggy Instamart. However the frustration was not on getting free tomatoes, but he mentioned the problem of not being able to remove it from his cart, despite willing to do so.
Further explaining, he wrote, “the problem isn’t that I’m getting tomatoes. The problem is that basic expectations of e-commerce aren’t being respected. I should have full control as a consumer of what I choose to receive, which isn’t happening.”
“Very bad design in Swiggy Instamart, where an item is automatically added to my cart. I don’t want tomatoes but I cannot remove it from my cart. Even if I am not paying for it, this is basket sneaking which is a dark pattern,” he wrote.
Yet another user wrote, “Customer must have the final say. Offer freebies but costumer must decide yes or no. Swiggy is losing it’s way & Zomato is becoming very dominant briskly. We need a brand that generates profits for businesses & serves us, the consumer better.”
To which the response came, “I don’t want something but it’s coming anyway. Dark pattern by definition. Doesn’t matter if it’s free.”
