Food delivery app DoorDash is being sued for $1 billion amid accusations it charges customers using an iPhone more than those on an Android.
Screenshots filed in a class-action lawsuit show that iPhone users were routinely charged $1-$2 more than an Android customer for delivery on identical orders.
The suit speculates that the reason for the discrepancy is because studies show iPhone users tend to earn more money than those who use different devices.
DoorDash- which has an estimated 32 million users – is also facing accusations it slaps extra fees on customers who pay for its $9.99-a-month discount service Dashpass.
Single father Ross Hecox has brought the class-action suit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, claiming the firm deploys ‘deceptive, misleading and fraudulent practices.’
Food delivery app DoorDash is being sued for $1 billion amid accusations it charges customers using an iPhone more than those on an Android
DoorDash has furiously hit back at the allegations which it says are ‘baseless and simply without merit.’
The core accusation facing the company is its ‘expanded range fee’ which appears to be calculated at random.
On its website DoorDash says the fee is – usually a dollar or two – is to ‘preserve your access to the available merchants farthest from you.’
Hecox applied a series of tests to the app after suspecting it was unfairly calculating delivery fees depending on the device they were ordered from.
In one example, he placed orders from different physical locations, around 15 miles apart.
The orders were exactly the same: an avocado, egg white, spinach and cheese on sprouted grain bagel and a chocolate chip bagel from chain Panera.
They were placed at the same time with the same tip and both had a subtotal of $7.98.
However in the test, the iPhone user incurred a 99-cent ‘expanded fee range’ while the Android user did not.
Hecox then performed a second test with Chick-fil-A – though they were placed at slightly different times – and found the iPhone user was charged an extra $1 for delivery.
The suit was brought by single father Ross Hecox in the U.S. District Court of Maryland
And in the third example, he placed the same orders to the same addresses – but this time they were both filed from the same physical location.
On that occasion the iPhone user was inexplicably charged an extra $1 for the delivery and handed a 99-cent ‘expanded range fee’ – while the Android received neither.
It meant that the iPhone user was charged $27.52 while the Android user was billed $25.53 despite the Chipotle orders being identical.
In all Hecox performed seven tests which all appeared to show an iPhone user being overcharged for the purchases.
The test also accounted for device types including IOS products like iPhone, iPads and Macbooks and different Android systems.
The complaints reads: ‘As the above tests demonstrate, and upon information and belief and subject to further investigation and discovery, DoorDash routinely charges iPhone users more than Android users for reasons wholly unrelated to delivery and service costs.
‘DoorDash likely charges iPhone users more because studies suggest that iPhone users make more money than Android users.’
It adds that ‘these tactics are simply money grabs.’
Separately the lawsuit also raises concerns over the app’s discount service DashPass – a $9.99 a month service which entitles users to free delivery on all orders over $12.
Hecox claims his tests prove that DashPass customers are more likely to be hit with the ‘expanded range fee’ than those who do not pay for the services.
A test cited in the lawsuit shows an iPhone user is slapped with an extra 99-cent ‘expanded range fee’ for the same order
Hecox then performed a second test with Chick-fil-A – though they were placed at slightly different times – and found the iPhone user was charged an extra $1 for delivery
In a third example the iPhone user was charged $27.52 while the Android user was billed $25.53 despite the Chipotle order being identical
‘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 complaint read.
Hecox is asking for $1 billion in damages ‘for all the customers who fell prey to DoorDash’s illegal pricing scheme over the past four years.’
It is not the first time delivery firms have come under scrutiny for their delivery fees.
In February, a group of Democratic senators called on Uber, Grubhub and DoorDash to provide more transparency on their use of so-called ‘junk fees.’
President Joe Biden is pushing back on junk fees implemented by a range of companies including internet services, airlines and concert-ticket providers.
And in 2021, DoorDash was slapped with a Chicago lawsuit which accused it of using ‘bait and switch’ tactics whereby they displayed smaller delivery fees upfront – before adding extra costs right before checkout.
The firm also paid $2.5 million in 2020 to settle a suit in D.C. which accused it of misleading customers over where their tips went.
Of the latest claims, a DoorDash spokesman told Business Insider: ‘The claims put forward in the amended complaint are baseless and simply without merit.
‘We ensure fees are disclosed throughout the customer experience, including on each restaurant store page 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.’
Dailymail.com also reached out to DoorDash for comment.
