Delivery app DoorDash was hit with a $1 billion lawsuit for allegedly slamming iPhone users with higher fees than it charges its Android-ordering counterparts, claiming “likely because studies reveal iPhone users earn more.”
The explosive class-action suit, filed in the US District Court of Maryland on May 5, claims the food delivery service engages in “deceptive, misleading and fraudulent practices” with “illegal” fees for customers with Apple’s iOS devices.
These “illegal” fees are systematically used to mark up orders by as much as $2 for iPhone users than other devices — even if the order is exactly the same — “likely because studies reveal iPhone users earn more,” the suit says.
“These tactics are simply money grabs,” according to the complaint by Ross Hecox, a single father of two who uses DoorDash and subscribes to DashPass, a service that gives subscribers exclusive discounts.
The fee in question is listed as an “expanded range” charge on the mobile app, which is applied to orders when a restaurant is outside the customer’s “normal delivery area.”
DoorDash never clarifies “normal delivery areas,” the suit says.
It also claims that the fees affiliated with a “delivery area” or “delivery radius” on the app are not associated with geography, but rather “how much money a restaurant pays DoorDash.”
DoorDash, which boasts more than 27 million users, denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
“DoorDash does not charge more based on the type of phone you use — period,” a company spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday.
“Any allegation that we deliberately charge iPhone and Android users differently or only charge DashPass members an expanded range fee is blatantly false,” the rep continued. “We categorically reject the untrue claims in the lawsuit and look forward to vigorously fighting them.”
The suit goes on to allege that DoorDash purposefully sends customers’ orders to restaurants located farther away, which may “trigger the expanded range fee, and justify increased delivery costs.”
The expanded range fee is listed on DoorDash’s customer support page, though its description is vague as a “fee [that] helps DoorDash preserve your access to the available merchants farthest from you.”
The DoorDash spokesperson denied the company inflates delivery costs by cherry-picking restaurants that are farther away.
“That’s patently false,” the rep said.
The complaint included in-depth examples of a DoorDash orders made on an iPhone versus an Andriod, with screenshots included throughout the suit at each step of the ordering process.
A popular TikToker, who goes by Lawyer Angela, walked viewers through the examples of the alleged disparity in charges.
Two Chick-fil-A orders — which were made from the same place and at the same time, one from an iPhone and the other from an Android — included a hash brown scramble bowl and a medium fruit cup.
The iPhone user was charged $27.39 while the Android user was charged $26.39.
The $1 difference was in the delivery fee.
A DoorDash spokesperson confirmed to The Post that the difference in delivery fee pricing had nothing to do with placing an order on an iPhone over an Android, despite what the screenshots showed in the “hokey experiment.”
The Android user was likely benefitting off a feature or promotion that was being tested to “improve the customer experience” at the time of the order, not because of the phone’s operating software, the spokesperson said.
Another screenshot showed DoorDash orders for a Chipotle chicken burrito bowl, which came to $27.52 on an iPhone and $25.53 on an Android.
Again, the $1.99 difference was in the delivery fee.
Lawyer Angela also referenced screenshots of DoorDash orders from Koto Sake Japanese Steakhouse, where the iPhone user was charged $2 more, though the order, time the order was placed and delivery address was the exact same.
The TikTok has amassed more than 3.2 million views since it was posted on May 12. When asked about the screenshots, the spokesperson pointed back to DoorDash’s statement in response to the suit.
The suit asks for “monetary damages of no less than $1 billion for all consumers who fell prey to DoorDash’s illegal pricing scheme over the past four years.”
Social media users were shocked by the revelation.
“This is wild,” one user replied on Twitter.
“Just canceled my DashPass,” another commented on Lawyer Angela’s TikTok video.
Commenters on Lawyer Angela’s TikTok video, meanwhile, called for DoorDash to disclose more details about its fees.
“Why are they charging ‘Service Fees’ AND ‘Delivery Fees’ when they don’t give the delivery fees to the drivers? They should disclose that to customers,” one commenter said.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
