

Restaurateurs say they have been hit with commission charges between $4 and $9 for telephone calls driven from the Grubhub app or website, even if those calls did not result in sales. The caller's selection will add a new factor to the algorithm that the company uses to determine whether phone calls placed on lines it set up for local restaurants result in orders. The food marketing and delivery firm-which also owns Seamless-is hoping the prompt will cool months of tension with members of City Council, who say its apps are taking advantage of local restaurant owners. Grubhub customers will hear a new prompt when they call a restaurant through the app, as detailed in a letter the company sent City Council Thursday afternoon. After months of controversy over a phone-ordering system that restaurant owners say stuck them with bogus charges, Grubhub says it has a “common sense” solution.
