Foodpanda attempted to rub salt into Zomato’s wounds after its recent hack, but things didn’t quite go as planned.
Last week, Zomato had revealed that 17 million users accounts from its site had been stolen. The news had created quite a hubbub — Zomato had sought to assure its users that their credit card information was safe, while technical folks speculated on how the attack had taken place. Amidst all this, Zomato Chief Technocrat Gunjan Patidar had posted about the entire incident, asking its users to not panic.
His tweet, though, caught the attention of Zomato’s arch rival, Foodpanda. Foodpanda India replied to it with its official account. “We are extremely saddened by this incident. However, our data is safe and sound.”
@gunjan2307 @Zomato We are extremely saddened by this incident. However, our data is safe and sound.
— foodpanda India (@foodpandaIndia) May 18, 2017
It was an unusual — and perhaps unnecessary — thing to say. While Zomato was busy fighting off hackers and a potential PR crisis, Foodpanda was asserting that its own data was safe. The comment rubbed some people the wrong way.
@foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato What a fuckall thing to comment
— Pranav Choudhary (@cypranav) May 18, 2017
Others thought the remark was ironic given Foodpanda’s own troubles with data security. In 2015, Mint had published a detailed expose in which it had claimed that there had been widespread mismanagement at Foodpanda. Security at Foodpanda reportedly had been lax, with order details being managed on Excel sheets.
@foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato Don't you think it's too much sarcastic to tweet it. If they did same when scams came out from your company.
— Jayanth Sugavasi (@jayanthsugavasi) May 18, 2017
Even Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal noticed the tweet. He responded to Foodpanda’s assertion that its data was safe and sound with a simple “good for you. “We wish this doesn’t happen to you,” he added.
@foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato Good for you. We wish this doesn't happen to you.
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) May 18, 2017
Other Zomato employees, though, were in no mood to be as magnanimous. Akshar Patel, who works as a Brand Manager at Zomato, delivered probably the best burn of the lot.
@foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato no one cares about data leakage of three people
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) May 18, 2017
Pathak’s tweet has managed to get nearly 150 RTs, and lots of reactions.
@AksharPathak @kitAnurag @foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato Dat burn
— abhilash (@abhilashbaishya) May 18, 2017
@AksharPathak @foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato pic.twitter.com/z02GjYzkTX
— sawrub (@saurabhthakar59) May 18, 2017
@AksharPathak @foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato I can't believe they set themselves up so beautifully for that. pic.twitter.com/H4xtvy6HJd
— Red Eye Jedi (@SmokingsKills) May 19, 2017
While Foodpanda conceivably has more than three users, it started a bit of a trend.
@akshaylodaya @foodpandaIndia @gunjan2307 @Zomato To find out whether they exist
— crazyreader_pearl (@pearl_cr) May 18, 2017
Ouch.