Bengaluru woman receives ‘I miss you, says i-Pill’ notification from Zepto, company apologizes after response

Bengaluru-based fast trading platform Zepto has found itself in the eye of the storm after sending an unsolicited and inappropriate notification to a customer in India’s Silicon Valley. The message received by customer Pallavi Pareek read: “I miss you, Pallavi. Says i-Pill emergency contraceptive pill, complete with three tear-eyed emoticons.

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Pareek quickly took a screenshot of the report and shared her concerns on LinkedIn, pointing out several issues with the message.

‘One: I have never ordered an emergency pill from you. Even if I did, you should know that this is not something I should miss, or that I should miss,” Pareek wrote on LinkedIn, tagging Zepto and Zepto Cares.

She wondered, “Do you want me to have to take emergency contraceptive?” and added: “Why am I getting this when this order was never placed with you.”

As a professional in the field of workplace sexual harassment prevention and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Pareek indicated that the company’s approach with this report went too far. “A message is only good if it is sensitive or humorous, or if there is some logic in it. I draw the line when your notifications are flirty or trying to be sleazy cheesy. But this is a bit too much.”

Despite her criticism, Pareek acknowledged that she “loves” the app and relies “heavily” on fast commercial services in her daily life. “This message is intended to highlight the error in foolish logic and copying, and not against the promotion or availability of i-Pill,” she clarified.

View the entire message here:

After Pareek’s LinkedIn post gained widespread attention online, Zepto apologized and acknowledged that they “messed up.” “Hey Pallavi, we messed up, and we’re really sorry. ”, the company writes on LinkedIn.

They added that they had “immediately” addressed the issue she highlighted, “corrected” it and had taken steps to “update” their processes and “reskill” their team.

“This mistake will not happen again,” Zepto assured.