Pennsylvania and New Jersey have joined a multi-state lawsuit against Uber, alleging the rideshare company charged customers subscription fees for Uber One without their consent and made it “difficult, time-consuming and far from simple” to cancel a trial membership.<\/p>\n
MORE:\u00a0Bucks County man, 51, pleads guilty to killing mother and covering her body with a pile of furniture and linens<\/a><\/p>\n Uber One is a service that promises savings on Uber rides and meals ordered through Uber Eats. The subscription costs $9.99 per month, or $96 per year, but Uber offered free trials of up to three months. Customers could “cancel anytime,” according to in-app messaging, but the lawsuit argues this was not the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Users who tried to cancel Uber One before their free trial ended often struggled through dozens of prompts and screens, court documents say, and had to contact customer service if their request fell within 48 hours of the auto-renewal window. Uber allegedly did not provide a customer service number. Customers who did manage to contact a customer service representative reported waiting “hours or up to a full day” for a response, during which time Uber charged the subscription fee. The company also repeatedly processed charges before the free trial ended, the suit claims.<\/p>\n The 63-page complaint<\/a> further alleges that users who received confirmation their request had processed and they would not be charged in the future were automatically billed again. In some cases, the lawsuit claims, customers canceled their credit or debit cards to stop the charges, only for Uber to bill other cards previously used to book rides or food deliveries.<\/p>\n \u201cI signed up for Uber Eats (Uber One) via their application,” one customer complaint in the court documents reads. “I cancelled their app\u00a0when given the opportunity to cancel. Uber One still charged my checking account the monthly fee in the amount of $9.99 three times after cancelling. I reached out via\u00a0chat, and I was refunded.\u00a0<\/p>\n “A couple of months later, Uber One restarted charging my\u00a0checking account for $9.99. As a result, I cancelled my bank card, and was issued a\u00a0new one so that the unauthorized charges would stop. Uber One then attempted\u00a0numerous times to charge my account. but was unsuccessful. Then Uber One charged\u00a0my wife\u2019s bank card (she used her bank card once to make a purchase prior to me\u00a0cancelling my account).”<\/p>\n Some consumers claim Uber enrolled them in the subscription without their consent.\u00a0Uber One subscribers also did not receive the advertised membership benefits, prosecutors argue. Although the service promised savings of $25 per month, many customers said they did not actually save that money. The lawsuit claims that Uber One subscribers still paid delivery fees, despite being promised no charge on eligible orders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Perks like these are still promised on the Uber Eats website, which claims<\/a> “members save $29 on average every month.”<\/p>\n A coalition of 22 attorneys general, including Pennsylvania’s Dave Sunday<\/a> and New Jersey’s Matthew Platkin<\/a>, filed the lawsuit Monday alongside the Federal Trade Commission. The prosecutors cite numerous violations of federal and state consumer protection laws and seek a permanent injunction against future violations, restitution and attorney fees.<\/p>\n Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
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