{"coverage_note":"Five discrepancy categories were checked for doordash.com. Discrepancy_pricing returned a confirmed finding: substantial documented evidence of undisclosed mandatory fees appearing at checkout \u2014 including a 2025 $18M Chicago settlement, two active class actions, and an FTC rulemaking proceeding \u2014 establishing a pattern of checkout totals materially exceeding advertised prices. Discrepancy_policy also returned a confirmed finding: the New York AG's 2025 settlement confirmed DoorDash's tip-passthrough policy was systematically violated from 2017\u20132019, and a separate 2025 class action documents unauthorized DashPass subscription charges that DoorDash support has denied, blocking refund claims. Discrepancy_availability was searched but returned no finding meeting the inclusion bar; a merchant-side POS sync issue was noted but lacked independent consumer-facing verification. Discrepancy_identity was searched and found genuine structural ambiguity around merchant-of-record and consumer counterparty, but no primary source documented a stated claim contradicted by actual enforcement practice, so no finding was confirmed. Discrepancy_undisclosed_constraint was searched and returned no finding; pricing-related litigation was surfaced but did not constitute a mid-transaction capability constraint distinct from the pricing findings already captured.","human_handoff_required_for":[{"action":"Surface the full itemized fee breakdown to the user for explicit approval before confirming any DoorDash checkout where the final total \u2014 including charges labeled 'service fee,' 'regulatory response fee,' or similar \u2014 materially exceeds the advertised item prices plus the explicitly quoted delivery fee shown at the point of item selection.","evidence":[{"description":"The City of Chicago reached an $18 million settlement with DoorDash in 2025 over deceptive fee practices, establishing that mandatory fees not disclosed at the item-selection stage were charged to consumers at checkout.","reference":"https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/law/provdrs/corp_counsel/news/2025/doordash-settlement.html"},{"description":"A 2024 class action specifically alleges that DashPass subscribers \u2014 told delivery fees are waived \u2014 are still charged hidden service fees at checkout, contradicting the advertised '$0 delivery fee' promotion.","reference":"https://www.classaction.org/news/doordash-hit-with-class-action-over-hidden-fees-charged-to-dashpass-members"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"},{"action":"Do not treat a DoorDash '$0 delivery fee' or DashPass promotional promise as a guarantee that no mandatory fees will appear at checkout; escalate to the user if any fee beyond the explicitly quoted delivery fee appears on the final order summary, regardless of how it is labeled.","evidence":[{"description":"Active FTC rulemaking proceeding FTC-2026-0463 targets online food delivery platforms including DoorDash for opaque and deceptive fee practices, confirming that fees not disclosed upfront continue to appear at checkout.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/2026/01/unfair-or-deceptive-fees-online-food-delivery-platforms"},{"description":"The Chicago $18 million settlement and a separate class action alleging per-item price inflation to embed delivery costs establish a documented pattern of fees appearing at checkout that were not disclosed at the point of search or item selection.","reference":"https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/law/provdrs/corp_counsel/news/2025/doordash-settlement.html"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"},{"action":"If a DashPass subscription charge appears on a payment statement (including via Apple Pay) but DoorDash customer support denies any record of the subscription, escalate immediately to the card issuer or Apple Pay dispute process rather than continuing to seek resolution through DoorDash support, which has been documented to deny the existence of such charges.","evidence":[{"description":"A May 2025 class action alleges DoorDash charged users $9.99/month for DashPass subscriptions never authorized, and that DoorDash customer support denied the charges exist \u2014 directly blocking refund enforcement through the platform's own support channel.","reference":"https://www.classaction.org/news/doordash-class-action-unauthorized-dashpass-charges-apple-pay"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"},{"action":"After initiating or confirming a DashPass subscription via Apple Pay or any third-party payment method, immediately verify in the DoorDash account dashboard that the subscription is correctly recorded before treating the transaction as complete; if the charge is confirmed on the payment method but no subscription appears in the account, escalate to the user rather than relying on DoorDash customer support.","evidence":[{"description":"The 2025 class action documents a pattern where DashPass subscription charges processed successfully via Apple Pay were subsequently denied by DoorDash support, leaving consumers unable to obtain refunds through normal support channels.","reference":"https://www.classaction.org/news/doordash-class-action-unauthorized-dashpass-charges-apple-pay"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"},{"action":"When placing a DoorDash order on behalf of a user, do not represent the tip amount entered as a guaranteed additive payment on top of Dasher base pay; if the user asks whether their tip will go directly and fully to the delivery worker, escalate the question to the user rather than affirming the platform's stated tip-passthrough policy, which was historically enforced differently.","evidence":[{"description":"The New York Attorney General's February 2025 settlement confirmed that from May 2017 to September 2019 DoorDash used customer tips to offset Dasher guaranteed base pay rather than passing them through as additional earnings, violating the stated tip policy; the $16.75M settlement remained in active distribution as of 2026.","reference":"https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-1675-million-doordash-workers-and-consumers"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"}],"record_verification":{"last_checked_agentic_scan":"2026-06-29","last_checked_human_verified":null},"vendor_id":"doordash","verified_discrepancies":[{"actuals":"Independent evidence, active class action litigation, and a government settlement establish that DoorDash charges mandatory 'service fees' and other charges not disclosed at the item-selection stage, and in at least one documented pattern inflates the per-item prices on its platform to embed delivery-related costs invisibly. The City of Chicago reached an $18 million settlement with DoorDash in 2025 over deceptive fee practices. A separate active class action (filed late 2024) specifically alleges DashPass subscribers \u2014 who are told delivery fees are waived \u2014 are still charged hidden service fees at checkout. The FTC has opened a rulemaking proceeding (FTC-2026-0463) targeting unfair or deceptive fee practices on online food delivery platforms, citing DoorDash among the covered companies.