Grubhub refund: payments to drivers and diners

How much money is involved

640,038 payments totaling more than $23.8 million. Grubhub agreed in December 2024 to pay $25 million to settle charges brought by the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General.

Individual amounts vary and aren’t guaranteed. Only the refund administrator can tell you what, if anything, you’ll receive.

Who qualifies

• Delivery drivers harmed by Grubhub's alleged deceptive earnings claims, and
• Diners harmed by the company's alleged misleading and unlawful conduct, including being blocked from their accounts, which kept them from redeeming gift cards.
• Eligible people are identified by the refund administrator.

How you get paid

• Mostly mailed checks; some PayPal payments.
• Questions: refund administrator Analytics Consulting, 1-888-446-4992 (as listed by the FTC).

What the FTC alleged

• The FTC and the Illinois Attorney General alleged Grubhub deceived drivers about how much they could expect to earn.
• They alleged Grubhub blocked diners from their accounts and funds, preventing gift card redemption. The December 2024 complaint also alleged Grubhub deceived diners about delivery costs.
• Under the settlement, Grubhub must honestly advertise driver pay, give users a way to dispute blocked accounts, and list restaurants only with their consent.

The psychology lesson: drip pricing and the earnings mirage

Fees that show up one at a time, such as a delivery fee, then a service fee, then a small-order fee, work because we anchor on the first price we see and adjust too little afterwards (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). By the time the last fee appears you've already committed: you picked the meal, built the cart and imagined eating it. Backing out now feels like losing something, so you pay. Economists call this drip pricing.

Drivers face the mirror image: a headline earnings figure works as an anchor too. When the real hourly number comes in lower, the work has already been done. In both cases the first number you see is the one designed to stick.

Your defense: judge any delivery order on the final total only, and decide your walk-away number before you open the app. For gig work, track your real hourly pay for two weeks before you trust any advertised figure.

Beware refund scams

The FTC says it never asks you to pay money to get a refund. If someone calls, texts or emails offering to “speed up” or “guarantee” your payment for a fee, it’s a scam. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Common questions