I never ordered Uber One. Please help me get my money back!

Diego Vega is signed up for Uber One. He has no idea how he’s been enrolled in the monthly $9.99 membership, but he does know one thing: He wants to unenroll. But how?

Question: I received an offer and an unsolicited credit for an Uber One membership through Capital One. I never asked for it and there is no way I can reject it.

Now Uber is charging me $9.99 per month for something I didn’t want and, what’s worse, I can’t cancel it because Capital One and Uber are unresponsive. Can you please help me find a solution? – Diego Vega, Miami, Florida

Answer: Uber One shouldn’t have enrolled you in its program unless you signed up for it. So how did you end up with a membership that you didn’t want?

I wasn’t there when you clicked “accept” – but when I first saw your case, I thought I knew. Uber makes it so easy to become an Uber One member. I’ve seen the “sign up” button on my app almost every time I hail a car. Often, Uber offers a discount on your ride if you sign up. And if you’re in a hurry to get a ride, you might overlook the fine print.

Your Uber One membership offers 5% off eligible rides and orders on food, groceries and alcohol. You also get priority pickups and access to special offers. If you’re a heavy Uber user, it might be worthwhile; but for you, it probably wasn’t.

Your experience with Uber One was torture. According to the paper trail you provided, Capital One not only signed you up for a $9.99 monthly membership that you didn’t want, but it also made it impossible to cancel. And then – and here comes the torture part – it also sent you solicitations asking you how you liked the $9.99 membership that you neither wanted nor could cancel. Come on!

I think it’s fine to make it easy to sign up for a program like Uber One, as long as it’s something you want. But it’s not fine to make it impossible to leave the program. Again, I wasn’t there when you tried to unenroll. But companies should make it as easy to leave as they do to sign up.

And what if you can’t do it? Well, I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the Uber customer service executives and Capital One customer service executives on my consumer advocacy website, Elliott.org. A brief, polite email to one of them might have gotten you off the hook. I also publish a few helpful strategies for resolving your own customer service dispute on my site and those could have helped you get this fixed.

A closer look at your case suggests you didn’t join Uber One. Rather, you signed up for a Capital One card that came with six “free” months of Uber One membership. The fine print noted, “Reminder – once your credited membership period expires, unless you cancel your Uber One monthly membership your card will be charged each month for membership and you will no longer receive a statement credit. To avoid charges, cancel in the Uber One section of the Uber app or by contacting Uber Support.”

I contacted Capital One on your behalf. A representative reached out to you and helped you cancel your membership. Capital One processed a full refund for your membership fees, too.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

© 2023 Christopher Elliott