The lawsuit alleges that DoorDash applies “expanded range fees” to iPhone users’ accounts more frequently than to consumers using Android devices.
A recently filed lawsuit and proposed class action claims that DoorDash charges Apple users larger delivery fees than consumers with Android devoices.
According to Business Insider, the amended complaint claims that DoorDash applies additional fees to orders placed by iPhone.
The lawsuit also alleges that consumers who purchase DashPass, a $9.99 per month subscription service, are charged further fees—effectively negating any advantage advertised by DashPass.
Yahoo! News reports that the complaint was filed on behalf of Ross Hecox, a Maryland resident with a DashPass subscription.
In his complaint, Hecox takes specific issue with the company’s “expanded range fees,” which are placed on certain orders.
Under most circumstances, expanded range fees are only applied to orders placed at a restaurant when there are closer options available.
A gavel. Image via Wikimedia Commons via Flickr/user: Brian Turner. (CCA-BY-2.0).However, the lawsuit states that these so-called expanded range fees were created by DoorDash to “[manipulate] delivery areas based on its Dashers locations [sic], consumer demand, and merchants’ partnership with DoorDash.”
DoorDash says that its expanded range fee is only added to orders placed at restaurants outside of its service areas.
Nevertheless, attorneys for Hecox purportedly conducted “experiments,” in which consumers at the same location would place two simultaneous orders to the same restaurant.
In one instance, a DashPass subscriber received an additional range fee, while another consumer without a DashPass subscription did not.
“In a test on the DoorDash Platform, however, DoorDash applied the Expanded Range Fee to a DashPass account, but not to a standard account when each account placed the same order at the same time to the same restaurant for delivery to the same home,” the lawsuit claims.
Similarly, when an iPhone user placed orders to Chick-Fil-A and a local steak house, they were also charged an expanded range fee.
However, a test subject using an Android phone at the same address was not subject to the same charges.
“DoorDash charges the expanded range fee on iPhone users more often than Android users and charges iPhone users more for ‘delivering,’” the lawsuit alleges, “likely because studies reveal iPhone users earn more [than Android users].”
“These tactics are simply money grabs,” the complaint adds.
A DoorDash spokesperson told Business Insider that the lawsuit lacks merit.
“The claims put forward in the amended complaint are baseless and simply without merit,” the spokesperson told Business Insider. “We ensure fees are disclosed throughout the customer experience, including on each restaurant storepage and before checkout. Building this trust is essential, and it’s why the majority of delivery orders on our platform are placed by return customers.”
“We will continue to strive to make our platform work even better for customers, and will vigorously fight these allegations,” DoorDash added.
Sources
A lawsuit against DoorDash alleges what some users have long suspected: the company charges Apple users more than Android owners
Lawsuit Claims Apple Users Are Charged More for Delivery on DoorDash
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