NANDO’S fans have been left furious after they missed out on the half price Eat Out to Help Out discount while using the chicken chain’s app.
Customers say they ended up paying full-price because they either didn’t use a code when paying for their bill, or their code didn't work.
Other diners say the code they were given only applied the discount once per order, instead of per person.
Eat Out to Help Out sees diners get 50 per cent off food and non-alcoholic drinks in select restaurants, pubs and cafes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays until August 31.
The government says this applies per person, up to a maximum of £10 per head.
The discount should also be applied automatically, meaning diners shouldn’t need to ask for their bill to be halved.
But Nando's customers can only pay via its app while eating in and this doesn't automatically apply the Eat Out to Help Out discount.
How does the Eat Out to Help Out scheme work?
THE government is covering half of the cost of a meal out, up to £10 a head, including children's meals.
The discount means that a meal out for one that costs £20 will be reduced to £10, but a £25 meal for one will be slashed to £15 because of the £10 cap per person.
There is no limit to the number of times you can use the discount, so in theory you can get half price meals on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
Businesses will need to register with the scheme on Gov.uk before being able to offer the discount, as well as be Food Standards Agency approved.
Instead of issuing discount vouchers – which the government felt increased the risk of fraud – restaurants, cafes and pubs will be able to claim back the cash.
The refund will then been transferred into restaurants, cafes and pubs' bank accounts within five working days.
Customers will only receive the discount if they eat out at a registered business.
Instead, each customer has to ask a staff member for a code to enter on the app.
The Sun has also reported on KFC fans not getting the Eat Out to Help Out offer unless they specifically ask it.
At Nando's, when dining in you can't pay using your card or any other form of contactless payment.
Customers can still use a contactless card if ordering food for home delivery or takeaway – although Eat Out to Help Out only applies for dine-in orders.
Nando's isn't accepting physical cash at all.
The chicken chain has been cashless since it started reopening its branches for delivery orders on May 29 following the coronavirus crisis.
Nando's customers have since taken to Twitter to complain to the restaurant chain.
One diner said: "I was at your Beckton branch yesterday and it's not deducting the Eat Out to Help Out per person instead of per order.
"If a party of four attend and one person orders for four people, they only give one discount code even though the order is for four people"
A second said: "What’s going on with your Eat Out to Help Out codes? Not working in Sevenoaks store and my son has had to pay full price! Manager said nothing he can do?"
A third said: "I went to Nando's, queued up a whole hour got my discount code just to sit down and pay full price because I forgot to apply the code at checkout."
Another customer said: "I just entered the code and it said I had to pay £11.60, but on trying to pay the final screen said I paid £21.60.
"[The manager] said all staff have been told to tell customers to 'press harder' on their phones because there is an issue with adding the code."
It comes after Nando's announced plans to reopen another 92 restaurants for eat-in customers, all of which should be taking part in Eat Out to Help Out.
It'll bring the total number of locations that are now doing eat-in once again to 194.
Customers that have successfully used the money-off scheme have bagged a quarter Peri Peri chicken for just £1.85 – you can see more Nando's discounts here.
A Nando's spokesperson said: "In order to implement the 50 per cent discount for Eat Out To Help Out scheme all customers need to use a unique code in our new pay at table app which will be given to them when they arrive at the restaurant.
"We’re sorry to hear that some customers have had trouble during the first couple of days, if anyone doesn’t receive a code or has trouble inputting the code then please speak to a member of the restaurant team who will be happy to help process the discount."
Nando's has around 420 restaurants in the UK.
You can see a full list of places that are doing Eat Out to Help Out here.
The government has launched an Eat Out to Help Out postcode checker to find restaurants offering the meal deal near you.
Plus, here are the Eat Out to Help Out posters to look out for in restaurants to get 50 per cent off.
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