DoorDash is under fire for allegedly imposing additional charges on orders placed on iPhones.
Ross Hecox, a Maryland man, recently filed a lawsuit against the delivery company, alleging that DashPass customers face an additional charge for each order.
The primary concern in the lawsuit revolves around the “expanded range fee.” The additional charge is not clearly specified among the fees listed on DoorDash’s website for customers to see.
There has been an ongoing discussion among customers and Dashers about the purpose of this fee. The company applies the charge to certain orders with delivery addresses close to the pickup location. However, this doesn’t seem to benefit the delivery workers.
“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 reads.
According to the lawsuit, when customers place orders through regular DoorDash accounts using an iPhone, the expanded-range fee is applicable. An example cited in the lawsuit is a Panera Bread order, where the $0.99 fee was charged on an iPhone but not on an Android device.
“DoorDash charges the expanded range fee on iPhone users more often than Android users and charges iPhone users more for ‘delivering’ (likely because studies reveal iPhone users earn more),” the lawsuit states.
Nevertheless, the lawsuit is seeking $1 billion in compensation “for all customers who fell prey to DoorDash’s illegal pricing scheme over the past four years.”
