DoorDash allegedly admitted it charged a Latest York City restaurant nearly $14,000 in bogus delivery fees — but only offered to repay the burger joint half the quantity in a settlement, in keeping with a lawsuit.
Harlem Shake — a 12-year-old eatery at 100 W. 124th St. whose customers have included NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and rapper Jim Jones — has paid $13,932 in phony commissions since November 2019, in keeping with the criticism filed this month in federal court within the Northern District of California.
When the eatery confronted DoorDash with the evidence, which it first discovered in June, the San Francisco-based company admitted it had “improperly” taken $13,932 in commissions, but only offered to repay the eatery $7,259, in keeping with the criticism.
DoorDash likewise “insisted that Harlem Shake execute a release and settlement of any and all claims related to DoorDash’s “miscalculated fees,”’ the lawsuit claims.
Harlem Shack sued Doordash for violating the NYC delivery fee cap law. Getty Images
The lawsuit is searching for class motion status, alleging that the tech company’s overbilling practice is “widespread and pervasive,” affecting “1000’s” of restaurants and violates a 2020 law in Latest York that limits delivery apps fees in Latest York City to twenty% of a take-out order.
“Thus far, DoorDash has failed to supply any full accounting, but has admitted that it charged fees in excess of the fee cap,” the criticism alleges.
The lawsuit didn’t lay out further details on the allegedly fraudulent fees.
Harlem Shake declined to comment “this early within the legal proceedings,” a spokeswoman said in an email.
A spokesperson for DoorDash said in a press release, “If there’s ever an inadvertent error, we work with the merchant to repair it and refund any amounts owed. We stand by our commitment to Latest York City restaurants and hope to quickly resolve this matter.”
Harlem Shake’s counsel, which incorporates lawyers based in California, Tennessee and Mississippi, didn’t return calls and emails searching for comment.
DoorDash shouldn’t be the one delivery app being accused of unsavory business practices.
The district attorney of Los Angeles county sued Grubhub on Feb. 21 alleging that “Multiple facets of Grubhub’s business — and each transaction for food delivery — are suffused with deception,” in keeping with the criticism.
The allegations include false promoting, bait-and-switch delivery pricing and misrepresentations about driver advantages and suggestions, in keeping with the filing.
In a press release to The Post Grubhub said, “We work hard to support Los Angeles restaurants, diners and drivers, and we continually review and enhance our operations to higher serve them and meet their expectations. We’ve sought to interact in a constructive dialogue with the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office to clarify our business and discover any areas for improvement. We’re disillusioned they’ve moved forward with this lawsuit because our practices have at all times complied with applicable law, and in any event, lots of the allegations are incorrect or have been discontinued. We’ll aggressively defend our business in court and stay up for continuing to serve LA restaurants, diners and drivers.”
Doordash and other delivery apps sued NYC over the fee cap law. Christopher Sadowski
The Latest York City delivery fee cap was imposed shortly after the pandemic began to assist restaurants that had been slammed by COVID restrictions and who previously had been paying commissions as high as 30%.
Town council passed laws that caps food delivery fees at 15% of an order plus a further 5% for marketing and bank card processing charges.
Other cities and states implemented similar rules, that are largely still in place.
The delivery apps, including UberEats and Grubhub, sued Latest York City to overturn the cap, arguing that it could hurt restaurants because they might not get the identical level of services and exposure, which might end in fewer customer orders.
That litigation is ongoing.
DoorDash admitted that it overcharged Harlem Shake, in keeping with lawsuit the restaurant filed this month against the delivery giant. Christopher Sadowski
Massachusetts sued Grubhub in 2021, alleging the delivery app company had violated the state’s 15% fee cap law.
Chicago sued Grubhub and Doordash over consumer fees, alleging that they were deceptive.
“My understanding is that the food delivery platforms violated COVID ordinances and caps fairly often,” said a legal expert who didn’t wish to be identified.
“The billion-dollar delivery firms have an extended history exploiting restaurants and that’s why they were regulated here in NYC,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the Latest York City Hospitality Alliance, told the Post.
“From charging fake fees for orders never made to listing restaurants without permission, they’ve been caught time after time,” Rigie added.