If you get an email from Grubhub Holdings Inc. with an e-check for something like $5, you’re not alone — and it’s (probably) not a scam or phishing attempt.
Grubhub is paying users back under a more than $3.5 million settlement with D.C.’s attorney general, who sued the company last year, alleging misleading marketing tactics.
The food delivery company confirmed that emails from Grubhub Holdings Inc. with e-checks referencing a “Grubhub DC Settlement Award” are legitimate. News4 spoke to several people who go an e-check issued by Deluxe Payment Exchange.
Deluxe Payment Exchange says to redeem a check you must “use a Deposit Service to send funds directly into your account for eligible payments” or “print a check on white paper, color ink recommended, and deposit.”
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Affected Grubhub users should have had a credit available in their account for 90 days. Anyone who didn’t use it can check their email for a settlement notice. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people would get the checks.
Who qualifies for settlements?
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You qualify for the settlement if you paid a small order or service fee on an order placed via Grubhub at a restaurant located in D.C. between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 21, 2022, according to the settlement.
Settlements had to be at least $4.50, $7 or $10 based on a user's “ordering history and frequency,” the settlement said.
DC sued Grubhub over alleged hidden fees and misleading marketing tactics
Grubhub and the previous D.C. attorney general, Karl Racine, reached a settlement late last year over allegations that the food delivery company charged hidden fees and used misleading marketing tactics, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia said.
Under the settlement, Grubhub agreed to pay $2.7 million back to affected customers via an account credit or check, plus a $800,000 civil penalty to the District, and change its business practices.
Grubhub referred News4 to this transparency statement when asked if they had any comment on the payments.
