How Paytm, Zomato Got Sucked Into A Twitter War Over Customer's Tweet

‘Customer is king’ and Twitter user Shubhashish proved it right there, by making giants like Paytm and Zomato duke it out on on the micro-blogging platform. What started with a simple ‘experience-sharing’ tweet (a negative one, of course), took a hilarious turn when both companies were seen blaming each other for the mistake. And the final outcome will make you laugh till your stomach hurts!

So, what was the mistake that made Shubhashish vent his anger on social media against Paytm and Zomato?

Here is how it all started.

Like on any regular day, Shubhashish ordered food from Zomato and paid via net banking. Soon after placing his order, he got an SMS from Paytm, citing his order and asking him to pay via Paytm’s app. Considering it a sheer data breach case, he talked directly to Zomato on Twitter, if the company is selling the order data of its customers to Paytm.

I ordered food from @zomato and paid via net banking. Now I get this text from @Paytm. Is Zomato trading my order details with Paytm? WTF. pic.twitter.com/BtDzpXvg4x

— Shubhashish (@shubHASHISH) November 17, 2016

To this Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma responded:

Restaurant uses sm 3rd party order management system & they sold the order confirmation inventory to us.

Before, the two could mutually agree on a solution to it, Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal dropped in, to troll Paytm further on the moral grounds.

@vijayshekhar @shubHASHISH @shakeyiyer @akm1410 sir. If someone is ready to sell their soul, doesn’t mean that should buy it.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 17, 2016

@vijayshekhar @shubHASHISH @shakeyiyer @akm1410 this is poor user experience, our users are getting confused about payment options.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 17, 2016

As the spat continued a bit longer, Deepinder thought to get his brand name cleared from the matter.

@akm1410 @shubHASHISH @vijayshekhar We have nothing to do with paytm getting access to this data. Just clearing Zomato out here.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 17, 2016

@shubHASHISH @shakeyiyer @akm1410 @deepigoyal who said that ??? Why will we buy any outside data????

— Vijay Shekhar (@vijayshekhar) November 17, 2016

@apurv289 @vijayshekhar @shubHASHISH @shakeyiyer @akm1410 I have a hunch it is the pos company behind this.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 17, 2016

Before the debate got to the next level, Apurv Patel, Cofounder, PetPooja.com pushed it to a different angle, putting all blame on the merchant, to whom the order was placed. (Lol)

@vijayshekhar @shubHASHISH @shakeyiyer @akm1410 @deepigoyal .It isnot Zomato’s or PayTM’s mistake. It is merchant’s.

— Apurv Patel (@apurv289) November 17, 2016

@deepigoyal @vijayshekhar Merchant have an option on paid orders, they can select to not send PayTM req. And merchant didnt follow that.

— Apurv Patel (@apurv289) November 17, 2016

Finally, seeing that the discussion was turning to an unending debate, Vijay thought it best to rest his case and leave the battlefront.

@akm1410 @shubHASHISH I rest my case. On a separate note, we should be concerned. Our country’s future leaders are no better.

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 17, 2016

Well, whosoever made the mistake – the merchant, the aggregator or the payments platform, one thing is clear. There are loopholes to be mended and strict regulations must be made to adhere to data breach situations. Seems, it can be another task for PM Narendra Modi’s disaster management team.

Acche Din for the poor, unsuspecting users perhaps?

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article had the headline as ‘How Paytm, Zomato Got Sucked Into A Twitter War Over Trolling Customer,’ which has since been updated.