This is a one-at-a-time identity theft racket that can be combined with assorted stolen SSN etc, via address matching as well as the genuine credit card number for the order. I expect this resource is already being mined by various crime gangs. It is well distributed so it acts like broadband system 'noise' = harder to find and footprint analyze. Of course, the gangs know all about data footprints and how to obfuscate them.
Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
131–140 of 288 posts
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#132Trading under another brands name -- by listing them as an ordering place with an unofficial dark kitchen associated in your app -- seems like the most egregious form of trade mark infringement. Why aren't GrubHub concerned about the legal reprecussions of this?
How many mom and pop restaurants do you know of who have the extra financial capital to find a lawyer to sue over an issue like this against a company as well-funded as grubhub or doordash?
>How many mom and pop restaurants do you know of who have the extra financial capital to find a lawyer to sue over an issue like this against a company as well-funded as grubhub or doordash?
It's much, much worse than that. many of those restaurants thrived for years on 5-10% profit margins. Grubhub comes along and charges them 12-30% "commissions" just for forwarding orders and processing credit cards.
Forget about paying a lawyer -- many of these restaurants are out of business because of this.
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#133From what I understand this was Casey Winters who spearheaded this?
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
FYI - the same thing happens with Hotels.com. When you "call the hotel" with the number listed, I learned that the representative is actually a Hotels.com rep, not a hotel employee or hotel call-center employee. This matters. In my case, I asked about my corporate discount and they gave me a vague answer about "I dont see anything in the system", which I guess was technically not a lie, but definitely deceitful. I wi…
Just ask a random question only a real hotel employee would know - like "What time is breakfast served?"
The problem is I dont have a "skeptical resting state" where i'm constantly trying to sniff out scams.
I google "Fairmont Hotel Berkeley" because that is what my co-workers are staying at. I get an 800 number, which I call. The person is friendly and asks "Can I help you book a room at Fairmont Berkeley?" Business customers, especially, are somewhat price insensitive since they are not paying for trips.
Sad world.
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#135I hope there's a strong precedent set here. Companies like Grubhub list restaurants on their site/app, but put the wrong phone number on it- one that goes to their own people instead. That's clearly some kind of fraud or misrepresentation. Makes me feel like I should setup a phone number and a website called something like "GrubhubHelp.com", and list a help number for assistance with GrubHub orders. Then when custome…
Why play an ad when you can provide bad service, and so ruin their reputation; like they might be with restaurants?
I stopped using Uber Eats and local alternatives here in South Africa, because I learnt on a day where they provided poor service; that they charge up to 50% more than the restaurant, all (3 services) have the exact pricing (collusion?), and still pay their drivers terribly.
They kill restaurants' delivery businesses, which although fragmented, offer better service overall, and are much cheaper + accountable if an order goes wrong.
GrubHub being opaque might be making people write off a lot of places. "I won't eat here, they got my takeout order wrong twice before".
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#136I hope there's a strong precedent set here. Companies like Grubhub list restaurants on their site/app, but put the wrong phone number on it- one that goes to their own people instead. That's clearly some kind of fraud or misrepresentation. Makes me feel like I should setup a phone number and a website called something like "GrubhubHelp.com", and list a help number for assistance with GrubHub orders. Then when custome…
[ Disclaimer: GH employee but speaking independently & not representing the company in this message ] You're mixing up controversies - there was a separate "feature" Grubhub did years ago where grubhub would stand up online presence for restaurants to bring in web search traffic (branded websites, search results on grubhub.com, etc) and list a grubhub phone number instead of the real phone number so that grubhub coul…
> The restaurant can opt out of this, but they never asked for the service in the first place so it's kinda shitty. That's what this article is about.
If the driver places the order without making it clear to the restauranteur that they are the middleman company (UberEats, Doordash, etc.) then the opt-out clause is meaningless. You can't opt out of something you're never aware of.
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#137Trading under another brands name -- by listing them as an ordering place with an unofficial dark kitchen associated in your app -- seems like the most egregious form of trade mark infringement. Why aren't GrubHub concerned about the legal reprecussions of this?
If I sell you some 2nd hand Lego bricks, the same logic aplies.
I am not affiliated with Lego, yet the thing I am selling was legitimately made by Lego a while ago. When I describe what I'm selling, I clearly say I am offering lego bricks for sale.
Here grubhub seems to be doing the exact same thing with food. Hard to see how one can be illegal while the other isn't.
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#138Trading under another brands name -- by listing them as an ordering place with an unofficial dark kitchen associated in your app -- seems like the most egregious form of trade mark infringement. Why aren't GrubHub concerned about the legal reprecussions of this?
> Why aren't GrubHub concerned about the legal reprecussions of this? Because the company is firmly in Team Blue, and they control the House right now. This is the same organization where the CEO told his employees that if they voted for Trump, they should resign.
>Because the company is firmly in Team Blue, and they control the House right now.
Yeah, those demorats are completely in the pockets of GrubHub, et al.
Which is why the demorat Senate majority and the demorat Executive Branch didn't take up the anti-trust bill and request for investigation that the patriotic Republicans, who have been shut out of all decision making by the ruthless demorat Senate majority have been trying to protect the American people. Oh, wait. How could I have gotten that backwards[0]?
[0] https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/5/klo...
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#139I hope there's a strong precedent set here. Companies like Grubhub list restaurants on their site/app, but put the wrong phone number on it- one that goes to their own people instead. That's clearly some kind of fraud or misrepresentation. Makes me feel like I should setup a phone number and a website called something like "GrubhubHelp.com", and list a help number for assistance with GrubHub orders. Then when custome…
[ Disclaimer: GH employee but speaking independently & not representing the company in this message ] You're mixing up controversies - there was a separate "feature" Grubhub did years ago where grubhub would stand up online presence for restaurants to bring in web search traffic (branded websites, search results on grubhub.com, etc) and list a grubhub phone number instead of the real phone number so that grubhub coul…
I do appreciate your candor, however it is clear that GH engages in "kinda shitty" business practices.
Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
> because there is no business agreement between Grubhub and the restaurant You don’t need an agreement to resell product that you have purchased. Or is everyone on HN now suddenly in favour of scrapping the first sale doctrine and allowing manufacturers to control if you can resell your property? Madness. If GrubHub are able to buy the product they should be able to resell it.
> You don’t need an agreement to resell product that you have purchased. You are ignoring 80% of my argumentations to make your sophistic point, and then complaining "about everyone on HN", you're just being disingenuous. We're talking about prepared food here (and potentially fraud), not books. And you talk to me about "first sale doctrine" in relation to prepared food claiming everybody here is ignorant?
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