Who should pay the delivery fee when ordering food together?
Guilty
The short answer
Delivery fees and service charges are split evenly among everyone who ordered. Paying only for your own food leaves the person who checked out holding the rest.
The ruling
From the public record. Names are replaced with roles.
Small claims division
Case no.PC-2026-06162
The friend who placed the order v. The friend who paid for his food only
Filed 10/18/2026
- Plaintiff
- The friend who placed the order
- Defendant
- The friend who paid for his food only
Statement of claim
I ordered dinner for three on my phone. He added a sandwich. When I asked for his share he sent $14, the menu price. The fees and the tip came to $11. He said the fees were for my order.
Charge
Payment of a menu price only, against a shared order with $11 in fees and tip
Judgment
Guilty
Friend found guilty of paying for his sandwich but not its delivery
Sentence
The defendant sends his third of the fees and tip today, and places and pays for the next shared order.
How the court usually rules on this
The court treats delivery fees, service fees and the driver's tip as shared costs of a shared order. They are split by person, not by how much each person ordered, unless the group agrees otherwise. The person who placed the order should say the total per person at the time. Paying back only the menu price is usually a guilty verdict.
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