Grubhub Sued by DC Attorney General , For Alleged Deceptive Trade Practices.
Grubhub Sued by DC Attorney General , For Alleged Deceptive Trade Practices.
The lawsuit was filed by the Washington D.C.
Attorney General Karl Racine on March 21.
The deceptive practices alleged against Grubhub in the lawsuit include ... false advertising, overblown fees and inaccurate restaurant prices.
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According to the lawsuit, the Grubhub app listed more than a thousand "partner restaurants" that actually had no contract with the company.
This deceptive conduct significantly impacted District of Columbia consumers, as the menu offerings, prices, and hours for Non-Partner Restaurants .., Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News.
... were more likely to be out-of-date or incorrect, and there was a greater likelihood that orders from those restaurants would take longer to fill, would be filled incorrectly, would be delivered cold, , Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News.
... or would eventually be canceled altogether, Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News.
Grubhub responded to the allegations in a statement made to the Associated Press.
We will aggressively defend our business in court and look forward to continuing to serve D.C.
Restaurants and diners, Grubhub Statement, via NPR News.
The lawsuit alleges that the fees charged by Grubhub were "obscured.".
Moreover, until recently, even when consumers got to the checkout page, Grubhub further obscured those fees by combining them in the same line item as 'taxes', Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News.
According to the lawsuit, these practices are coercive and manipulative.
This practice constitutes a digital 'dark pattern'—i.e., a design feature that deceives, coerces, or manipulates consumers into making choices that are either not what they intended, , Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News.
... or not in their best interests, Complaint Filed Against Grubhub, via NPR News
