Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 300 posts

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#61

Post by fma »

germinalphrase wrote: post #25

I understand charging a fee to the customer who is making the choice to call, but if a restaurant simply answers the phone - how is it acceptable that Yelp can charge them for doing so? Did they consent to this fee?

For the record, I dislike this practice...but to play devil's advocate (pls don't downvote for playing devil's advocate LOL)

If I go to Google and I type in {name of my favorite restaurant}...and the first link on top is an ad placed by that restaurant, and below it is the actual restaurant's website...If I click on that ad, Google will charge that restaurant money, when it just redirects me to the website.

In this case, GrubHub is claiming that they placed the phone number on Yelp, so they get money.

I mean I think paying $8 (or whatever percentage of an order is) for that redirect is highway robbery given thin margins for a restaurant...

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#63

Post by whimsicalism »

thursday0987 wrote: post #8
jamestimmins wrote: post #4

Very cool update at the top of the article "NEW: As of May 14, 2020, New York City has passed a bill to ban the practice of third parties charging a fee for phone calls that don't end in a sale. You can read about that here." Glad to see reporting working successfully and highlighting abusive practices which then leads to changes in the law.

> that don't end in a sale. i would bet 99%+ of all calls to restaurants from grubhub end in a sale, thus making this law meaningless. edit: why did i get downvoted for this? it adds to the discussion and it doesn't break any of HN's rule. are people just not happy about it or something? wtf.

> i would bet 99%+ of all calls to restaurants from grubhub end in a sale, thus making this law meaningless.

How do you prove it ended in a sale though?

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#64

Post by azernik »

thursday0987 wrote: post #8
jamestimmins wrote: post #4

Very cool update at the top of the article "NEW: As of May 14, 2020, New York City has passed a bill to ban the practice of third parties charging a fee for phone calls that don't end in a sale. You can read about that here." Glad to see reporting working successfully and highlighting abusive practices which then leads to changes in the law.

> that don't end in a sale. i would bet 99%+ of all calls to restaurants from grubhub end in a sale, thus making this law meaningless. edit: why did i get downvoted for this? it adds to the discussion and it doesn't break any of HN's rule. are people just not happy about it or something? wtf.

Grubhub itself, in this article, claims only 35%.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#65

Post by dilyevsky »

elefanten wrote: post #55

Yelp is one those companies. I use the product regularly, but I hate doing so -- the experience is awful and the core information is rarely particularly helpful. But they still get me to come in because they have the most information about some places. What really sets me off is how much "moral" crusading they do (eg- vs. Google) compared to how much shady stuff they do. This is just latest in a long line of crummy b…

Nothing moral about their crusade - they got booted from the top of the search results along with other doorway-style crap like about.com and their conversion probably fell off the cliff. Had to explain that to investors somehow I suppose...

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#66

Post by proverbialbunny »

gkoberger wrote: post #60
proverbialbunny wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, but is it https://foursquare.com/ ? I don't see a search bar.

Here you go! https://foursquare.com/city-guide (I mostly use the app. It also keeps track of everywhere I've been, and I can see my history over the past decade.)

Thank you! (And thanks for the info of a mobile map!)

One more question: Does it have a sort by ranking? I can't seem to find it on the desktop site. I may need to run it in Chrome. On Firefox it may not be displaying properly.

I know it sounds silly, but I really do need a sort by rating. This is still far better than nothing. Thank you. ^_^

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#67

Post by specialist »

drummer wrote: post #31
jamestimmins wrote: post #4

Very cool update at the top of the article "NEW: As of May 14, 2020, New York City has passed a bill to ban the practice of third parties charging a fee for phone calls that don't end in a sale. You can read about that here." Glad to see reporting working successfully and highlighting abusive practices which then leads to changes in the law.

The bill would make more sense if it was against companies like Yelp misleading both customers and restaurants that they are calling eachother directly.

Do you know of any?

I'm looking for model legislation. Basis for our own bill(s).

I've scheduled a meeting with two of my representatives. One especially expects you to know what you're asking for (like homework assignment).

I'll probably call my state's attorney general, fishing for ideas.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#68

Post by Spivak »

fairity wrote: post #29

I see a lot of people saying this must be illegal, and the reason Yelp hasn't been sued is because restaurant owners can't afford legal fees. Isn't this the purpose of class action lawsuits? If Yelp is actually doing something illegal here, certainly, there's enough money to hire great counsel to represent all restaurant owners who are affected by this policy change.

I’m sure the restaurant will be very happy to receive their $15 Yelp Ad credit 7 years down the road.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#69

Post by mywittyname »

elefanten wrote: post #55

Yelp is one those companies. I use the product regularly, but I hate doing so -- the experience is awful and the core information is rarely particularly helpful. But they still get me to come in because they have the most information about some places. What really sets me off is how much "moral" crusading they do (eg- vs. Google) compared to how much shady stuff they do. This is just latest in a long line of crummy b…

Why do you use Yelp?

I've never needed it because every restaurant that I go to is on Google or maintains their own website. It's been known for years now that the reviews on Yelp are largely fake and they hide legit ones, so it's nearly useless for that as well. At least with Google Maps reviews, I can click on the reviewer and see the other places they've been.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#70

Post by MattGaiser »

darkwizard42 wrote: post #48

While the solution from NYC seems good to start, why don't customers get charged for fees if they are the ones calling? I feel like in the US splitting fees between the caller and receiver causes a lot of problems (see: spam calls which can become prohibitively expensive if the caller has to eat all the fees)

Customers balk at fees in many cases. Free shipping doesn't really make sense as it is baked into the item price, but it gets a lot more people to buy.
Post reply on HN