New Jersey issues warning about Uber as it sues company over its service

🔴 New Jersey says Uber One subscribers face a maze of screens to cancel.

🔴 It joins 20 states backing an FTC lawsuit accusing Uber of deceptive practices.

🔴 The case echoes recent FTC wins against Amazon and Chegg.

Cancelling subscriptions could be as simple as clicking a button, but New Jersey says Uber makes its users go through a complex maze of screens to free themselves.

Each month, an Uber One subscription costs $9.99. A plan for the whole year is $96.

It advertises exclusive benefits like cash back for Uber rides and fee-free food delivery. On its website, Uber says consumers can "Cancel anytime" with no additional fees.

New Jersey attorney general says Uber One cancellations are misleading

However, Attorney General Matt Platkin and other officials say that the latter part isn't really true.

Their newly amended lawsuit says some customers are forced to go through the hassle of 23 different screens to submit a cancellation, and that's only a request; an Uber representative then has to review and approve it.

“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," Platkin said.

Multistate lawsuit follows FTC action against Uber

New Jersey is piling on Uber with 20 other states, and they're all piggybacking off of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission lawsuit filed in April.

In addition to the subscription complaints, the FTC said that multiple customers had been signed up for Uber One without their consent; others were charged before a free trial period expired.

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However, the rideshare company said its cancellation process was clear and lawful.

“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 to the Associated Press.

Click to cancel rule blocked by federal courts

Last year, the FTC introduced a "click to cancel" rule. The intent was to make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up.

It was set to take effect this past May, but the agency delayed its implementation until July. Then, a federal appeals court blocked Click to Cancel and voided it, saying the FTC hadn't followed procedures for making new rules.

However, the FTC has won recent court battles in its fight for easy cancellation.

In September, Chegg agreed to pay $7.5 million after it was accused of making it difficult to cancel recurring subscriptions and then failing to honor cancellation requests.

And last month, Amazon settled for $2.5 billion. The industry behemoth enrolled tens of millions of users in Amazon Prime subscriptions and made it difficult for anyone to cancel their subscriptions, according to the FTC's lawsuit.

New Jersey targets hard-to-cancel subscriptions

Nearly impossible cancellations were a problem that once went hand in hand with gym memberships.

In early 2024, Gov. Murphy signed a bill to make it easier to quit the gym.

The new law mandated that anyone who signed up for a gym membership would be able to cancel online.

Previously, gyms could force members to appear in person at their home gym — a major issue for anyone who has moved away.

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