Under Pressure, Grubhub Changes Its Ordering System

“In the event that you do not take corrective actions,” the letter said, “we will explore potential legislative solutions.”

The changes that Grubhub announced on Thursday fell short of the Council’s demands.

“The outstanding question is, when are they going to pay back all of the money they should not have taken in the first place?” said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, a trade group that represents restaurants and night life businesses.

Mark Gjonaj, the chairman of the Council’s small business committee, has led the Council’s investigation of the food-delivery industry, which began with a hearing in June. In a statement on Thursday afternoon, he said the changes Grubhub had proposed were “insufficient.”

“There is nothing in the proposed changes that would make whole the thousands of restaurants that have already paid for what in many cases were erroneous phone order fees,” he said. “These are hard-earned dollars.”

Marco Chirico, a restaurant owner in Brooklyn, called the changes a “good direction” for the company. But he still wants his money back.

“I lost a couple thousand — that pays my rent, that pays my employees,” he said. “A lot of restaurants are hurting from that.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/grubhub-changes-ordering-system.html?emc=rss&partner=rss