How Many Other Checkers Subscribers Are Being Charged Unfair Hyper Delivery Fees?

I am a paying Checkers Sixty60 subscriber with an active unlimited delivery plan, and after weeks of trying to resolve an issue through the proper channels, I have reached the point where I feel compelled to raise it publicly.

The issue is simple. Products that are available within the Checkers network are frequently being redirected to Checkers Hyper on the Sixty60 app, which then triggers an additional R50 delivery fee. This happens despite the fact that there are standard Checkers stores much closer to my home.

My nearest stores are Checkers Kenilworth (approximately 1 km away) and Checkers Argo Road (approximately 1.3 km away). Yet when a product is unavailable at the selected store, the app often redirects me to a Hyper store that is even further away and charges an additional R50 delivery fee, sometimes for a single item.

I raised this concern with Checkers because, as a customer, I have no control over which store fulfils my order. I do not control stock allocation, fulfilment rules, or store selection. Those are Checkers' operational decisions. My question was simple: why am I being charged extra because of decisions made by Checkers' own systems?

I initially contacted Checkers and received a response that completely missed the point, focusing on split deliveries and item size restrictions, neither of which had anything to do with my complaint. After escalating the matter, I received a call from a team leader who explained that the closest store to a customer is not necessarily the store fulfilling the order. When I asked why another nearby standard Checkers store could not be used before redirecting me to Hyper and charging an additional fee, I was essentially told that this is just how the system works and that nothing could be done.

That response is not acceptable.

Customers should not be expected to absorb additional costs because of the way Checkers chooses to manage its fulfilment network. If a product is available elsewhere within the local Checkers ecosystem, the system should make every reasonable effort to source it before imposing additional charges on paying subscribers.

What makes this even more frustrating is that I pay for a subscription specifically because it is marketed as offering convenience and value. Instead, I find myself repeatedly facing additional charges that seem to arise from internal operational limitations rather than customer choices.

As a result, I have abandoned Checkers purchases on multiple occasions and taken my business to competitors. That should concern any retailer.

To be clear, I am not alleging that Checkers is intentionally overcharging customers. However, from a customer perspective, the experience creates the perception that subscribers are being squeezed for additional fees whenever the system can justify redirecting an order through Hyper. Whether this is a systems issue, a policy issue, or a fulfilment issue, the end result is the same: customers pay more.

I have asked Checkers for a clear explanation, a practical solution, and confirmation that customer interests are being considered. So far, I have received explanations of the process but no meaningful justification for why customers should bear the cost.

Loyalty works both ways. Customers support a business because they believe they are receiving fair value. At the moment, I am struggling to see the value in paying for a subscription while still being asked to pay additional delivery fees caused by decisions that are entirely outside my control.