Eff GrubHub

Imagine, you get Chinese takeout at 5 pm. You request extra soy sauce. You pay with your credit card. The next day at noon, you are given a call by Kung Pao Panda informing you that your credit card has been charged an additional $4.99 for the extra sauce from the previous evening. Does this seem legit to you?

Well, according to GrubHub, an online food ordering service, there's nothing ludicrous about it at all.

GrubHub allows users to order food for delivery and takeout from restaurants through their website or mobile app. It's a convenient way of identifying multiple restaurants that will deliver to your location, viewing their menus and ordering online instead of through the phone - if you don't mind the usual extended delivery times, at least an hour in my experience and sometimes even longer.

So, I was charged $2.75 for extra sauce on a pizza order through GrubHub. Somewhat obnoxious, but nothing earth shattering there. Here's what set off my inner ornery old person - I was notified via email by GrubHub about the additional charge to my credit card, without my permission, about 4 hours after I ate the effing pizza, when the restaurant contacted GrubHub directly.

How does a vendor, who has my authorization to make a specific one-time transaction using my credit card info, have the right to make additional charges to my credit card without my permission and with no prior notice?

According to GrubHub customer service, this sentence on their website: "Add special instructions here (additional charges may apply)" allows for this. Um, no. "Additional charges may apply" does not equal "we can make additional charges on your credit card if we feel like it without telling you, well after your order is already processed and eaten."

Also, there's no notice to consumers of GrubHub's policy, as they communicated it to me, which allows restaurants to contact GrubHub to make additional charges to your credit card, up to $5, within a 24 hour period, without requiring authorization by or prior notice to the customer/credit card owner. Apparently, this is what you sign up for when you use GrubHub's third party service to order food.

I'm pretty sure that's illegal. 

@GrubHub You need to consult with your legal team on this one: http://t.co/Bh8JGCpBKE #avoidlawsuits #dontbedumb #consumerrights
— What The Eff? (@effwalkingdead) March 23, 2014

 
Needless to blog, I got my damn $2.75 refunded after debating my case to 4 different customer service representatives. It wasn't about the money - it was about calling out GrubHub on their ridiculous policy. I won't be ordering through them again.