Fitness Tracking Tech Company Whoop Facing Class Action Over Alleged Membership Auto-Renewal Practices

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Whoop, Inc. of unlawfully enrolling consumers in recurring, paid memberships without consent.

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The 25-page lawsuit claims the company, which sells wearable fitness tracking bands bundled with memberships to its online fitness analytics platform, has violated California’s Automatic Renewal Law by failing to disclose the terms of its automatically renewing membership service in a “clear and conspicuous manner” during enrollment and subsequently charging consumers without their consent.

To access the data processing and analytics services offered through the Whoop mobile app and website Join.Whoop.com, consumers must enroll in an annual or 24-month membership, the suit relays. According to the case, the 24-month membership is billed through a single upfront payment, while the annual membership allows users to pay upfront or select monthly billing. Per the complaint, the company also offers consumers a one-month free trial.

The filing argues that a reasonable consumer reviewing the membership options on the website or mobile app would believe they are enrolling in a service that will expire at the end of the specified term.

However, the lawsuit alleges that “no matter what the user selects,” at the end of the term or trial period, Whoop automatically renews the consumer for an additional one-year membership and bills them at the annual membership price.

The suit contends that, in violation of state law, none of the auto-renewal or automatic billing terms are plainly disclosed to customers before they choose a membership plan. Per the case, only if a user scrolls to the bottom of the page will they see the auto-renewal terms listed in “very small, gray text, against a gray background” as if “designed to go unnoticed.”

Because customers “have no reason to scroll down,” many users enroll in a Whoop membership without ever seeing these terms, the complaint claims.

According to the filing, at no point during the enrollment or checkout process on the website or app does the defendant clearly disclose that the membership will continue until canceled, as required by law. In addition, Whoop fails to provide a description of the offer’s cancellation policy and obtain consumer consent before charging them membership fees, the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff, a California resident, says when he enrolled in an annual Whoop membership in June 2021, he believed he was signing up for a one-time charge for a fixed-term membership. However, without the man’s knowledge or consent, the company automatically renewed his membership two years in a row before he noticed the charges in his account, the case claims.

The lawsuit looks to represent any California resident who purchased a Whoop subscription during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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