BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland joined a lawsuit filed against Uber over alleged deceptive and unfair practices in relation to the Uber One subscription service.
The amended complaint, filed Monday, now includes 21 states.
"[I]nternal Uber One testing shows that 85% of consumers who were being charged for Uber One and wanted to cancel it would not keep it even if it only cost $1."
The Federal Trade Commission, the regulatory government agency that is the lead plaintiff in the case, alleges that Uber doesn't give Uber One customers a simple way to cancel the subscription service.
"For any consumer wishing to cancel Uber One, Defendants require them to take at least 12 different actions and navigate a maze of at least 7 screens, if they guess the right paths to use, despite there being no mention of cancellation until the fourth screen."
According to the complaint, more than 28.7 million people have Uber One subscriptions, accounting for more than $935 million of gross revenues for the company during a 2-year period.
The plaintiffs in the suit allege that Uber misrepresents the benefits of the subscription plan, including being able to cancel anytime and that Uber enrolls consumers without consent.
The complaint goes through all the different screens a consumer might have to go through when trying to cancel the subscription, including the loop that some would get stuck in.
Consumers, within 48 hours of renewal, attempting to cancel their subscription, were allegedly shown a screen that said payment might already be in process and to contact support, with no information on how to do so.
The FTC alleges in the 63-page complaint that these enrollment and cancellation processes ultimately led to unauthorized charges for consumers.
The plaintiffs in the case are asking the court to make Uber stop violating state consumer protection laws, the FTC Act, and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, and for monetary relief.
