Beware of Hidden Service Fees for Your Flawless Order
The next time you place an order for Seamless with “free” shipping, you might want to take a closer look at the fine print.
Reddit user mattkenefick recently noticed that Seamless has ditched an option on its site that allowed you to see how much shipping would cost . Instead, the site now advertises “free shipping”. There’s just one problem: the shipping isn’t actually free.
Seamless now charges a “service fee” instead of a “shipping fee”. As mattenefick points out, you may not be aware that you are being charged, but it appears on your receipt and is likely to be similar to what you previously charged for shipping. Lifehacker employees also note that the commission has recently appeared on their accounts.
However, shipping charges are pretty common, especially when you’re talking about food. After all, you are asking someone to bring Thai noodles to your door rather than going to the restaurant yourself, and you use the app to make that happen, instead of calling the restaurant and just ordering food directly. However, it’s always a good idea to check your receipt before clicking the submit button to make sure you know what you’re paying for.
We contacted Seamless to find out what this service charge is really for, but have not received a response so far.
If the board is hard to swallow, then a simple solution is to just call the restaurant when you want to place an order. Some will still have a shipping fee, but many will opt out if you are ordering food for the whole family rather than one bowl of soup; others may charge no shipping charges at all for on-call orders.
And, of course, there is always the opportunity to go to a restaurant on your own. It is not that convenient, but you will avoid the expense of having someone bring it to your door.