Grubhub ordered to pay $3.5 million to settle Washington DC misleading practices lawsuit | Engadget

Grubhub has been ordered to pay $3.5 million to settle the lawsuit filed towards the corporate by the District of Columbia over “deceptive trade practices.” Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine has announced that his workplace has reached an settlement with the meals supply service “for charging customers hidden fees and using deceptive marketing techniques.” If you will recall, his workplace sued the corporate earlier this yr, accusing it of charging hidden charges and misrepresenting Grubhub+ subscription’s provide of “unlimited free delivery,” since prospects nonetheless must pay a service charge.

The DC Attorney General’s workplace additionally accused the corporate of itemizing 1,000 eating places within the space with out their permission through the use of numbers that path to Grubhub staff or creating web sites with out the eateries’ consent. A earlier TechCrunch report stated the corporate had already ended these practices. Racine additionally stated on the time that Grubhub ran a promotion referred to as “Supper for Support” at the start of the pandemic after which “stuck restaurants with the bill” that minimize into their revenue margins.

Grubhub called the lawsuit frivolous on the time of its submitting and stated that the corporate was “disappointed [the AG’s office has] moved forward with [it] because [the service’s] practices have always complied with DC law, and in any event, many of the practices at issue have been discontinued.”

Under the phrases of the settlement, Grubhub pays affected prospects within the DC space a complete of $2.7 million. Their minimize shall be credited to their accounts, and it will likely be despatched to them as a test if it stays unused inside 90 days. In addition, the corporate has to pay $800,000 in civil penalties to the District of Columbia and has to obviously mark extra charges individuals must pay with their order going ahead.