Message the store before the time runs out. That single action is the difference between an extension and a fee, and it works because a store can give you more time whenever it chooses.
What a store can and cannot do
- It can give you more time. Any amount, at any point.
- It cannot give you less than the collect-by time you agreed to.
So asking costs you nothing and often works. Not asking is what costs money.
If you genuinely cannot come
Message the store from the order. Two things can happen:
They offer you a courier price. Paying it converts the order into a normal delivery to your address. This is the clean solution for "I've been called out of town".
They decline, or you decline the price. The pickup stands as agreed, and the clock keeps running unless they extend it.
If you went and the place was shut
Report it from the order, before your collect-by time expires. This is the one case where the clock stops: it pauses and a dispute opens.
Metzee then decides. If it was the store's fault, you get a full refund and no strike. If not, the clock carries on with whatever time was left.
Do this while it is true and provable. "I turned up on Tuesday and it was closed" is much stronger said on Tuesday than a week later.
If the time simply passes
Nothing agreed, nothing reported, not collected — the order closes and three things happen:
- The store keeps its fee. Usually 7%, 20% for items that spoil, and never more than 20%.
- The rest is refunded to you.
- You get a strike. Three inside ninety days and you cannot bid for a while.
Metzee takes no commission on that fee. It goes to the store, because the store held an item, turned other buyers away for it, and was stood up.
If the store cancels instead
Then you get everything back and there is no fee. A store that cannot hand over what you paid for does not get to keep a share of it.
The honest summary
The fee is not a trap; it is the cost of a held item. And it is entirely avoidable by sending one message before the deadline rather than after it.
More: what happens if I don't collect, how pickup works, can I collect instead of having it posted.