New Jersey joins multistate lawsuit accusing Uber of deceptive subscription practices

New Jersey has joined a coalition of states and local law enforcement agencies suing Uber over alleged deceptive and unfair practices tied to the company’s Uber One subscription service, Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced Monday.

The lawsuit, first filed by the Federal Trade Commission in April in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names Uber Technologies LLC and Uber USA LLC, the operators of the rideshare and delivery platform.

The complaint alleges that Uber used deceptive and unfair practices in marketing and selling Uber One subscriptions, which are promoted as a way for customers to save money on rides and deliveries, while making it extremely difficult for users to cancel once enrolled.

“Too often, companies looking to sell you on the idea of convenience and the opportunity to save money are doing so with one hand already in your wallet,” Platkin said in a statement. “Canceling a subscription service should not force you through a byzantine process that requires clicking through two dozen screens or more, only to have to repeat the process. We’ll continue to fight to ensure that all New Jerseyans are protected from deceptive and unfair corporate practices that cost them their hard-earned money.”

Uber One subscriptions typically cost $9.99 per month or $96 per year and renew automatically, charging consumers’ credit cards or debiting their bank accounts on a recurring basis.

According to the lawsuit, Uber claimed that customers could “cancel anytime” without additional fees, but in practice made cancellation extraordinarily difficult. The complaint describes consumers being trapped in circuitous loops and forced to navigate an extensive number of screens while attempting to cancel their subscriptions.

In some cases, consumers went through as many as 23 screens and were required to take at least 32 actions — including scrolling, clicking, and typing — in order to submit a cancellation request. Even after doing so, consumers were required to wait for an Uber customer service representative to process the cancellation.

The lawsuit alleges that consumers often waited hours or up to a full day for a response, and that some were charged for another billing cycle while waiting for their cancellation to be completed.

“This lawsuit describes, in painstaking detail, how people felt trapped and scammed by this service, and how it was almost impossible to leave,” said ElizabethHarris, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “New Jersey has among the strongest consumer protection laws in the nation, and those laws protect against the types of corporate behavior laid out here.”

The complaint also alleges that Uber used negative option marketing tactics in connection with free trial subscriptions, a practice that automatically charges consumers if they do not cancel before the trial ends. A negative option treats a consumer’s failure to reject an offer or cancel an agreement as consent to be charged.

State officials further allege that Uber charged some consumers before their billing date, including users whose free trial periods had not yet ended, and that some consumers were enrolled in Uber One without their knowledge.

The lawsuit seeks restitution, civil penalties, costs, and an injunction against Uber for alleged violations of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

New Jersey consumers who wish to file complaints regarding Uber One may do so online or by writing to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 45025, Newark, NJ 07101.

In addition to New Jersey, the coalition led by Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown includes Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the district attorney for Alameda County, California.