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DoorDash and Grubhub are both companies that have made ordering delivery easier for customers. Grubhub is actually based and headquartered in Chicago. However, there is a lot of debate on whether DoorDash and Grubhub help restaurants. Chicago is suing DoorDash and Grubhub for unfairly taking advantage of the restaurant industry. Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and its law department investigated both companies. Based on this investigation, Chicago has filed consumer protection lawsuits against both DoorDash and Grubhub for deceptive and unfair business practices for both customers and restaurants.

Chicago alleges that DoorDash and Grubhub have posted "unaffiliated restaurants without their consent, leaving restaurants to repair reputational damage." Chicago also alleges that the companies use "bait-and-switch" tactics with consumers on delivery fees and "hide that menu prices on their platforms are often significantly higher than the prices available if ordering directly from the restaurant."

Chicago also has specific allegations for each company. For Grubhub, Chicago states that Grubhub made “deceptive, promotional campaigns to ‘save restaurants’ during the pandemic.” And broke Chicago’s 15 percent emergency cap on commissions. The city also repeats 2 allegations made in other cities: deceptively routing restaurant calls through its own phone numbers and creating websites for restaurants. For DoorDash, Chicago believes that the company gave falsified information about how tips were used and misled consumers with their Chicago Fee" by implying the fee was set by the city.

Chicago's Acting BACP Commissioner Kenneth Meyer, said "We discovered that Grubhub and DoorDash have been engaging in deceptive and misleading business practices that harm consumers and exploit restaurants. These practices continued unabated during the pandemic when restaurants were struggling to survive. We heard from the hospitality industry and Chicago's consumers about these unfair practices and this action demonstrates we will hold non-complying businesses accountable." Grubhub responded with, "Every single allegation is categorically wrong and we will aggressively defend our business practices. We look forward to responding in court and are confident we will prevail." DoorDash responded, "This lawsuit is baseless. It is a waste of taxpayer resources, and Chicagoans should be outraged. DoorDash has stood with the City of Chicago throughout the pandemic, waiving fees for restaurants, providing $500,000 in direct grants, creating strong earning opportunities, and delivering food and other necessities to communities in need. This lawsuit will cost taxpayers and deliver nothing."

Source: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/chicago-sues-delivery-apps-unfair-practices