Man Claimed That GrabUnlimited Subscribers Pay Higher Delivery Fees; Grab Has Since Responded

Last Updated on 2023-04-03 , 9:54 am

Ordering delivery is expensive when fees can cost a good portion of your meal.

Unfortunately, because of the pandemic and lockdowns, ordering delivery has become the norm for many, even in a post-COVID-19 world.

If you’re willing to foot the fee, it’s undeniably much more convenient after all.

However, this Facebook user found out that his wife’s GrabUnlimited-subscribed account was required to pay a higher fee than his own standard account, and wondered about the discrepancy. 

Here’s what happened. 

His Facebook Post

On 26 March, Facebook User Mr Lim Qing Feng posted a series of screenshots detailing the incident, showing purchases from McDonald’s on his phone and his wife’s phone.

The post has since been shared more than 1,800 times, with 526 comments discussing it. 

In his post, Mr Lim explained that his wife was subscribed to GrabUnlimited, an in-app subscription provided by Grab that supposedly offers better deals and more savings, including $3 off delivery. 

According to Mr Lim, it costs $5.99 a month.

That day, he had intended to take advantage of the $3 off delivery, so he accessed his wife’s account, but found it was only available for orders over $15. 

Later, he realised that the delivery fee for the same order cost $6.60 on his wife’s account, while it cost only $3.60 on his normal account.

The order, which consisted of a Filet-O-Fish upsized meal and an apple pie, was made around midnight.

He ended the original post by wondering why this was the case.

The Comments

The comments overwhelmingly supported Mr Lim, with people bashing Grab and expressing that they would not subscribe to their services.

Many called Grab “a scam,” criticising that they allegedly use their monopoly over the market to take advantage of consumers.

Others expressed that they had experienced the same thing as well, and some decided it was time to unsubscribe.

This user shared her own similar experience where her delivery fee as a subscriber cost more than her brother’s. 

And as always, a few appreciated comments try to make light of the situation.

Grab’s Response

In an update to the post, Mr Lim attached a screenshot of Grab’s response to his query, which explained the discrepancy in the delivery fees.

In their reply, they stated that the difference was not due to the account’s subscription status to GrabUnlimited. Instead, it’s due to the “different market conditions” between the timings they had opened and browsed the app, as well as the “system’s cache”, or saved data.

Explaining further, they said that because two different consumers did the order checks at different timings, 12.17 am and 12.20 am, the market conditions were different. Hence, it resulted in a different delivery fee being generated. 

“Browsing the app at a different timing, even if just a few minutes apart, can result in a different delivery fee,” they said in the reply.

Additionally, the fee is cached in the system for a short period of time after logging in to the app, to ensure customers see the same delivery fee at checkout.

Despite the comprehensive reply, some customers were unconvinced, as expressed in this user’s comment.