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"Approximately 2020 (pandemic era practices cited in settlement); DashPass service-fee issue documented from at least late 2024 and ongoing as of mid-2026","evidence":[{"description":"Top Class Actions reports DoorDash agreed to an $18 million settlement with the City of Chicago resolving claims of deceptive hidden fees and misleading business practices during the COVID-19 pandemic period.","reference":"https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/doordash-agrees-to-18m-settlement-with-chicago-over-deceptive-hidden-fees/"},{"description":"A class action filed in late 2024 alleges DoorDash charges DashPass subscribers hidden service fees at checkout despite advertising fee-free delivery; the complaint argues any mandatory fee on a delivery order is effectively a delivery fee regardless of label.","reference":"https://www.claimdepot.com/cases/doordash-class-action-claims-dashpass-subscribers-charged-hidden-service-fees"},{"description":"A separate class action alleges DoorDash embeds hidden delivery costs inside the per-item prices shown on its app while advertising $0 delivery fees, so the checkout total is higher than the advertised item prices imply.","reference":"https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/doordash-class-action-alleges-app-charge-hidden-delivery-fees/"},{"description":"The FTC published a proposed rulemaking (Docket FTC-2026-0463) specifically targeting unfair or deceptive fee practices on online food delivery platforms, stating such practices reduce price transparency and harm consumers.","reference":"https://www.regulations.gov/document/FTC-2026-0463-0001"}],"interim_guidance":"Before completing any DoorDash checkout, an agent must compare the final checkout total \u2014 including all line-item fees labeled 'service fee,' 'regulatory response fee,' or similar \u2014 against the initially displayed price. If the total materially exceeds the advertised item prices plus the explicitly quoted delivery fee, the agent should surface the itemized fee breakdown to the user for approval before confirming the order. Do not treat a '$0 delivery fee' promotion as a guarantee that no mandatory fees will appear at checkout.","last_checked_date":"2026-06-29","status":"active","type":"pricing_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"DoorDash advertises delivery fees upfront \u2014 including promoting $0 delivery fees to DashPass subscribers and in promotional contexts \u2014 implying the total checkout cost is transparent and fee-inclusive at the point of search/selection."},{"actuals":"The New York Attorney General's investigation found that between May 2017 and September 2019, DoorDash used customer tips to offset guaranteed base pay rather than passing them through to Dashers, misleading both consumers and workers about the tip policy. Separately, a 2025 class action alleges DoorDash charged users $9.99/month for DashPass subscriptions they never authorized, and when affected users contacted customer support, DoorDash denied any record of the subscription charge \u2014 blocking refund claims by contradicting the transaction itself.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"May 2017 (tip policy); May 2025 (DashPass unauthorized charge allegations)","evidence":[{"description":"The New York AG secured a $16.75 million settlement after finding DoorDash misled consumers into believing tips went directly to Dashers, when in fact DoorDash used those tips to subsidize guaranteed base pay \u2014 a direct contradiction of its stated tip policy.","reference":"https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-1675-million-doordash-cheating-delivery-workers"},{"description":"A 2025 class action lawsuit alleges DoorDash charged users for DashPass subscriptions without consent via Apple Pay, and that customer support told affected users there was no record of the subscription or charge, preventing them from obtaining refunds.","reference":"https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/doordash-apple-pay-class-action-claims-users-were-charged-without-consent/"},{"description":"The NY AG settlement page confirms that affected Dashers are being compensated and that DoorDash must now disclose tip and pay policies clearly on its website and app going forward, implying prior disclosures were inadequate.","reference":"https://ag.ny.gov/doordash-settlement-information-sheet"}],"interim_guidance":"When placing an order, do not treat the tip amount entered as a guaranteed additive payment on top of Dasher base pay \u2014 DoorDash's historical enforcement of this policy differed from its stated policy, and the remediation has not been independently reverified. For DashPass: do not initiate or confirm a DashPass subscription via Apple Pay without immediately verifying in the DoorDash account dashboard that the subscription is correctly recorded; if the charge appears but no subscription is shown, escalate to the card issuer directly rather than relying on DoorDash customer support, which has reportedly denied the existence of such charges.","last_checked_date":"2026-06-29","status":"remediation_claimed_not_reverified","type":"policy_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"DoorDash states that customers' tips go directly to delivery workers (Dashers), and that any DashPass subscription charges require explicit customer authorization and consent before billing occurs."}]}