Uber Eat Subscription- under 18

kapow37

Hi, I am not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if it isn’t but I was wondering what my rights were in the following situation:

my 13yr old son ordered via Uber eats about 9 months ago. At the time they had an offer, if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee for Uber eats one then you get money off your order -being 13 he just saw money off and his eyes lit up. He signed up to pay a monthly subscription (£4 per month). Should Uber eats or his bank have picked up that he is not 18 and therefore they shouldn’t have taken the money? Granted I presume he ticked a box saying “I’m over 18”, although he swears he didn’t! But his account they take the money from is a junior bank account so I’m wondering if it should have been picked up somewhere? I realise I am also at fault as I didn’t pick it up but the frustrating thing with Halifax junior accounts is only 1 parent has access, which is my husband as he set up the account and didn’t monitor it close enough. 

Any advice would be appreciated- should I complain to Uber and try and get a refund? 

Thank you in advance

Ergates

As a 13 year old he cannot enter into a contract, therefore nothing he signed is legally binding.  If you contact Ubereats and tell them this, they should cancel the contract.  If they're awkward, just block the payments from the bank - uber cannot chase your son for the money (as they have no contract).

However, Uber Eats would have no way of knowing the bank account he provided was a junior one, so I don't see how they could have picked up on it.  A regular payment of £4 a month isn't something that would trigger any alarms at a bank either.

Has your son made use of the subscription?  (i.e. ordering at a discount)

Aylesbury_Duck

kapow37 said:

Hi, I am not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if it isn’t but I was wondering what my rights were in the following situation:

my 13yr old son ordered via Uber eats about 9 months ago. At the time they had an offer, if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee for Uber eats one then you get money off your order -being 13 he just saw money off and his eyes lit up. He signed up to pay a monthly subscription (£4 per month). Should Uber eats or his bank have picked up that he is not 18 and therefore they shouldn’t have taken the money? Granted I presume he ticked a box saying “I’m over 18”, although he swears he didn’t! But his account they take the money from is a junior bank account so I’m wondering if it should have been picked up somewhere? I realise I am also at fault as I didn’t pick it up but the frustrating thing with Halifax junior accounts is only 1 parent has access, which is my husband as he set up the account and didn’t monitor it close enough. 

Any advice would be appreciated- should I complain to Uber and try and get a refund? 

Thank you in advance

As I understand it, your son isn't old enough to be deemed able to enter into a contract, so it should be null and void.  He will almost certainly have (deliberately or inadvertently) confirmed he was 18 or over, otherwise he couldn't have proceeded.  I don't see that the bank account type is relevant - all Uber Eats will see is a sort code and account number.

Has he placed any other orders while being in the subscription?  If the contract is unwound then Uber Eats might say they're going to reverse any discounts received on orders and there is a balance to pay.

la531983

Aylesbury_Duck said:

kapow37 said:

Hi, I am not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if it isn’t but I was wondering what my rights were in the following situation:

my 13yr old son ordered via Uber eats about 9 months ago. At the time they had an offer, if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee for Uber eats one then you get money off your order -being 13 he just saw money off and his eyes lit up. He signed up to pay a monthly subscription (£4 per month). Should Uber eats or his bank have picked up that he is not 18 and therefore they shouldn’t have taken the money? Granted I presume he ticked a box saying “I’m over 18”, although he swears he didn’t! But his account they take the money from is a junior bank account so I’m wondering if it should have been picked up somewhere? I realise I am also at fault as I didn’t pick it up but the frustrating thing with Halifax junior accounts is only 1 parent has access, which is my husband as he set up the account and didn’t monitor it close enough. 

Any advice would be appreciated- should I complain to Uber and try and get a refund? 

Thank you in advance

Has he placed any other orders while being in the subscription?  If the contract is unwound then Uber Eats might say they're going to reverse any discounts received on orders and there is a balance to pay.

And they wont be chasing a 13 year old for it even if there was

DullGreyGuy

Ergates said:

As a 13 year old he cannot enter into a contract, therefore nothing he signed is legally binding

Anyone can enter into a contract, there is no law that prohibits it, however for the majority of things the contract isn't legally binding on the minor. This creates a one way obligation and most companies aren't willing to be bound to uphold their side of the agreement when the minor isn't obliged to uphold theirs hence most refuse minors to enter in contracts. 

