Grubhub made over 30K websites
disguised as restaurant homepages
by
Kevin Dugan
&
Lisa Fickenscher
Original Article
Posted By: MissMolly,
7/1/2019 4:42:24 AM
Grubhub has created thousands of Web sites that masquerade as the sites of restaurants — a practice that can jack up prices for hungry customers, The Post has learned.
The online food-ordering giant, which also owns Seamless and Menupages, has scooped up more than 34,000 URLs since 2010 with names that are similar to restaurants’ own Web addresses, according to a database obtained by The Post.
In some cases, Grubhub creates a version of an existing restaurant site by changing a dot-com to a dot-net.
In all cases reviewed by The Post, Grubhub’s copycat sites use the restaurants’ logos — even as they direct customers to its Grubhub and Seamless sites.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Highlander 7/1/2019 6:34:53 AM (No. 110915)
That is very grubby of Grubhub to do that to its own clients. Makes me wonder about Travelocity and other such online services.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
GO3 7/1/2019 6:59:19 AM (No. 110924)
Good catch #1. I do know Travelocity, CheapoAir, and one other I can’t think of right now are all the same company.
2 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/1/2019 7:49:12 AM (No. 110952)
Never used it, never will. This sounds like the online flower delivery services that use your own local florists to make their deliveries and end up charging you nearly a hundred bucks for a simple bouquet of a dozen roses. I used one once and they failed to deliver on time for our anniversary, which caused me a lot of grief.
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
rushie 7/1/2019 8:10:40 AM (No. 110983)
I thought I was making a reservation with a motel on line. Turned out it was a travel service. I discovered beause the rate was much higher than others in our “group” for family reunion. I called them back and demanded the proper rate and they told me not available. I said I want to cancel the reservation. Took some doing but got it done on line and finally found the actual motel reservation line!! I told them they were a scam outfit, deny deny, but that’s what they are. Could not cancel the 7.00 fee. Buyer beware!
2 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
StormCnter 7/1/2019 8:23:36 AM (No. 110993)
I fell into a similar trap, #4, even making a reservation at a hotel where I had stayed many times. It's way too hard to discern an authentic website from a "service" site. I paid 25% more for the room as a result. But, I learned a lesson.
5 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Skinnydip 7/1/2019 8:51:47 AM (No. 111013)
Google search results always seem to put these “services” at the top. Beware. And don’t use Google.
6 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
earlybird 7/1/2019 9:59:16 AM (No. 111081)
If you want food delivered, it is going to cost more. The prices are not necessarily the same that would be charged on the restaurant menu. Delivery charges, if any, are usually very small. Tips, optional.
The same is true of grocery delivery. Stores have different pricing for items offered for delivery, either by them or by services like Instacart. Each item is marked up a bit. If you cannot shop, it is well worth it.
1 person likes this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Muguy 7/1/2019 10:44:03 AM (No. 111125)
The do-it-yourself independent "gig economy" exposed.
They are in it to make money, and deceptively so, it would appear.
There are others that do the same thing-- e.g. Lyft and Uber
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 7/1/2019 10:45:06 AM (No. 111127)
A really great reason to never do business with slimeballs like that.
Of course, I have always thought that their business model was bizarre. It has no intersection at all with my lifestyle, ever.
2 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 7/1/2019 10:53:21 AM (No. 111135)
#4, we frequently make online motel reservations when traveling by car, and unsure of our final stopping point when we start the day, so make the reservation a few hours ahead of where we are. I make a careful point to ONLY use the actual company site, such as Wyndham Hotels, which has a range of their own hotel chains listed for a given city. We get good rates and the site works well, too.
There are LOTS of 'travel sites' which get in the way and make it difficult to directly connect with the hotels.
After much frustration, I just get on Wyndham's site, and then search for their chains at the city we have decided to stop at for the night. I get to choose from La Quinta, Ramada, Baymont, Microtel, Days Inn, Super 8 and more. Usually one where we want it at a reasonable cost and I know that the site is legit, price is not inflated by a reseller and the reservation will be good.
2 people like this.
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