In a significant move against questionable business practices, New York Attorney General Letitia James, in concert with a coalition of attorneys general from 20 other states, has joined forces with the Federal Trade Commission to sue ride-sharing giant Uber for allegedly ensnaring consumers in hard-to-escape subscription plans for its Uber One service. According to a press release from the Attorney General's Office, these subscriptions came at a recurring cost of $9.99 per month, with users reportedly finding themselves entrapped without their knowledge and facing a complex and discouraging cancellation process.
Attorney General James articulated the frustration of consumers, stating, "Unwanted subscriptions that are seemingly impossible to cancel are driving up costs for everyday New Yorkers," she also emphasized that these corporate practices must be curtailed, because companies should not be profiting from deceptive strategies that trap customers into ongoing charges, taking substantial effort and time to terminate, "Today I am taking action to put an end to Uber’s misleading tactics and get New Yorkers their money back." Uber had offered these services at a price of $9.99 a month or $96 annually, promising members savings on rides and food deliveries, and the alluring option to cancel "anytime," as per the Attorney General's Office.
The legal action posits that Uber breached federal and state consumer protection laws by promoting Uber One through frequent app notifications and pop-ups all while downplaying the real benefits, obfuscating the true savings after subscription fees, and falsifying the amount consumers could save. Specifically, the lawsuit takes issue with Uber's claim that users could "save $25 every month," failing to deduce the membership's own cost from these projected savings. The coalition fronted by AG James seeks not only recompense for consumers but also a strict prohibition to prevent Uber's allegedly illicit conduct from recurring, seeking a permanent injunction, monetary damages, and further penalties, as reported by the Attorney General's Office.
Further to these claims, the legal filings allege that Uber employed tactics that severely hindered the process of subscription cancellation; customers were made to weave through a myriad of confusingly labeled screens, and, in some instances when they were near the end of their billing period, couldn’t even find the option to disengage, "end membership button" disappeared during the crucial final 48-hour period of their membership cycle. When consumers eventually unearthed the supposed cancellation feature, they were not at liberty to directly cancel but instead, faced a succession of screens offering pauses or discounts to their service – according to the complaint, at least twelve separate actions across seven different screens were needed to fully cancel the subscription. This complicated process resulted in many users being charged anew before their trial concluded or prior to succeeding in their attempts to cancel, as noted by the he Attorney General's Office.
The multistate coalition backing Attorney General James is expansive, including legal leaders from Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and bolstered by the District Attorney for Alameda County, California.
