Seamless parent giving up ground
Seamless parent Grubhub’s olive branch to restaurants is getting chewed up and spit out.
The Chicago-based food-ordering giant agreed on Thursday to widen the refund window for restaurants that have been unwittingly paying fees for bogus food orders.
But industry reps say the company’s plan to start refunding restaurants for as manyas 120 days — up from 60 days — is still not enough.
“If Grubhub charged a restaurant a bogus fee 300 days ago, they must still refund it,” said NYCHospitality Alliance Executive Director Andrew Rigie, who called the 120-day policy “absurd.”
As The Post first reported in May, Grubhub has been charging restaurants as much as hundreds of dollars a month — sometimes for years — for Grubhub-generated phone calls lasting more than 45 seconds whether they resulted in orders or not. The company has been sued for the practice, which has taken place via Grubhub-issued phone lines.
The delivery company also said it will set up a Web site so restaurants can “request direct control” of Grubhub-registered Web sites. Grubhub announced the changes following months of pressure from elected officials, including US Sen. Chuck Schumer and City Council member Mark Gjonaj.
Schumer’s office, which has previously called on Grubhub to refund all fake fees, called it a step in the right direction.
The senator hopes to “achieve more progress as this plan unfolds,” Schumer spokesman Angelo Roefaro told The Post.
The company has previously rejected requests for refunds beyond 60 days — with some notable exceptions.
As The Post reported in June, Grubhub refunded one NYC restaurant owner more than $10,000 — covering his fees going back to 2014.
“They do not go far enough,” Gjonaj told The Post.