Glovo responds after Nairobi parent accused firm of selling alcohol to his daughter aged 16

On-demand courier service Glovo maintains that its deliverymen are always under strict instructions to ask customers to produce their ID cards the moment they [dispatchers] suspect that the buyers of age-restricted goods are below 18 years.

This comes just a day after a Kenyan parent, David Mugo, took to Twitter to call out Glovo for negligence after their deliveryman allegedly sold alcohol to his 16-year-old daughter and her other under-age friends.

On Sunday, December 22, the disappointed parent, who goes by the handle @raidarmax, posted the following message on micro-blogging site, Twitter: “So today I had a bunch of teenagers, under 18 who had come to hang out with my 16-year-old daughter for her birthday. I found out that some of the kids ordered Vodka from @GlovoKenya and the delivery guy just wanted to be paid and he was ready to hand the alcohol to the kids. @GlovoKenya has no way of verifying ages of anyone who orders alcohol and they only care to make a sale. @DCI_Kenya should stop them from selling alcohol until they can show they can verify age. I have reported this to Kilimani Police, and I am waiting for Glovo to respond.”

A section of Kenyans on social media faulted Mugo’s parenting skills, saying “had he brought up his daughter well, then she wouldn’t be keeping alcohol-loving teenagers as her friends”.

Others told Mugo to direct his frustrations at his daughter -- and not Glovo – who, they argued, were “just in business”.

In response, Mugo said: “Let's not confuse the point here. My daughter and her friends were wrong. I am dealing with that now. But the point of this conversation is about an adult selling alcohol to kids. I said, delivery companies like Glovo should figure out ID mechanisms. They [his daughter and her friends] did not succeed purchasing the alcohol because I had anticipated and planned for the worst.”

Following Mugo’s complaints, and the resultant feedback on social media, Glovo took to Twitter on Monday, December 23, to respond.

“We do not tolerate the distribution of age-restricted items to minors. Our terms and conditions indicate that when requesting items of this type, consumers must confirm that they meet the minimum age as required by law,” said Glovo in their press statement.

“If a courier has any reason to suspect that the consumer is under the legal age, and the consumer is unable to produce a valid form of identification upon request, then the courier reserves the right to refuse to complete the order at the point of delivery,” said Glovo, failing to directly comment on Mugo’s complaint.

The response did little to satisfy Mugo, who took to Twitter early Monday to fault the online-retailer.

“This Glovo statement however does not own their mistake that was raised in this conversation. They issued a PR statement which is not what we were looking for. They need to provide training to all their riders and suppliers to ensure these values are held high,” he said.

Glovo is an online retailer founded in Barcelona, Spain, in January 2015. It purchases, picks up, and delivers products ordered through its mobile app. Some of the products that Glovo trades in include foodstuff, age-restricted products such as alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, among others.

The fast-growing company claims more than 5.5 million unique users and 16,000 associated partners, and now operates in 124 cities across 21 countries, including Nairobi, Kenya.

The startup says it currently employs over 1,000 people globally, with over 400 people in its Barcelona HQ.