Whether you’re a driver or a customer, it hasn’t been a good summer for food-delivery apps, and the examples of how these apps are screwing people over just keep coming.


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The latest example is courtesy of Maya Angelique on Twitter, who posted a screenshot of an Uber Eats order screen showing that while one large ranch costs $2.70, three cost $13.47, even though they should actually only cost $8.10.



Unfortunately, as someone who became incredibly reliant on food-delivery apps during COVID, I understand the source of the confusion: The ranch costs X amount; the $2.70 is the additional charge on top of that. One Twitter user did the math and figured out that the base amount for a large ranch is $1.79, which if you add $2.70 to and multiply by 3, gives you $13.47. Don’t get me wrong: That’s still an insane amount to pay for what will undoubtedly be a tiny amount of ranch.



Not to mention, all of this is before you even get into the fact that many restaurants increase their prices for customers using food-delivery apps in order to cover their costs. A way to avoid these price increases is to select pickup and grab your order yourself, although that isn’t as convenient as delivery, obviously.



One user’s response to Angelique’s tweet was a simple wish: “I want ubereats to catch a RICO so bad.” Many others agreed that the costs and fees on the app were out-of-control, with someone pointing out that two McChickens would cost them $15.04 via the app, far more than their actual cost in-store.


Unfortunately, unless something major changes — a boycott, a cheaper competitor (that doesn’t cut costs by further exploiting drivers) or a successful lawsuit — there’s very little incentive for these companies to change their ways and three packets of ranch will continue to cost nearly 15 bucks.


Not even the biggest serving of ranch can help that go down any better.