If what you were saying was true then no one under 18 could buy sweeties or CDs with their pocket money etc @ergates as buying something from a shop creates a contract of sale. 

The law however does have a carve out, contracts can be legally binding on minors for "necessities" which are generally deemed to be medicines, accommodation and food however only for them to pay a "reasonable price". See section 3 of the Sales of Goods Act 1979.

You cannot use Uber Eats without signing up for an account, after getting the account you will then get the offer of the subscription. To sign up you go through a number of steps including agreeing to the T&Cs, Privacy Policy and declaring you are over 18... you have to tick a box that says "I agree" before you can proceed. So contrary to what he's said he did make the false declaration either intentionally or by doing what most do (inc adults) and clicking I agree without reading what they agreed to. 

A merchant cannot tell the age of a person by the type of debit card they use, kids are normally issued with a card that doesn't allow "offline" debits but so do some people who've bad debt issues. 

Ultimately contact them, advise them he is under 18 so lied on the application (inadvertently or intentionally) and so get them to close the account.

powerful_Rogue

Under 18's can enter in to contracts, think about everytime they pay for a bus journey, purchase something from a shop etc. Those are all contracts. Anyone over the age of 7 can enter a leglly binding contract, however the contact is voidable if they are under 18.

born_again

kapow37 said:

Hi, I am not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if it isn’t but I was wondering what my rights were in the following situation:

my 13yr old son ordered via Uber eats about 9 months ago. At the time they had an offer, if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee for Uber eats one then you get money off your order -being 13 he just saw money off and his eyes lit up. He signed up to pay a monthly subscription (£4 per month). Should Uber eats or his bank have picked up that he is not 18 and therefore they shouldn’t have taken the money? Granted I presume he ticked a box saying “I’m over 18”, although he swears he didn’t! But his account they take the money from is a junior bank account so I’m wondering if it should have been picked up somewhere? I realise I am also at fault as I didn’t pick it up but the frustrating thing with Halifax junior accounts is only 1 parent has access, which is my husband as he set up the account and didn’t monitor it close enough. 

Any advice would be appreciated- should I complain to Uber and try and get a refund? 

Thank you in advance

As over 11 they are responsible for their actions. Only thing you can do is cancel it with both Uber & bank. 
You could try asking Uber if they will refund, but it would be a good will gesture.
No one would pick it up, as it would be taken he has agreed to it. 
UBER will take it that they are over the age as per tick box.
Bank again will take it they agreed to the payments.

marcia_

born_again said:

kapow37 said:

Hi, I am not sure if this is the right forum so apologies if it isn’t but I was wondering what my rights were in the following situation:

my 13yr old son ordered via Uber eats about 9 months ago. At the time they had an offer, if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee for Uber eats one then you get money off your order -being 13 he just saw money off and his eyes lit up. He signed up to pay a monthly subscription (£4 per month). Should Uber eats or his bank have picked up that he is not 18 and therefore they shouldn’t have taken the money? Granted I presume he ticked a box saying “I’m over 18”, although he swears he didn’t! But his account they take the money from is a junior bank account so I’m wondering if it should have been picked up somewhere? I realise I am also at fault as I didn’t pick it up but the frustrating thing with Halifax junior accounts is only 1 parent has access, which is my husband as he set up the account and didn’t monitor it close enough. 

Any advice would be appreciated- should I complain to Uber and try and get a refund? 

Thank you in advance

As over 11 they are responsible for their actions. Only thing you can do is cancel it with both Uber & bank. 
You could try asking Uber if they will refund, but it would be a good will gesture.
No one would pick it up, as it would be taken he has agreed to it. 
UBER will take it that they are over the age as per tick box.
Bank again will take it they agreed to the payments.

 That's for criminal responsibility and it's age 10,  not contract law. 

born_again

The likes of Apple/Google etc, where little Jimmy has used parents acc, or their own to run up bills by gaming subscriptions etc, are based in 11 in their eyes. Anything above & they are not interested. That's what I'm basing this on 👍