DC Lawyer Common Karl Racine is suing Grubhub for “misleading advertising and marketing techniques” in the course of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The meals supply firm, which got here below hearth in Chicago final yr, allegedly charged hidden charges and misled prospects in an effort to extend income on the top of the pandemic.
“Grubhub charged hidden charges and used bait-and-switch promoting techniques—that are unlawful,” Racine stated in an announcement. “On high of that, the corporate deceived customers with a promotion that claimed to assist native eating places in the course of the coronary heart of the pandemic. However in actuality, this program reduce into struggling eating places’ revenue margins whereas padding Grubhub’s backside line.”
The web platform has since discontinued or disclosed every declare in the submitting, in keeping with a Grubhub spokesperson. “We work onerous to assist DC eating places and diners, and we regularly evaluate and improve our operations to higher serve them and meet their expectations,” an organization spokesperson instructed PCMag. “In the course of the previous yr, we have sought to have interaction in a constructive dialogue with the DC Lawyer Common’s workplace to assist them perceive our enterprise and to see if there have been any areas for enchancment.
“We’re dissatisfied they’ve moved ahead with this lawsuit as a result of our practices have all the time complied with DC legislation, and in any occasion, lots of the practices at problem have been discontinued,” the assertion continued. “We’ll aggressively defend our enterprise in court docket and stay up for persevering with to serve DC eating places and diners.”
Boasting a presence in additional than 4,000 US cities, Grubhub earns revenue by charging prospects and listed eating places. In 2020 alone, as COVID restricted indoor eating in lots of areas, Grubhub generated roughly $1.8 billion in income, in keeping with the AG’s workplace.
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“Customers do not thoughts paying for supply charges, however Grubhub must be trustworthy about these charges within the first place,” Racine stated. “With this lawsuit, we’re looking for to pressure Grubhub to finish its illegal practices and be clear so DC residents could make knowledgeable selections about the place to order meals and methods to assist native companies.”
The Metropolis of Chicago in August took legislation enforcement actions towards meal supply firms Grubhub and DoorDash, complaining of comparable infractions like false promotions, hidden charges, imposter web sites, and “routing” telephone numbers. Each companies contested the claims, calling Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s go well with “baseless” and “categorically unsuitable.”
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