AB 578 Ensures Full Refunds for Undelivered or Incorrect Food Orders
[Sacramento, CA] Last week, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced AB 578, a bill aimed at protecting Californians from unfair business practices by food delivery platforms such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, and GrubHub. The legislation ensures that consumers receive full refunds when their food is not delivered or when they receive incorrect or incomplete orders.
“In today’s world, food delivery is a routine part of life for many Californians. But when an order never arrives, customers shouldn’t be left paying the price,” said Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan. “AB 578 is about fairness and accountability—ensuring that when you pay for a meal, you either get what you ordered or get your money back.”
In recent years, multiple lawsuits have been filed against food delivery platforms for unfair business practices, including improper charges, hidden fees, and deceptive policies. Recognizing the need for stronger consumer protections, California adopted the Fair Food Delivery Act of 2020, which has since been expanded to prevent price markups, protect restaurant trademarks, and require delivery platforms to disclose driver information.
Despite these advances, food delivery platforms are not currently required to issue full refunds when an order is incorrect or never arrives. Instead, many offer only partial credits toward future purchases, while customers remain responsible for non-refundable service fees and tips. Additionally, many platforms fail to provide adequate customer service, often relying on automated responses and chatbots instead of real human support.
AB 578 strengthens the Fair Food Delivery Act by requiring full refunds to customers’ original payment method when an order is not delivered, is incomplete, or is incorrect. It eliminates forced platform credits, ensuring consumers are not left with unusable future order balances. The bill also mandates real customer service support, requiring food delivery platforms to provide a way for customers to speak with a live representative for refund requests.
“Customers deserve to trust that when they order food, they’ll receive it—or get their money back,” said Bauer-Kahan. “Californians deserve transparency and accountability in every transaction, it is that simple.”
