FTC sues Uber over ‘deceptive’ Uber One subscriptions

Having a hard time cancelling your Uber One subscription? The U.S. government says you’re not alone.

On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the delivery and rideshare giant Uber alleging that the company partook in “deceptive billing and cancellation practices.” The FTC’s allegations are in regards to Uber’s premium subscription service, Uber One.

“I looked at a credit card bill and I realized that Uber Eats had been charging $9.99 for an Uber One account for the past 8 months. I have never signed up for this service,” reads a typical customer comment cited in the suit. Another customer complaint reads, “I don[’]t have an UBER account and NEVER have but I am being charged a monthly recurring fee of $9.99 for UBER ONE . I don[’]t even know how they got my debit card info.”

This screenshot from the Uber app was included in the FTC filing.
Credit: FTC

Why did the FTC target Uber with the new suit?

Uber advertised Uber One as a $9.99 per month premium subscription platform that provided customers with exclusive benefits, such as savings on rides and deliveries. However, according to the FTC, Uber mislead consumers on what exactly those savings were.

“Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson in a statement. “Today, we’re alleging that Uber not only deceived consumers about their subscriptions, but also made it unreasonably difficult for customers to cancel.”

For example, Uber advertised that customers could save $25 per month as an Uber One member. The FTC disagrees, and the suit shows that the company didn’t factor in the $9.99 per month membership fee when advertising supposed savings.

“These claims are false,” the government’s lawsuit says. “Many consumers do not actually save $25 a month by using Uber One…Uber’s savings claim assumes that the subscription is free; the purported savings does not subtract any costs.”

The problems with Uber One went beyond false advertising promises, however. According to the lawsuit, along with the $25 in savings, Uber advertised that users can cancel their Uber One subscription “at any time” with “no additional fees.” However, the FTC stated that Uber often charged consumers before the free trial even ended. On top of that, cancelling the subscription wasn’t as simple as advertised.

Easy to sign up, incredibly hard to cancel

The suit alleges that Uber deploys deceptive practices known as “dark patterns” to first encourage users to sign up and then discourage them from cancelling their Uber One subscriptions.

The FTC notes that users could sign up with a couple of clicks, but cancelling required up to 32 actions.
Credit: FTC

In the app, buttons directing users to “Start saving” or “Try for free” automatically enrolled users in the trial, per the lawsuit. In one case, users were presented with two options, “Start saving” or “Cancel.” The government’s complaint reads, “Once consumers click ‘Start saving,’ they are immediately enrolled in Uber One and will be charged every month or year for a subscription. The only other choice is to ‘Cancel.’ It is unclear what tapping that button would cancel at this point — it could be the delivery or ride they are trying to book; they have not signed up for Uber One and thus could not cancel it.”

And in practice, when customers really did try to cancel the subscription, “Uber makes it extremely difficult,” the FTC notes.

The FTC says Uber users were “forced to navigate” through a maze of steps in order to cancel their paid Uber One plan. The FTC says that the cancellation process could extend over 23 different screens and force users to take up to 32 different actions just to cancel. And the closer a user got to the end of their current subscription, the harder Uber made it to cancel.

“Uber can require them to say why they want to cancel, urge them to pause their membership or, if that failed, present them with offers to stay,” says the FTC.

Some customers were forced to contact Uber customer support in order to cancel, but were not provided a method to contact the company. In addition, many users were charged for the subscription while in the process of cancelling, according to the government. 

Uber’s alleged violations and the company’s official response

The FTC is charging Uber with five counts under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), including misrepresentation and unfairly charging without consent.

In a statement shared with Mashable, Uber disputes any wrongdoing.

“We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” said an Uber spokesperson. “Uber does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent, and cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people 20 seconds or less.”

Uber said that the company used to require that consumers contact the company in order to cancel Uber One if they were within 48 hours of their renewal period. However, Uber has since changed this policy and users can now cancel their subscription from within the app at any time.