ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — A Jacksonville small business owner said she’s furious a food delivery service added her bakery to the platform without her knowledge or consent.
Kelly Pickens, the owner of The Pink Cupcake in Atlantic Beach, said she only found out when a Grubhub delivery driver showed up to pick up an order.
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“I was very shocked,” Pickens said. “They took my likeness, they took my pictures and part of my menu, without my permission.”
Pickens said Gruhub had an inaccurate menu displayed on its platform.
“The items were things that I don’t even carry —– rice crispy treats, cookies, pound cake,” Pickens said.
At first, Pickens said she thought it was a scam. She said she posted a warning to Facebook and other restaurant owners commented who said it’s happened to them as well.
Pickens contacted Grubhub and said she was told it was normal business practice.
Action News Jax reached out to Grubhub and was told it adds non-partnered restaurants to its platform. A spokesperson for Grubhub sent us this statement:
Grubhub places restaurants on our platform to offer diners variety and to increase the volume of orders for the restaurants. Restaurant owners can request removal by reaching out to us at restaurants@grubhub.com, and The Pink Cupcake is no longer on our platform.
Pickens said she believes this practice could hurt small businesses.
“When people find out we don’t have those items, they are going to be mad at us,” Pickens said.
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She said she worries it could lead to bad reviews.
“We can’t afford to lose people,” Pickens said. “Having to stick it out through COVID, just like everybody else, we are very concerned that people will look at it and think we don’t want to use them.”
Pickens said her advice for consumers is to check with the business before ordering through a third-party delivery service.
Cox Media Group
