In a statement issued to media outlets earlier this week, Domino’s claimed the customers they reported to the authorities had “abused” the 'unauthorised' vouchers in their purchase. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Popular pizza chain Domino’s issued an apology yesterday for accusing some of its customers of fraud and lodging a police report against them, resulting in several being questioned by the authorities.

The company was caught in a social media storm earlier this week after it claimed to have identified a syndicate that fraudulently sold its promotional coupons online and that some customers had used these to get large orders of pizzas for free.

Several of its online customers were called up by the police’s Commercial Crimes Department for questioning after ordering their meals online, according to the Lowyat.net technology news site.

“Hi everyone, dengan apa yang terjadi kami ingin menyusun sepuluh jari meminta maaf for what had happened (Hi everyone, after what took place, we would like to apologise for what had happened),” Domino’s said in a post published on its Facebook page late last night.

“This matter is of great urgency and those at the headquarters have already met with the customer to explain the situation.

“We truly appreciate the time and feedback our customers have given us. It has helped us find the best win-win solution.”

In a statement issued to media outlets earlier this week, Domino’s claimed the customers they reported to the authorities had “abused” the “unauthorised” vouchers in their purchase.

Lowyat.net then quoted one customer who was allegedly questioned by the police as saying Domino’s had accused the person of illegally hacking its online platform. The company claimed the customer had utilised illegal voucher codes to purchase meals at a heavily discounted price.

The site reported that claims about the vouchers being sold online by third parties were true, but said it was “unfair” for Domino’s to complain against customers who use them as they are still valid.

The writer argued that the company should have directed its attention to the culprits who sold the vouchers instead.

“If the coupon codes were illegally obtained, Domino’s should be filing a report against the seller of the codes, and disabling these ‘unauthorised’ codes on their system,” it said.

At the time the post was made, Lowyat.net claimed the unauthorised coupon codes were still listed for sale on retail platforms like Shopee.

Domino’s has since removed its allegations following strong backlash from customers.