A group of people are accusing food delivery service DoorDash of charging iPhone users a higher rate than customers who order via Android . It seems some may be paying for the blue message bubble in ways they hadn't thought of before.
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The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland , alleges that DoorDash engages in “deceptive and deceptive practices” by charging hidden fees behind certain labels.
Specifically, some DoorDash orders have an “ extended range ” surcharge , which is imposed when a restaurant is outside a customer’s “ normal delivery area .” According to the lawsuit , DoorDash requires customers to pay an extended range fee in situations where it doesn’t have to. This includes sending orders to restaurants that are further away from the customer to justify the surcharge and charging DashPass users a fee to subsidize revenue lost during the program’s lifetime.
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The group accuses DoorDash of charging the extended range fee only to iPhone users and not to Android users, even when they place the same order at the same location and at the same time.
“Tests show that DoorDash charges iPhone users the extended range fee more often than Android users and charges iPhone users more for ‘delivery’ (likely because studies show that iPhone users earn more),” the lawsuit states. “These tactics are simply money grabs.”
The lawsuit claims that the app misleads customers into thinking that “standard delivery areas” depend on geographic location, but are actually determined by how much a restaurant pays DoorDash.
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The lawsuit includes other allegations, including DoorDash’s hypocritical use of “city fees,” which trick customers into thinking they’re paying local governments. The lawsuit claims that while DoorDash charges an optional $3 “Express” fee, the service can’t actually speed up the order. That means opting for DoorDash’s express delivery option may not help you get your food faster than if you’d spent that $3 on a few extra packets of sauce!
