Grab user says service fees for GrabUnlimited subscribers are higher than fees for standard users

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean has claimed that the service fees he was charged as a GrabUnlimited subscriber were higher than the service fees his partner – a standard user – was charged for the same dishes bought from the same restaurant at the same time after doing a simple experiment using both their accounts.

Taking to Facebook yesterday (5 May), Theng Wei Gan said that he subscribed to GrabUnlimited last year and paid $5.99 per month as the subscription supposedly gives him a $3 discount from his total bill each time he ordered food using the app.

However, he recently read online that there was a difference in delivery fees between standard and GrabUnlimited users.

Wanting to check the veracity of the online claim, Mr Gan and his partner experimented by using two phones to order the same food simultaneously, one as a standard user and the other as a GrabUnlimited subscriber.

The pair ordered dishes that cost $68 on their respective accounts from the same outlet at the same time and were surprised to notice that the service fees for the order on the GrabUnlimited subscription phone were $2.50 more than that of the standard user’s phone.

Mr Gan was charged service fees amounting to $8.80, while his partner, who does not pay almost $6 each month, was charged $6.30 in service fees.

While Mr Gan did receive a $3 deduction due to his status as a GrabUnlimited subscriber, his savings only amounted to $0.50 since he was charged higher service fees, and not $3, as advertised by Grab.

Expressing frustration and distaste with the GrabUnlimited scheme, Mr Gan said: “Just tell people it’s $0.50 savings, not $3 lah. I may be wrong, but it does sound like misrepresentation to me.”

He added that he did not contact Grab or GrabFood as he expects standard template replies that there was no price discrimination and discrepancies may be due to different market conditions or device usage.

Mr Gan has cancelled his GrabUnlimited subscription and may stop using Grab services entirely. He encouraged other GrabUnlimited subscribers to experiment to see if they experienced the same issue.

Read his post in full here: