A missing side or a missing drink after the guest has left costs a second remedy when nobody wrote down what already left the pass. Record the channel, the missing line, and any remedy already issued, and leave every unknown cell blank.
A missing takeout item is a line on the ticket that the guest says did not arrive. Split the claim by the channel that took the order, then fill a blank log. Chick-fil-A tells a guest to contact the restaurant that took the order, and says recovery options vary and each restaurant decides (support page saved 11 October 2026). DoorDash tells a delivery guest to report a missing or incorrect item in the DoorDash app, where self-help can offer a credit, a refund, or a redelivery when those options are available (help text captured 11 October 2026). A direct order and a DoorDash order do not share one remedy. This page gives the channel split, the missing-item log, and a pack-and-handoff check. It sets no refund amount and no script.
- Split the claim by channel before anyone chooses a remedy.
- Copy the missing-item log and leave the entry column empty.
- Check the same order id before a second remedy.
- Recheck the pack: label, closure, sides with the meal, drinks off the hot bag.
- A photo of an opened bag shows the frame. It does not show what left the pass.
Which channel handles the missing item?
Leave the remedy cell blank until the shift writes what that channel actually allows. The sources below name who the guest contacts. They do not set a dollar amount, a store-credit rule, or words the staff have to say.
| Channel | What the opened source says | What you write |
|---|---|---|
| Direct order or in-house pickup | Chick-fil-A tells the guest to contact the restaurant that took the order. Recovery options vary and are at the discretion of each restaurant. After a refund is processed, posting time follows the guest’s financial institution. | Channel = direct. Remedy cell stays blank. |
| DoorDash delivery | The guest reports in the DoorDash app under missing or incorrect items. Self-help can offer a credit, a refund, or a redelivery when available. | Channel = DoorDash. Note a report only when you can see it. Remedy cell stays blank. |
| Caviar pickup | The same DoorDash help article tells the guest to check the pickup order before leaving and to contact the restaurant about missing items, incorrect items, or spilled food. | Channel = Caviar pickup. Remedy cell stays blank. |
| Another marketplace | Read that platform’s current help page. One restaurant’s refund page is not that platform’s rule. | Write the platform name. Remedy cell stays blank. |
DoorDash’s captured help article splits the guest path by device. On the mobile app, the guest selects the order from Orders, taps Help, selects Missing or incorrect items under Order Issues, and follows the prompts. On desktop, the guest opens the menu, selects Orders and the order, selects Help, selects Missing items or Items made incorrectly under Order Issues, and follows the prompts. Those taps are from the capture saved 11 October 2026. The HTML file saved for a direct fetch of that URL is an error page, so do not treat the taps as a screen rechecked on 14 October 2026.
DoorDash’s definitions in that capture: a missing item is a whole item that was ordered and is absent, or part of an item that is absent. The example of a part is a side of fries from a combo meal. An incorrect item is a wrong size, the wrong menu item, a special instruction or a request for additional ingredients that was not followed, or an item that contained unexpected ingredients or differed from the menu description. When the whole order is the wrong order, the article says to report it as “Order never arrived,” not as a missing item.
Caviar delivery, on the same article, is a report after signing in to Caviar: Orders, then Help, then Missing Items or Items Made Incorrectly, with a detail such as Whole Item Missing or Side Option Missing. Caviar pickup is the restaurant contact in the table. That pickup list also includes an order the restaurant did not confirm, an order that was not ready, and food quality that was not as expected.
DoorDash’s Manage Orders listing includes a card dated 24 March 2026 titled “Adjusting Existing Orders in the DoorDash Tablet.” The card says the tablet can adjust active and scheduled orders from the Live Orders screen, including issuing refunds or replacements. The article behind that card was not opened, so this page lists no tablet taps. If your screen shows a refund or a replacement control, write what you see. If it does not, leave the cell blank.
La Cocina De Consuelo publishes a refund and return policy covering walk-in, dine-in, call-in, online, and third-party orders (page saved 11 October 2026). It tells the guest to call the restaurant or the third-party delivery company. It says the restaurant cannot change a confirmed third-party order, and that third-party issues go to the third-party company. It also sets that restaurant’s own timing and its own conditions for returning a wrong item. Those conditions stay on that page. They are not a rule for another kitchen.
Operators also ask whether the remedy is a refund, store credit, or a gift card. That is the question in a public restaurant-owners post saved with the 11 October 2026 research files. The replies are not used here. This page does not pick a refund, store credit, or a gift card.
Takeaway: Name the channel from the table, and leave the remedy blank until the shift writes what that channel allows.
What do you write on the missing-item record?
One claim, one copy of the table. The entry column is empty on purpose. Do not add the guest’s name, phone, or address. The order id already on the ticket is the identifier. Consuelo asks its own guests for a receipt, a phone number, or an online order number. This log keeps the phone number off the sheet.
| Line | What you write | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Direct, DoorDash, Caviar pickup, or the platform name | |
| Order id | Number already on the ticket or receipt | |
| Missing line | Whole item, part of an item, drink, side, or courtesy item | |
| Bags | How many bags left the pass, and how many the guest says arrived | |
| Photo | Whether a photo of the opened order is on file. Blank if you have none | |
| Remedy already issued | Credit, refund, redelivery, or remake, only when you can see it | |
| Second remedy | Blank until the row above is filled or marked unknown | |
| Pack note | What you saw on label, closure, sides, and drinks |
DoorDash’s missing-item examples are a whole item, or a side such as fries from a combo. A drink is a separate line. In DoorDash’s packaging article dated 29 September 2026, Gianluca Pesce of Yolk is quoted as saying that highlighting the beverage on the receipt helped staff remember to take the drinks and reduced missing drinks. That is one restaurant’s reported practice inside DoorDash’s article. It is not a script for your pass. On the log, write “drink” when the missing line is a drink.
