CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council's president had harsh words for DoorDash over the food delivery service passing an additional fee on to Clevelanders, after the council voted to limit what these kinds of companies can charge businesses in the area.
"DoorDash’s arrogance, hutzpah, and greed is astounding," Council President Kevin Kelley said in a prepared statement obtained by 3News. "They are charging an extra $1 per delivery and calling it the 'Cleveland fee'."
Through representative Campbell Matthews, DoorDash told 3News that this fee is not unique to Cleveland, and is intended to offset exactly the kind of measure passed by Cleveland City Council earlier this month.
Commissions paid to DoorDash by restaurants are what the company uses to pay Dasher fees, conduct background checks on the people delivering orders and pay other operating costs, per a blog posted by the company.
"In select cities where lawmakers have imposed price regulations that limit our ability to work with restaurant partners, DoorDash is considering various measures to offset their unintended consequences, Matthews told 3News.
"In some cases, this means charging customers an additional fee when they order from restaurants in their city to help ensure that we can continue to offer them convenient delivery while helping to ensure that Dashers are active and earning and that merchants can access the services to help drive volume as dine-in remains limited.”
Matthews added: “During this unprecedented time, providing the best possible service for our community is critically important."
Cleveland's city council passed legislation limiting how much delivery services like DoorDash could charge businesses on Dec. 9, in an effort to help small restaurants and businesses that have been struggling financially during this pandemic.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson signed it soon after and it went into immediate effect because it was passed as an emergency.
During DoorDash's initial public offering of stock on Dec. 9, the same day Cleveland City Council passed the delivery company fee limit, DoorDash closed out its first day of trading valued at $60.2 billion, with stocks trading at $189.51, according to CNBC.
As of 1:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29, DoorDash stock is now trading at $140.11 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, which equates to a valuation of roughly $44.5 billion.
Between its IPO and now, DoorDash responded to commission limits on orders by passing the difference on to Cleveland consumers with the additional $1 fee for orders from restaurants located within the city.
"Have they no shame?" Kelley wrote in his statement, while promising that the city council will immediately look into what they can do legislatively "about this corporate greed."