No animal fries to your front door
In a lawsuit filed November 6, In-N-Out says DoorDash has been ignoring its requests to stop delivering its food, TMZ first reported.
The popular delivery service is known for its high-profile delivery contracts, like one with 7-Eleven, but In-N-Out is not one of its official partners and clearly doesn't want to be.
The burger chain first contacted DoorDash in April 2014 to ask them to stop using the In-N-Out logo on their site and to stop delivering food from the popular restaurant. In October, DoorDash's CEO Tony Xu responded and indicated that his company had removed references to In-N-Out on the site.
In July, In-N-Out contacted the startup again to try to get them to remove a falsified logo and to make sure it stopped delivering In-N-Out. Since then, the complaint alleges, DoorDash has ignored all messages and the logo is still up.
Most of the complaint is directed towards DoorDash misrepresenting In-N-Out as a delivery partner. Since the burger chain doesn't control any part of the delivery, it has no way to guarantee the food arrives in a safe way, the complaint states.
"Further, Plaintiff has no control over the time it takes Defendant to deliver Plaintiff's goods to consumers, or over the temperature at which the goods are kept during delivery, nor over the food handling and safety practices of Defendant's delivery drivers. While Plaintiff adheres to the Food Code, on information and belief, Defendant does not adhere to such regulations, including with regard to compliance with required food safety and handling practices," the complaint reads.
On the same day that the lawsuit was filed a DoorDash spokesperson told Eater that the company is happy to remove a website when asked. The company has faced criticism from businesses big and small about the way it lists restaurants on its site without its permission.
"If a restaurant asks to be taken down, they're happy to do it, a spokesman says. They care more about the relationship with merchants than other services, he adds. Ones that aren't notified are on the site either because of customer demand or because DoorDash is testing demand for a particular cuisine or location, the spokesman explains," Eater NY wrote.
A DoorDash spokesperson offered the following statement: "DoorDash uses its innovative logistics technology to deliver the very best food and products in neighborhoods across the country. While we have various relationships with different merchants, we are proud to help people get their favorite food delivered directly to their door."