Care.com settles charges it inflated jobs listings and forced membership renewals
Care.com, a platform for providing in-home care services to children, older adults and pets, agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle U.S.
Aug 26 (Reuters) — Care.com, a platform for providing in-home care services to children, older adults and pets, agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges it grossly inflated the number of available jobs and made it difficult to cancel memberships.
The settlement with the unit of IAC Inc (IAC.O) was filed on Monday in the federal court in Austin, Texas, and requires a judge’s approval.
It followed tens of thousands of complaints from Care.com customers, including many who thought they canceled memberships but were billed again. The $8.5 million will go toward refunds. Care.com did not admit or deny wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
The FTC said Care.com enticed customers to buy auto-renewing memberships by overstating the number of jobs, or “gigs,” on its platform and how much people could earn from them.
It said Care.com knew or should have known a significant number of the jobs were unlikely to result in employment.
Rating: 5