In a Tik Tok reel, a lawyer demonstrates in real-time (with receipts) how iPhone users pay more for DoorDash than Android users, one of the points scaffolding the $1 billion class-action lawsuit knocking on DoorDash's corporate portal. After identifying varying prices at Chic-Fil-A, Chipotle, and Koto Sake, and increased pricing for using DashPass, the difference turns out to be in the delivery fee.
As reported by Class Action, "The sprawling 81-page lawsuit charges that although the mobile food-delivery platform has in its decade of existence engaged in a slew of "heavy-handed," predatory tactics toward its contractors and merchants, the company has ultimately taken advantage of consumers, including children, who use its platform by charging "misleading, premium, and hidden fees."
Business Insider reports the class-action lawsuit "was filed by Ross Hecox, a single father in Maryland who uses DoorDash and subscribes to DashPass. Also named in the complaint are Hecox's two children, Reid and a minor listed as "R.E.H.," both of whom have used DoorDash in the past."
Are these junk fees? DoorDash insists that these "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."
In other words, there are different fee structures, and it is the customer's fault for not recognizing the difference—the same logic that undergirded the subprime mortgage crisis, i.e., it is your fault for not reading the fine print. Something might be shady, but that does not mean it is against the law.
For more on DoorDash and previous lawsuits, check out Megan Rose Dickey's reporting at Tech Crunch.
A post here discusses the 2019 DoorDash data breach of 4.9 million records.
There are several other short videos about a slew of class-action lawsuits, including Facebook, Ben & Jerry's, JUUL, and Tinder.
