Grubhub: Customer or restaurant complaint (safety, rudeness, threats) deactivation appeal

What this deactivation means

A report that you endangered someone, were threatening, harassing, or abusive, or damaged property. Policy calls this egregious misconduct and allows immediate deactivation from a single incident. Drivers report these arising from a heated word at a counter, a stranger's driving report, or a customer upset about something else entirely, and Grubhub rarely shares the complaint's details.

Where and when to appeal

The evidence that moves this reason

• Dashcam or cabin audio if you have it
• the full in-app chat with that customer, civil and complete
• your own written account from the same day with times, names, and places
• a witness contact
• a clean multi-year delivery record
• a police report if something real happened to you out there

What actually works

Answer the exact category in the notice, calmly, with your strongest proof first. Ask Grubhub for the date and order involved so you can respond to what was actually claimed; they keep the delivery record and GPS even when they will not share the complaint. If a real argument happened, own your part once, without excuses, and set it against years of clean work.

Be realistic: platforms rarely reverse this one. Your appeal needs strong proof of what really caused it, not an apology or a plea.

If Grubhub denies the appeal

Denied: re-appeal through the same email thread or the form with NEW evidence; nothing in Grubhub's policy caps attempts, and the 90-day window leaves room for a stronger second try. The contractual path is INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION before the American Arbitration Association under the Delivery Partner Agreement (Section 12), unless you opted out within 30 days of accepting the agreement (opt-outs go to driverinfo@grubhub.com). Arbitration has a REQUIRED first step: an informal phone conference. Send Grubhub written notice that you want one; the agreement says the call happens within 7 days of Grubhub receiving the notice, and the deadline clock on your claims pauses while you wait. Some disputes end at that call. A formal demand must go by certified mail to Grubhub, 5 Bryant Park, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10018, Attn: General Counsel, signed in ink; the agreement rejects digital signatures. Grubhub pays the arbitrator's fees, filing and admin costs are shared, and the hearing happens in your county. If the background or driving report is wrong, dispute it directly with the company that made it (usually Checkr). The law (FCRA) makes them recheck it, usually within 30 days, and the fixed report goes to the platform automatically. Fixing a wrong report is often the easiest win there is. Seattle drivers: Grubhub is covered by the App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance, and Seattle OLS has already made Grubhub redo one deactivation and pay penalties (late 2025). That means 14 days notice before most deactivations, access to the records behind it, a challenge process, and reinstatement with back pay if the deactivation was unjustified; file with Seattle OLS within 90 days. NYC: the December 2025 deactivation law (Int. 1332, in effect since late January 2026) covers Grubhub, Seamless, and Relay; it requires a stated reason, an appeal process, and 120 days notice before a permanent removal.