DC sues Grubhub, claiming its app is full of hidden fees and jacked-up prices

The Attorney General of the District of Columbia is accusing the food delivery app of inflating prices for diners who order through it. The suit demands an end to a laundry list of illegal practices.

The lawsuit argues that the promises of free delivery and online orders are not true. While customers can make pickup orders for free, the company charges delivery and service fees for standard orders and service fees for GrubHub Plus orders, displaying the service fee until recently as part of a single line with sales taxes.

Consumers expect that the prices listed on the menu are accurate.

Many restaurants have been listed without their permission, as well as taking a commission, as previously reported by news outlets. Over a thousand restaurants in DC that had no connection with the company were listed in the complaint, which said that the unauthorized listings often contained menu errors and resulted in orders that would take longer to fill.

More elaborate attempts have been made to insert itself into restaurant transactions as well. The lawsuit notes the launch of unsanctioned microsites that appear to be official restaurant sites, as well as custom phone numbers that let it charge fees when customers call restaurants, even when the calls didn't result in orders. The company offered restaurants $250 in compensation after it was criticized for requiring restaurants to foot the bill for a special discount.

Many of the practices it describes are either appropriately disclosed or have been discontinued. We will defend our business in court and look forward to serving DC restaurants and diners.

According to the statement, the app no longer lists restaurants that haven't agreed to work with it, and the Supper for Support program has been retired. It also includes disclosures in its terms of use, and it will more prominently tell users that prices might be lower when ordering directly from the restaurant, and that only pickup orders are free.

It is not the only delivery app that charges higher fees that customers aren't aware of, nor is it the only one that has been sued. Last year, the city of Chicago sued both DoorDash and GrubHub on the same grounds, and it publicized an amended complaint last month. The companies have called the legal overreach by the cities a legal overreach.