iPhone vs Android under Rs 30,000: Are you paying more for cabs, hotels & groceries due to dark patterns?
iPhone vs Android user: “There are a lot of dark patterns in the app to extract money from customers in multiple ways including charging more for customers with phones more than Rs 30,000,” said the anonymous user named Scary_Split3157 in the Reddit post.
Are you also a victim of dark patterns? Are quick commerce startups like Zepto charging extra to people owning smartphones worth over Rs 30K? Well, Zepto is facing allegations of following dark patterns these days. Recently a social media post went viral, in which Zepto's toxic work culture was talked about. The author of the post shared this information anonymously, claiming to be an employee of Zepto. He claimed that the Zepto platform uses dark patterns. Based on these claims, Zee Business did a live test of not only ordering groceries from Zepto but also booking cabs and hotels from an iPhone and an Android phone for less than Rs 30,000 - the results that came out were shocking.
What Zepto employee claims
Claiming further, he said, "Zepto shows higher prices of products to those using the app from phones more expensive than Rs 30,000 and lower prices to those using the app from phones cheaper than Rs 30,000."
Allegations on Zepto
Furthermore, the user claims that Zepto profiles client data and uses inadequate security measures for these profiles. Despite several data leaks, the corporation has not addressed this issue owing to a focus on expansion and investor demand.
Does Zepto use dark pattern?
“There are a lot of dark patterns in the app to extract money from customers in multiple ways including charging more for customers with phones more than Rs 30,000,” said the anonymous user named Scary_Split3157 in the Reddit post.
Zee Business did a live test amid claim by Zepto employee
However, based on these claims, Zee Business did a live test of not only ordering goods from Zepto but also booking cabs and hotels from cheap and expensive phones - the results that came out were shocking.
What is the result?
Investigation revealed that there is a huge variation in prices depending on the phone model and user profile.
Price difference
Checking cab booking and hotel rates using Zepto via less expensive phones and high-end phones found a huge difference in prices.
Zee Business live test on prices
Avocado (same quantity)
iPhone: Rs 111
Android phone: Rs 86
Cab booking for the same destination
Iphone: Rs 400
Android phone: Rs 360
Hotel room booking
A difference of Rs 200 has been seen while booking through Android phone and iPhone.
Zepto toxic work culture
In a post, a Zepto employee claimed that the company had a "toxic" work culture and that staff were exposed to gruelling 14-hour hours, prompting worries about their well-being.
Zepto's late meetings
The post also claimed that Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha's late working hours, which begins at 2 PM, resulted in meetings being planned as late as 2 AM. This raised concerns about the CEO's approach to work-life balance and the demands imposed on staff.
Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha
Recently, Palicha sparked a discussion about work-life balance in response to existing issues in the technology business. Palicha turned to social media on Wednesday to express his concerns, saying, “I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors.”
Palicha's speech coincided
Palicha's speech coincided with increased scrutiny of Zepto's employee claim. A recent popular Reddit article claimed that Zepto had a "toxic" work atmosphere.