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Regular users of Grab's services may be familiar with GrabUnlimited, a subscription service that promises its users — among other benefits — up to S$3 off food delivery.

However, one user in Singapore decided to find out just how much he was gaining from his subscription.

Theng Wei Gan took to Facebook on May 5 to share about an "experiment" he conducted comparing the delivery fee for GrabUnlimited with what normal Grab users pay.

The experiment

"Recently, I read somewhere online that there's a difference in delivery fee between standard and GrabUnlimited users," he wrote, explaining the impetus for this experiment.

Using two phones — one with a GrabUnlimited subscription and one without — Theng made orders from the same eatery with identical subtotals.

Yet he found that despite the S$3 off he was entitled to as a GrabUnlimited subscriber, the difference in the total bills was just S$0.50.

This boiled down to the service fee, which was S$2.50 more for the order made with GrabUnlimited; S$8.80 as opposed to S$6.30.

"Just tell people it's S$0.50 savings, not S$3 lah. I may be wrong, but it does sound like misrepresentation to me." wrote Theng.

"I have immediately cancelled my GrabUnlimited subscription. And I'm probably going to stop using Grab services from now onwards. This experiment has left a bad taste in our mouths."

Difference due to surge pricing

The post, which has since garnered 458 shares on Facebook, attracted the interest of Grab vice-president of Marketing and Sustainability Cheryl Goh who responded in the comments to explain the discrepancy in service fees.

"Based on the screenshots shared, the two orders are one minute apart and one of these orders had a surge fare of S$2.50 (indicated by the 'motorbike icon')," wrote Goh.

"We know a difference in price that happens within a minute can seem like it was done on purpose, but we would never do this. Our fees are adjusted based on demand supply and happens pretty much in real-time, so a minute can indeed make a difference to the fees."

Goh further explained that once a fee is shown to the user, Grab will place a hold on the fee for a few minutes to allow the user to complete their order.

While meant to benefit the user, this feature had inadvertently caused confusion, added Goh.

"Our team is actively testing various ways to smoothen this experience and we hope it will result in better delivery experience."

Responding to other commenters on the post, Goh also confirmed that Grab does not increase delivery fees based on a user's status as a GrabUnlimited subscriber.

For the uninitiated, GrabUnlimited charges users S$5.99 each month in exchange for a slew of benefits on food delivery, grocery purchases, and courier services.

The particular benefit tested by Theng in his experiment was the 99 "up to S$3 off GrabFood delivery fee" vouchers that subscribers get each month.

Top image from Theng Wei Gan's Facebook page