GrabFood customers shocked to be charged 'small order fee' of over $1,000

Submitted by Stomper Jonathan, Ikukoryo

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This is why you should always double-check before placing your order online.

A number of GrabFood customers were incorrectly charged a "small order fee" of more than $1,000 on Friday afternoon (Oct 4), but it was rectified within minutes, said a company spokesman.

According to the Grab website: "A small order fee applies to orders less than the minimum order value. You can simply add more items to remove the fee."

The fee is usually less than $10 and not, say, $1,185.75.

That was the additional amount Stomper Jonathan was charged for his three teriyaki chicken burgers costing $14.25 from MOS Burger on top of the $4.50 service fees.

This meant that he had to pay a total of $1,204.50 for three teriyaki chicken burgers.

"How many burgers do I need to order in order to meet the minimum order value?" asked the Stomper.

The answer is 253.

The amount of the small order fee is usually the difference between the value of the order and the minimum order value, which is the sum you have to meet to avoid the small order fee.

In Jonathan's case, the minimum order value seemed to be $1,200, which meant that he had to order 253 teriyaki chicken burgers from MOS Burger to forgo the $1,185.75 small order fee.

This suggests that a glitch had caused the Grab app to erroneously move the decimal point two places to the right, turning the minimum order value from the correct amount of $12 to an alarming $1,200.

Stomper Ikukoryo was incorrectly charged a small order fee of less than $1,000 but was no less shocked.

The Stomper said: "I was trying to order pao fan from this stall Fuzhu Fish Soup at 406A Sembawang Drive using the Grab app.

"It showed the minimum order was $8, else a small order fee would be charged. The pao fan that I was ordering cost $10.20, so I should not be hit with the small order fee.

"However, upon checkout, I was shocked to find out my cost was $805.20 with $789.80 being for the small order fee!

"The small order fee was not small at all! It was more than the food itself. Ridiculous."

In this case, the minimum order value somehow changed from $8 to $800.

Others online have reported similar mishaps with the Grab app.

@vicegirl98 small kuku fee #fyp #grab #mcd ♬ panic attack. - taylor

In response to a Stomp query, a Grab spokesman said: "Our small order fee was incorrectly reflected on the app on Friday afternoon (Oct 4), and it was rectified within minutes.

"A very small number of users were charged wrongly and we have processed all refunds."