Courtesy items are another line, not a verdict. Consuelo’s policy says that restaurant does not give a discount, a refund, or store credit for a missing courtesy item such as disposable silverware, and that other condiments are provided on request. That is that restaurant’s rule. If the missing line is a free extra, write “courtesy” and still leave the remedy blank.
A guest photo is a file, not a finding. DoorDash’s help article asks for clear photos of the items received, unwrapped and not blurry, a photo of the receipt when the guest has one, and a photo that shows the reported problem. Its example for a missing side is an opened bag with the fries missing. The photo shows what is in the frame. It does not show what left your pass. Write that a photo is on file, or leave the cell blank. Do not write “proved.”
Takeaway: Fill one row from the ticket you already have, and leave name, phone, and any unseen remedy empty.
How do you avoid a second remedy on the same line?
Read the order id on the log before anyone issues another credit, refund, redelivery, or remake. DoorDash says self-help can already offer a credit, a refund, or a redelivery, depending on the circumstances and when those options are available. If that offer is visible on your tablet or your payout note, write it under “Remedy already issued” and stop. If you cannot see it, leave both remedy cells blank. Do not guess a second payment to fill the row.
Merchant error-charge deadlines and outcomes are outside this page. Those merchant articles were not opened.
Chick-fil-A says that after a refund is processed, the time for funds to post follows the guest’s financial institution. Do not give the guest a number of days from this page.
Takeaway: One order id gets one recorded remedy, and an unseen remedy stays blank.
What do you recheck on the pack and the handoff?
After the guest is answered, walk the pack for that order. DoorDash’s packaging article, dated 29 September 2026 and captured 11 October 2026, lists kitchen steps that keep items with the right order. Use them as a review. They are not a score, and they are not a supplier list.
| Check | What DoorDash’s packaging article says | Your note |
|---|---|---|
| Container | Use a container that fits the item, and train the station on which container is for which menu item | |
| Label | Label the to-go packaging with its contents | |
| Closure | Tape or a sticker keeps the package shut | |
| Sides | Pack condiments or side dishes with the meal they belong to | |
| Drinks | Keep cold drinks separate from bags of hot food, in a sturdy drink tray | |
| Hold | Keep the order on a hot tray or warming equipment until pickup | |
| Same steps | Use the same pack steps on the next order |
The photographs on this page show plain bags and cups with no printing. Your ticket can still carry a contents note. Write on the pack-note line only what you saw on this order: labeled or not, closed or not, side with the meal or not, drinks in the hot bag or set apart.
A miss found while you are still deciding whether a dish belongs on the delivery menu goes on the delivery dish trial. A claim after the order has left uses the log on this page. Channel fees, and refunds as a later deduction from what an order contributes, are on the delivery apps guide. More delivery writing is in Delivery operations and on the blog.
Takeaway: Walk the seven pack checks for the order in front of you, and write only what you saw.
When this does not apply
- Refund amounts and scripts. The remedy cell stays blank. This page does not choose a refund, store credit, or a gift card.
- Error-charge appeals. Deadlines and outcomes were not in the pages opened for this article.
- Guest fraud, cameras, and personal lists. The log uses the order id already on the ticket. It does not collect a guest list.
- Food-safety time and temperature. Not stated in the sources used here.
- Alcohol. This page does not add drinks as a product to sell, and it does not encourage anyone to drink.
- Packaging supply. The pack check records the bags and cups you already use. It does not pick a container brand. Compare two container samples on one sheet in the takeout packaging sample test.
- Another restaurant’s clock. Consuelo’s timing and return conditions are that restaurant’s terms. They are not copied here.
- Platforms whose missing-item pages were not opened. Uber Eats is one. Write the channel name and read that platform’s current help page before you act.
Takeaway: Use the log for a missing line on an order you already took, and leave appeals, safety rules, and unopened platforms to their own pages.
How we checked this
Compiled on 14 October 2026 from pages saved on 11 October 2026.
Chick-fil-A’s short support page was saved in full. It sends a missing-item or wrong-order guest to the restaurant that took the order, says recovery options vary and each restaurant decides, and says refund posting time follows the financial institution.
La Cocina De Consuelo’s refund and return policy was saved in full. This page uses the split between the restaurant and the third-party company, the note that a confirmed third-party order is not changed by the restaurant, the request for a receipt or order number, and the restaurant’s own rule on courtesy items. Its timing and its return conditions for a wrong item are not adopted.
DoorDash’s consumer help steps come from the research capture saved 11 October 2026. A direct fetch saved for the same URL is an error page, so those steps were not refetched on 14 October 2026. The capture supplies the app and desktop report path, the missing-versus-incorrect definitions, the credit, refund, and redelivery options, the photo guidance, and the Caviar pickup and delivery split.
DoorDash’s Manage Orders category page, in the same capture, shows the 24 March 2026 card about adjusting orders on the tablet, including refunds or replacements from Live Orders. The article that card links to was not opened.
DoorDash’s packaging article in the capture is dated 29 September 2026. This page uses the seven pack tips and the quoted remark from Gianluca Pesce of Yolk. Menu marketing, branded packaging, and driver-rating advice in that article are not used.
The operator question that named the task is the public post “How do you handle ‘I didn’t receive’ or ‘missing’ item claims from take out?” The post asks about a refund, store credit, or a gift card. Comment replies were not used. About states who publishes this independent site.
Takeaway: Treat the platform steps as a dated capture, and treat every remedy cell as a blank your shift fills.
Related reading
- Delivery dish trial. Use it when a missing item shows up while you are still deciding whether the dish belongs on the delivery menu.
- Delivery apps guide. Use it for channel fees and for refunds as a later deduction, not for this log.
