Care.com, a platform for in-home care services, agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle charges from the U.S. FTC for inflating job availability and making it difficult to cancel memberships. The settlement, which requires court approval, followed many complaints from customers who were wrongly billed. The company did not admit wrongdoing but will provide refunds. The FTC accused Care.com of misleading customers with inflated job numbers and deceptive website design to prevent cancellations. Approximately 2.9 million consumers bought auto-renewing memberships between January 2019 and March 2022. The settlement requires Care.com to provide a simple cancellation mechanism and back up employment claims on its website. The FTC stated that Care.com used deceptive practices to lure caregivers and trap consumers in subscriptions. Care.com settled to focus on helping families and caregivers but criticized the FTC for targeting businesses amid rising child and healthcare costs. The FTC chief emphasized that the order aims to stop unlawful practices and protect consumers from deceptive tactics.
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