Phone users often get into a heated debate on whether iPhones are better than Android phones. For those using food delivery service DoorDa...
Phone users often get into a heated debate on whether iPhones are better than Android phones.
For those using food delivery service DoorDash, iPhone users get the short end of the stick. A lawsuit has revealed that they are being charged more when they use the app because they allegedly make more money than Android phone users.
DoorDash is now being sued for $1 billion following claims that the company charges customers using an iPhone more than it does Android users.
Screenshots filed in a class-action lawsuit have revealed that iPhone users were often charged $1 to $2 more than Android customers for delivery on identical orders.
The suit suggests that the reason for the shocking discrepancy is because studies have found that iPhone users are more likely to earn more money compared to people who own other phone brands.
DoorDash, a food delivery app that has at least 32 million users, is also facing allegations that it is charging customers who pay for its $9.99-a-month discount service Dashpass extra fees.
Ross Hecox has brought the class-action suit to the U.S. District Court of Maryland, citing DoorDash’s “deceptive, misleading and fraudulent practices.”
After suspecting that the DoorDash app was unfairly calculating delivery fees depending on the device they were ordered from, Hecox ran several tests to check if this was true or not.
Several tests show similar results: DoorDash charges iPhone users more than it does Android users
In one test, he placed orders from different physical locations that were about 15 miles apart. He ordered the same items each time: an avocado, egg white, spinach and cheese on a sprouted grain bagel and a chocolate chip bagel from Panera.
Both orders were placed at the same time, with the same tip, and both had a subtotal of $7.98. But in the test, the iPhone user incurred a 99-cent “expanded fee range.” The Android user did not.
Hecox then performed a second test with Chick-fil-A. The orders were placed at slightly different times and results showed that the iPhone user was again charged more, this time an extra $1, for delivery.
For the third test, Hecox placed the same orders to the same addresses, but both were filed from the same physical location. This time, the iPhone user was strangely charged an extra $1 for the delivery on top of a 99-cent “expanded range fee” while the Android didn’t incur any extra charges.
This means the iPhone user was charged $27.52 while the Android user was only charged $25.53 despite placing the same orders at Chipotle.
Hecox conducted seven tests in total and the results all showed that an iPhone user was being overcharged for their orders.
The test also accounted for device types including other IOS products like iPhones, iPads and Macbooks and different Android systems.
The complaint 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.”
According to the complaints, DoorDash could be charging iPhone users because several studies suggest that iPhone users earn more money compared to Android users.
It adds that the underhanded tactics “are simply money grabs.”
Separately, the lawsuit also raised concerns about the app’s discount service DashPass, which is a $9.99 a month service that gives users free delivery on all orders over $12.
According to Hecox, his tests confirm that DashPass customers are more likely to be charged with the “expanded range fee” than those who do not pay for the services.
“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,” read the complaint.
Hecox is seeking $1 billion in damages “for all the customers who fell prey to DoorDash’s illegal pricing scheme over the past four years.”
A DoorDash spokesman said Hecox’s claims are “baseless and simply without merit.” DoorDash ensures that all fees are disclosed throughout the customer experience, added the spokesman.