Class Action Accuses Uber of Using ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Upfront Pricing for New York Riders

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A proposed class action alleges Uber has routinely overcharged New York customers by way of a “classic bait and switch scheme” whereby the ride-sharing company has promised upfront to charge one price before surreptitiously charging another higher price later. 

The 19-page complaint more specifically alleges defendant Uber Technologies, Inc. has been able to overcharge consumers given it has a customer’s method of payment at or before the time the company provides the price of a ride. According to the suit, many Uber customers who have been overcharged are “unaware of it still to this day.” The company’s records, the case says, show “each and every one of the overcharges during the class period.” 

The lawsuit scathes that although Uber claims to strive to be transparent about “pricing, matching, and how our technology affects riders and drivers,” and that its upfront pricing is comprehensive with regard to the cost of a trip, “[i]t is false and deceptive as it does not.” 

“The deception is simple: the upfront price presented to consumers was false and misleading, as Defendant routinely charged consumers on their credit cards and other payment methods a higher amount than that presented to the consumers,” the filing alleges.

The case relays that Uber began using upfront pricing in the fall of 2016. Upfront pricing, the suit says, includes a base rate based on the time and distance of a trip, with upcharges for busy times and areas, and in some instances a flat booking fee and/or toll charges. All of this is presented to the consumer before a ride is purchased, the complaint says. 

According to the lawsuit, Uber’s representations about upfront pricing are incomplete, inaccurate and misleading “in their particulars and on the whole” in that they lead reasonable consumers to believe the quoted upfront price is what they will ultimately pay at the end of a ride. The case charges Uber has intentionally pushed the ostensibly inaccurate upfront pricing representations in part to lead consumers to rely on its claims in deciding which ride-sharing service to use. 

Stressed in the suit is that Uber’s upfront price is “not effectively qualified in any fashion,” and presented to riders as the fare they should expect to pay at the end of a trip.

The lawsuit looks to represent all consumers who purchased a ride through Uber originating anywhere within New York and utilizing upfront pricing through the Uber app at any time since January 1, 2016 and until the date of final judgment in the dispute. 

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