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FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

ftc.gov

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Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#21

Post by gruez »

ivape wrote: post #14

Anecdote: Uber Eats markets a 2 for 1 deal that I would have only ordered due to the deal. They always add both items when you take the deal to the cart, but they suddenly changed it. I didn't realize I had to manually add both, and only had one delivered. I called them up and they only refunded a portion, and not the whole thing without accounting for the fact that it was an opportunity cost for me. I would have jus…

>It's tin-foil hatting, but they coerced a purchase imho.

That's not what "coerced" means. "Deceived", maybe.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#22

Post by oyashirochama »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #7
laweijfmvo wrote: post #5

> Users can be forced to navigate as many as 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel. I complain about dark patterns _a_lot_ but this one takes the cake!

Still better than having to call

Fuck onstar to hell for their shit, you HAVE to call and theres no way to digitally cancel.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#23

Post by janalsncm »

I use virtual credit cards for most of my subscriptions. If I can’t cancel via normal means, I cancel the card. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.

Can’t say whether this is the recommended method for all services but it works for me.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#24

Post by _Algernon_ »

oyashirochama wrote: post #22
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still better than having to call

Fuck onstar to hell for their shit, you HAVE to call and theres no way to digitally cancel.

Unless I had to call to make the order in the first place I'd just chargeback at that point.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#25

Post by cogman10 »

gruez wrote: post #17
laweijfmvo wrote: post #5

> Users can be forced to navigate as many as 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel. I complain about dark patterns _a_lot_ but this one takes the cake!

I'd take that with a grain of salt. I've went through the process to cancel an uber one trial recently, and I would say it's not anywhere near "23 screens". Maybe the user in question got unlucky and got hit with all the A/B trials, and they're being super generous with what counts as a "screen", but the process was relatively painless.

What was the process?

In my mind it should be something like 3 or 4 screens/prompts max.

Account (1) -> Cancel (2) -> Are you sure (3) -> Why did you cancel (4).

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#26

Post by dec0dedab0de »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #7
laweijfmvo wrote: post #5

> Users can be forced to navigate as many as 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel. I complain about dark patterns _a_lot_ but this one takes the cake!

Still better than having to call

Or go in person, like many gym memberships.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#27

Post by cogman10 »

oyashirochama wrote: post #22
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still better than having to call

Fuck onstar to hell for their shit, you HAVE to call and theres no way to digitally cancel.

Sirus wasn't bad, but it was still a call which is annoying.

The worst I've experienced was equifax. I signed up for a free trial to see where my credit sat and what was up, then cancelled. It was a phone call, 30 minute wait, and SUPER weaselly behavior in the call center script. Something to the effect of Them: "Hey we want to give you this free gift", Me: "Will that gift keep my subscription active?" Them: "yes". Repeated several times as they tried just a bunch of avenues to not cancel my account. I literally had to say "No, I just want you to cancel my account" or "Are you going to cancel my account" like 20 times. It took over an hour.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#28

Post by gruez »

cogman10 wrote: post #25
gruez wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd take that with a grain of salt. I've went through the process to cancel an uber one trial recently, and I would say it's not anywhere near "23 screens". Maybe the user in question got unlucky and got hit with all the A/B trials, and they're being super generous with what counts as a "screen", but the process was relatively painless.

What was the process? In my mind it should be something like 3 or 4 screens/prompts max. Account (1) -> Cancel (2) -> Are you sure (3) -> Why did you cancel (4).

The complaint has some screenshots starting at page 15, which I think is representative of the cancellation process I went through. If you're being super generous (ie. start counting from you first launched the app, and also scrolling down as a "screen"), I can count 9-10 screens. I'm not sure how you can get 23.

Re: FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices

#29

Post by JohnMakin »

I’m disabled and rely heavily on food delivery apps and stopped using uber/postmates about a year ago. I somehow got tricked into paying $40 on a $6 order. I went back through the flow to see where I messed up, the screen did show my order amount that I expected, but after many many emails and messages with support, this discount didnt apply because I didn’t hit some “minimum” on the order, so they went ahead and charged the full amount (not what was displayed, or if it was, was done in an extremely dishonest/obfuscated way).

I am far from a novice computer/device user. you’re already making a decent amount of money off me and the slave labor wages you pay your workers, why try to aggressively milk every penny I have? I stopped using it after their joke of an outsourced customer support would not do anything but run me in circles. How much did losing my business cost them in revenue vs. the blatant petty theft in dark patterns would have gained? There has to be a day where all these user hostile apps triggers some response from people like “no, enough of this.”

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