A Bengaluru man’s post went viral after he criticised Swiggy Instamart for adding free tomatoes to his order. Though the 500 grams of tomatoes were free, he was annoyed because he couldn’t remove them from his cart. He also said he didn’t need the tomatoes and called this a ‘dark pattern’.
User complains about ‘dark pattern’
On X (formerly Twitter), a user named Bengaluru man wrote, “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.”
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Further he mentioned, “Muting this because the idiots of twitter have found this tweet. 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.” in another post.
User’s Post remarking on Swiggy receives 68.7K views on X
Meanwhile, the post has gotten 68.7K views on X. One user commented, “Customer must have the final say. Offer freebies but customers 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.”
In addition, one user wrote, “I’m trying to understand this better – if it’s free, is it still considered a dark pattern? I do understand that you’re unable to remove it.” One user shared their experience on Zepto, stating, “In Zepto, they add the free stuff to the cart but they have a “Remove” button in case you don’t want it.”
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Another user commented, “Reminds me of Byju’s free classes vouchers which were added in the cart and given with every order on Flipkart 2-3 years back.” Some users mentioned it could be a bug since they could easily remove the free items. “I believe it’s a bug because I’ve always been able to remove free items from my cart on Swiggy.” Another user noted, “Usually you can. Weird – maybe it’s glitching? Generally I was able to remove the free items. Idk if it’s a bug or intended.”
Stating that the item was free in this case, one user corrected the statement about dark patterns, explaining that it refers to when you’re charged for something without your knowledge.