What are the reasons for failed or rejected orders?

What are the reasons for failed or rejected orders?

Occasionally, a restaurant may need to reject an order, or an order might fail to reach the store correctly. When this happens, the customer is notified that the order was not accepted by the store.

If an order fails through the GSM Printer or OrderUp, the store is alerted immediately and a series of SMS notifications are sent to the store’s designated failed order mobile number, warning the store both when an order is about to fail and when it has failed, if it is not accepted within the cut-off window.

Important: In any of these situations, the store should not prepare the food, as the customer will likely try placing the order again.

How to Cancel or Reject Orders at the Store

The method for rejecting an order depends on your printer type:

  • GSM Printer: When the printer rings and you cannot accept the order, press the “C” button.
  • Android Touch Screen Printer: Select “Reject” on the screen.

After selecting reject, you will need to choose a reason for the cancellation. Use the UP/DOWN buttons or scroll on the touch screen to select the appropriate reason from the available options.

Cancelled/Rejected Order Reasons

Below are the reasons you can select when cancelling or rejecting an order, along with a brief explanation of each.

Reject Order ReasonReject Failure ReasonWhen to Use
Unable to DeliverCapacity – No delivery bikes available.When there are no available drivers or delivery bikes to fulfil the order.
Too BusyCapacity – Restaurant too busy to take orders.When the store cannot accept additional orders due to high order volumes or operational constraints.
Don’t Deliver to AreaCustomer’s delivery address is out of bounds.When the delivery address falls outside the store’s approved delivery area.
Food UnavailableOne or more menu items on the order are out of stock.When any item in the order is unavailable and no suitable substitute is possible.
Load SheddingNo electricity in store.When the store is unable to operate due to a power outage.
Time UnavailableNo time allocated for the delivery of the order.When delivery time slots are unavailable or fully booked.
JAM – Please ReorderPaper jam in the printer. Customer must resend the order.When a printer error prevents the order from printing and processing, requiring the customer to place the order again.

Failed orders

Occasionally, an order sent to your GSM printer may fail to reach the store correctly. Common causes include:

  • Power outages at the restaurant
  • Internet or network failures affecting the printer

Failed Order Reasons

Common order failure reasons and how they may occur are outlined below. This will help staff understand why an order may not be accepted or may fail to reach the store.

Failed Order ReasonDescription / BreakdownHow This Occurs
Could Not Contact StoreAssociated with the YUMBI Printer.Occurs when the YUMBI Printer is offline, disconnected from the network, or unattended when a new order rang.
The Store Is Closed At This TimeOrder placed outside of store trading hours.Customer places order close to closing time, delays payment, or retries payment after the store has closed.
Delivery Provider Connection FailureDelivery provider did not respond.The YUMBI platform attempts to send the order through to the delivery provider, but does not receive a response from the delivery provider.
Timed Out Waiting for Store to AcceptStore did not accept order in time.Order was sent to the store but not accepted within the allowed timeframe and was automatically cancelled.
Timed Out Checking If Store Is LiveStore status could not be confirmed.The YUMBI Platform checks if store is online before sending order but does not receive a live status response in time.
Timed Out Attempting to Send Order to the StoreOrder transmission failureThe YUMBI Platform attempted to send the order but did not receive confirmation that it was successfully received.
Jam – Please ReorderPrinter paper jamA paper jam occurred while the order was printing and the order must be resent.
Voucher Redemption FailedVoucher validation unsuccessfulWhen a customer places an order, the YUMBI system performs validation checks to ensure that the voucher meets all required conditions.


The validation may fail if one or more of the following applies:


- The voucher has expired.
- The minimum spend requirement has not been met.
- The voucher is not valid for the selected store.
- The usage limit has been reached
- The voucher code is incorrect or invalid.
- A long wait time on the checkout page may cause the voucher to expire.
Could Not Advise Voucher As Max Delay Has Been ExceededVoucher validation unsuccessfulThe voucher redemption could not be completed due to an interruption, such as an internet connectivity issue. This means the voucher couldn't be processed within the allowed time limit.
Unknown AddressDelivery address could not be validatedAddress entered is incomplete, incorrectly formatted, not recognised by the system, or outside the store’s mapped delivery zone.

We recommend having a look at our Suggested Remedies for Failed Orders article to see how best to manage your failed orders.

If you find that these failed order reasons are happening often, please contact the
YUMBI Support Team for further assistance.

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