{"coverage_note":"Five discrepancy categories were checked for Uber Eats (ubereats.com): (1) Pricing \u2014 a confirmed finding was present, supported by an active California class action (Dec. 2024) and FTC consumer complaint (May 2024) documenting that checkout totals systematically exceed browsed prices due to undisclosed fees. (2) Availability \u2014 no finding; searches returned no verified evidence of ghost inventory or items advertised as orderable that are blocked at checkout. (3) Identity \u2014 no finding; an FTC action was located but it concerns Uber One billing practices, not merchant-of-record ambiguity for food orders. (4) Policy \u2014 a confirmed finding was present, grounded in an active FTC federal lawsuit (April 2025, amended December 2025) alleging Uber One cancellation is deceptively difficult in practice despite a 'cancel anytime' claim. (5) Undisclosed constraints \u2014 no finding; a 2024 platform outage and merchant order-error documentation were found but neither constitutes a systemic hidden transactional constraint. Coverage was not blocked in any category, though the FTC food-delivery sector-specific pricing rule remains under development, meaning the regulatory landscape for pricing disclosures may change.","human_handoff_required_for":[{"action":"Obtain explicit user approval of the fully itemized checkout total \u2014 including all service fees, delivery fees, and locality-specific surcharges such as 'local operating fee' \u2014 before confirming any Uber Eats order, because the browsed item price or subtotal systematically understates the final charge","evidence":[{"description":"A California class action filed December 2024 (Lauren Abedini v. Uber Technologies Inc., 24STCV34485) alleges Uber Eats uses bait-and-switch pricing by withholding mandatory fees until the final checkout screen, meaning the price shown during browsing is materially lower than the amount actually charged.","reference":"https://www.classaction.org/news/uber-eats-hit-with-class-action-over-hidden-fees-that-inflate-final-price-shown-at-checkout"},{"description":"An FTC consumer complaint filed May 2024 alleged that Uber Eats 'local operating fees' are deceptive junk fees not genuinely tied to their stated regulatory justification, reinforcing that these surcharges are not transparently disclosed at the point of item selection.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/05/ftc-report-finds-hidden-fees-prevalent-across-industries"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"},{"action":"Escalate to the human user any attempt to cancel an Uber One subscription rather than completing the cancellation autonomously, because the in-app cancellation flow requires navigating at least 7 screens and 12 actions and customer service processing delays have resulted in unauthorized repeat charges before cancellation is confirmed","evidence":[{"description":"The FTC filed a federal lawsuit in April 2025 against Uber Technologies and Uber USA LLC, joined by 21 states via an amended complaint in December 2025, specifically alleging that Uber's 'cancel anytime' promise for Uber One is materially deceptive: the actual flow requires at least 12 actions across at least 7 screens with no mention of cancellation until the fourth screen.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/04/ftc-takes-action-against-uber-charging-consumers-without-consent-making-it-difficult-cancel"},{"description":"The same FTC complaint alleges that when consumers contact customer service to cancel, representatives respond so slowly that consumers are charged again without consent before the cancellation is processed, meaning even the customer-service cancellation path is unreliable for preventing additional billing.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/04/ftc-takes-action-against-uber-charging-consumers-without-consent-making-it-difficult-cancel"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-29"}],"record_verification":{"last_checked_agentic_scan":"2026-06-29","last_checked_human_verified":null},"vendor_id":"uber-eats","verified_discrepancies":[{"actuals":"Consumers consistently encounter a materially higher total at checkout than the price shown during browsing, due to service fees, delivery fees, and locality-specific surcharges (e.g., a 'local operating fee') that are not surfaced at the point of item selection. A California class action filed December 2024 alleges Uber Eats uses bait-and-switch pricing by withholding the full price until checkout. A separate FTC complaint (May 2024) also alleged these fees are deceptive because they are not genuinely tied to the stated justification and mislead consumers about the true cost of delivery.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"At least 2024; complaints reference ongoing practices","evidence":[{"description":"California class action (Lauren Abedini v. Uber Technologies Inc., 24STCV34485, filed Dec. 30, 2024) alleges Uber Eats commits false advertising and unfair competition by hiding fees until checkout, violating California Business & Professions Code \u00a7\u00a7 17200 and 17500.","reference":"https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/382762-uber-faces-class-claims-of-hidden-fees-false-advertising"},{"description":"A Seattle consumer filed an FTC complaint in May 2024 alleging Uber Eats and DoorDash mislead customers with 'junk fees' such as a 'local operating fee' that are not genuinely tied to the regulatory costs cited as justification.","reference":"https://www.geekwire.com/2024/seattle-resident-files-ftc-complaint-alleging-uber-doordash-mislead-customers-with-junk-fees/"},{"description":"The FTC's Restaurant Business Online coverage notes that food delivery apps including Uber Eats were explicitly carved out of the 2025 FTC junk-fee rule requiring upfront total pricing, and the FTC is now pursuing a separate rule because it finds the deceptive-fee problem 'widespread' in this sector.","reference":"https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/ftc-proposes-crackdown-third-party-delivery-charges"}],"interim_guidance":"An agent completing a transaction on Uber Eats must not treat the item price or subtotal shown during browsing as the final charge. Before confirming any order, the agent must navigate fully to the checkout/order-summary screen and capture the itemized total \u2014 including all service fees, delivery fees, and any locality surcharges \u2014 and present that confirmed total to the user for approval prior to placing the order. Never commit to an order based solely on the browsed item price.","last_checked_date":"2026-06-29","status":"active","type":"pricing_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"Uber Eats displays item prices and advertises savings (particularly via Uber One membership) at the point of search and browsing, implying the shown price is the total cost before checkout. The platform describes add-on charges such as a 'local operating fee' as legitimate cost-offset mechanisms clearly tied to regulatory requirements."},{"actuals":"The FTC and 21 states filed complaints (April 2025, amended December 2025) in federal court alleging that Uber makes cancellation extraordinarily difficult in practice \u2014 requiring users to navigate at least 12 different actions across at least 7 screens with no mention of cancellation until the fourth screen \u2014 and that customer service representatives respond so slowly to cancellation requests that consumers are charged again without their consent before the cancellation is processed.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"Unconfirmed exact start; FTC complaint filed April 2025 covers ongoing practices documented prior to that date","evidence":[{"description":"The FTC's original complaint (PDF) filed in federal court details that Uber advertises 'cancel anytime' but forces consumers through a labyrinthine multi-screen process, and that Uber customer service delays result in unauthorized repeat charges.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/uberonecomplaint.pdf"},{"description":"The FTC's April 2025 press release announces the lawsuit against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices related to the Uber One subscription used across Uber Eats.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/04/ftc-takes-action-against-uber-deceptive-billing-cancellation-practices"},{"description":"The FTC's December 2025 press release confirms an amended complaint joined by 21 states and the District of Columbia, maintaining and expanding the allegations of deceptive cancellation and billing practices.","reference":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-states-file-amended-complaint-against-uber-deceptive-billing-cancellation-practices"}],"interim_guidance":"Do not rely on Uber Eats' stated 'cancel anytime' policy to cancel an Uber One subscription on behalf of a user through automated flow. A human user should manually initiate the cancellation and verify completion across all screens, then monitor their payment method to confirm no further charges occur. Do not assume a cancellation request submitted via customer service has been processed until the user confirms no additional billing.","last_checked_date":"2026-06-29","status":"active","type":"policy_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"Uber One subscribers can 'cancel anytime' without additional fees, and Uber's stated policy implies straightforward cancellation access through the Uber Eats app."}]}