Grubhub Is Allegedly Charging NYC’s the Expat For Phone Calls That Didn’t Generate Orders | Eater NY

"A Southeast Asian gastropub at 64 Tiemann Pl., near Claremont Avenue, the Expat reports that Grubhub charged it for dozens of phone calls that didn’t result in orders: between January 4 and April 20 the restaurant received 54 Grubhub calls but only three resulted in orders, and Grubhub allegedly billed $6.20–$7.17 per call for a total of about $380 (just under $21 of that for calls that generated revenue). Co-owner Andrew Ding alleges many of the charged calls were customer queries (26 calls about ingredients, hours, or delivery), 16 calls rang and went to voicemail yet still incurred fees, and nine calls were follow-ups about orders already placed online that resulted in double commission charges; Ding called the practice “unethical,” “predatory,” and “unconscionable.” Grubhub says it will conduct an immediate audit and has previously pledged refunds, but restaurants must review and dispute charges within a 120-day window and a February survey found 91 percent of restaurants still hadn’t been refunded. The Expat’s delivery business has surged—from about 20 Grubhub orders per week pre-pandemic to roughly 47 orders per day in March and April (nearly 2,500 total)—yet the restaurant has lost 70 percent of overall business, furloughed nine servers and bar staff, is operating with a crew of eight mostly in the kitchen, continues to pay thousands in commissions, uses Relay rather than Grubhub couriers, and fears retaliation for speaking out." - Tanay Warerkar