Restaurant delivery platform Grubhub and its Seamless unit, following a recent controversy over how the companies have handled fees, have announced a series of changes following a controversy over whether partner restaurants were paying for unfulfilled phone orders and whether it was buying up domain names related to those partner restaurants. 

"Recently there have been misleading stories in the media regarding our treatment of restaurant partners," Grubhub officials wrote in a posting to their Learning Center web page. "To be clear, Grubhub/Seamless is committed to transparency and to being the best partner for restaurants. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them."

• The platforms will extend the look back period for restaurants to review phone orders from 60 to 120 days. The company said that as before, it will also review and refund any fees from phone calls that did not result in actual orders.
• A new website will be deployed in the coming weeks that makes it easier for restaurants to request direct control over any URLs registered or microsites created as part of their contractual relationship with Grubhub.
• The company will set up a series of restaurant roundtables to encourage dialogue with restaurant partners. The roundables will begin in New York, in conjunction with the New York State Restaurant Association. Members of the New York City Council and the Department of Small Business Services will also be invited.