LinkedIn user, Louie Lui, who shared the alleged discrepancies in delivery charges for Grabfood between himself (a Grab subscriber) and his wife (a non-Grab subscriber), has since posted an update and the response that he received from Grab.
He earlier posted on his LinkedIn profile that he was charged $7 for the same delivery for the same food at the same time as his wife, who was only charged $3.50.
Grab’s Response
Thank you for patiently waiting, Louie. Allow us to explain that the price difference is due to real-time market conditions, which include factors such as the number of orders we have received from consumers and the number of delivery partners available in a specific area, and the time to meet the demand.
Based on the consumers’ information you have provided to us, the first pair of order checks were done by two different consumers at 8:48 pm a. 8:51 pm respectively, from the same merchant to the same delivery location. The market conditions at 8. pm and 8:51 pm were different then – which resulted in two different delivery fees given.
We understand that you have also tried refreshing both apps to check the delivery fees for a second time. The fees and price difference had remained the same because the delivery fees that were given to you and the other consumer in the first round of checks were cached in our system to stay the same for both of you. We do this to provide a good experience to our consumers who may take a while to decide their final order details and would prefer to see the same delivery fee when they check their order out.
This is definitely not the experience we want you to have but please be assured that the price difference has nothing to do with Grab subscription subscribers versus non-subscription subscribers.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention as we constantly work on the feedback gathered for continuous service improvement. Have a great night.
-Gigi
Recap (OP’s post on LinkedIn)
Scummy or smart move from Grab?
My wife was going to order some food, and I thought – hey I should do it instead, because I am a monthly subscriber of Grab where I get a coupon for $4 off delivery (there’s a minimum spend).
So I keyed in the exact same food from the same stall, and note this:
Same stall
Same distance
Same time
Huge difference in delivery fee.
Me, a subscriber, is shown a delivery fee of $7
My wife, a non subscriber, is being shown a delivery fee of $3.50
Now that’s a 100% inflation in delivery fee.
I refreshed the app on both phones, did everything I could. Still the same. It wasn’t a surge pricing, it was a price catered to me, the subscriber with a $4 voucher.
I get that algorithms are useful, and that Grab is a for-profit company.
But I don’t know what to make of this situation now that it’s discovered.
What do you think? Are they smart, or just scummy?
P.S. I ordered the food anyway. Happy wife, happy life.
