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Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

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Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#221

Post by RandallBrown »

nobody9999 wrote: post #153
sschueller wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you click on a number to call the restaurant and not the restaurant answers it is fraud if the restaurant did not agree on that. Doesn't matter if you end of providing the exact same service. What if I picked up calls going to Apple and all I did was transfer you to the correct person. You are still getting the same service if you called Apple directly but its not legal because Apple did not give me permission t…

>What if I picked up calls going to Apple and all I did was transfer you to the correct person. You are still getting the same service if you called Apple directly but its not legal because Apple did not give me permission to impersonate them. You're missing the part about how GrubHub, et. al don't just pass you along, they charge 12-30% "commission" just for forwarding the call -- and they set up the fake number jus…

Affiliate links work the same way. Are those also fraud?

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#222

Post by kevincox »

jjk166 wrote: post #216
jberryman wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The restaurant can opt out of this I was at the bar of a local restaurant when some delivery driver (not sure if GH) came in to pick up an order. The (super busy) server said "we told you we don't want to participate in this...", clearly exasperated at this happening over and over. This is a restaurant that does a lot of catering, where they set the terms/fees. The driver started trying to "explain" how it's just t…

I get that the restaurant owner was frustrated but this is like giving your waiter a bad tip because your food didn't taste good - you really think the driver has any influence on which restaurants get listed?

No, but if you manage to identify all of these delivery people and refuse them service I bet that they unlist you.

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#223

Post by wushupork »

mabbo wrote: post #19

I 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…

This would be the most awesome troll of SV startups. Own the directory of help for all SV tech companies and create an AdSense for that.

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#224

Post by coldcode »

TuringNYC wrote: post #60
mabbo wrote: post #19

I 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…

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…

hotels.com is an Expedia brand, not a company.

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#226

Post by mring33621 »

ghthrowaway99 wrote: post #82
mabbo wrote: post #19

I 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 think it shows courage for a non-PR employee to participate in a conversation like this.

Thank you!

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#227

Post by sumtechguy »

jberryman wrote: post #189
ghthrowaway99 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[ 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 I was at the bar of a local restaurant when some delivery driver (not sure if GH) came in to pick up an order. The (super busy) server said "we told you we don't want to participate in this...", clearly exasperated at this happening over and over. This is a restaurant that does a lot of catering, where they set the terms/fees. The driver started trying to "explain" how it's just t…

That sounds like a wasted opportunity. Drop a note into the bag with the food. 'hey cut out the middleman call us directly the prices are better!'

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#228

Post by rconti »

kop316 wrote: post #115
ghthrowaway99 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[ 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…

"Grubhub was against place and pay at first, when UberEats and Doordash began doing it (not because Grubhub is selfless but because partnered restaurants are way more profitable), but resisting place and pay turned out to be a recipe for losing market share so that's no longer the case." If Grubhub actually took a stand and showed they not only did not do this sort of behavior, I would actually use it, and I would pa…

> If Grubhub actually took a stand and showed they not only did not do this sort of behavior, I would actually use it, and I would pay the premium for delivery (to make sure the restaurant makes money and the driver makes money).

You may well faithfully adhere to this promise, but the reality is, most people simply don't know (and it would be generous for me to assume they would care even if they DID know).

So much of the GH/DD/UE model is reducing friction to drive transactions. Click button, throw some amount of money at the company, receive product. Just like Amazon.

Having to stay abreast of the news, the competitive landscape, the various companies' business practices, and then factor that all in when making an online transaction, is probably too much to ask of a consumer when the entire point of the service is not having to know or care too much about the details.

You could even argue one of the features of these services is abstracting away things that people don't WANT to know about- Tipping policies, labor practices, what the parking is like at the restaurant, how pleasant the staff is to deal with, how the owner's doing today, etc.

I'm with you- I almost never order anything delivery, I pick up my own orders on the rare occasion I takeout, etc. This whole delivery gig economy thing makes me pretty uncomfortable. But we're a rare breed. (and I'm not claiming to be better than most people; I order far too much from Amazon than I'd like to admit).

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#229

Post by mytailorisrich »

staplers wrote: post #214
mytailorisrich wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A counter point is that an individual is free to hire someone to go and pick up food from a restaurant on their behalf and it does not make any difference to the restaurant. I suspect that what restaurants fear, though, is that Grubhub is trying to grab as much marketshare as possible then once they are in a position of strength they'll go and demand a commission from the restaurants, or else...

an individual is free to hire someone to go and pick up food from a restaurant on their behalf They are commercially advertising names, logos, menus, etc not taking random orders from people.

I think that this is a red herring unless they are doing so in a way that may make people think that they are the restaurant instead of an independent delivery agent, although the restaurant do allege that Grubhub is misrepresenting themselves.

But yes, in principle they can get into trouble for using trademarks and logos without authorization (menus are fair game), although I suppose it is fair use to mention the names of the restaurants they can pick up food from. Going after them for that shows that they are not doing anything unlawful by running their intermediary service if this is the only thing the restaurants hope might stick.

Re: Grubhub sued for listing restaurants without permission

#230

Post by edmundsauto »

chrisseaton wrote: post #125
tartoran wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're talking about cooked food here though, not sure if it applies

Well I think first sale is IP so I didn’t mean it literally but I don’t get why anyone would be advocating for allowing manufacturers to be able to control what you can do with your property. When it’s Apple suddenly everyone argues the opposite!

First off, food is different than technology. There are safety issues that are regulated differently. Can you think of any instances in the prepared food space that support your argument?

Second, I think the impersonation is the biggest issue. At a minimum, that sounds like trademark infringement; at maximum, that sounds fradulent.

IANAL and am just a dog on the internet, so grains of salt the size of Jupiter. But I don't think the comparison to non-prepared food industries are at all relevant.

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