In order to resolve the District of Columbia’s lawsuit against the corporation for “deceptive trade practises,” Grubhub has been forced to pay $3.5 million. The meal delivery service has reached a settlement with the office of Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine “for charging clients hidden fees and employing misleading marketing practises,” according to Racine’s announcement. If you remember, his office filed a lawsuit against the business earlier this year, alleging that it misrepresented the “unlimited free delivery” promise of the Grubhub+ membership and charged hidden costs despite the fact that consumers still had to pay a service charge.
By utilising phone numbers that go to Grubhub employees or building websites without the businesses’ authorization, the corporation is also accused by the DC Attorney General’s office of listing 1,000 local restaurants without their knowledge. According to a previous TechCrunch article, the corporation has already stopped using such methods. When the epidemic first started, Grubhub conducted a campaign dubbed “Supper for Support,” which Racine said “hit eateries with the bill” and reduced their profit margins.
At the time of its filing, Grubhub deemed the complaint to be frivolous and expressed its disappointment that “the AG’s office has proceeded through with [it] since [the service’s] operations have always conformed with DC law, and in any case, many of the activities at question have been ceased.”
According to the settlement’s conditions, Grubhub will compensate impacted DC-area consumers a total of $2.7 million. If their share is not utilised within 90 days, it will be credited to their accounts and delivered to them as a check. The business must also pay the District of Columbia $800,000 in civil penalties and, moving ahead, explicitly indicate any extra costs customers must pay with their purchase.
