⚖️ Instacart settlement

In partnership with

The $60 Million Settlement Over "Dark Patterns" and Hidden Fees

On December 18, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Instacart will pay $60 million in consumer refunds to settle a major enforcement action involving deceptive advertising and billing practices. The FTC’s complaint targeted several "dark patterns"—manipulative UI/UX designs—that allegedly misled customers. Specifically, the agency found that Instacart’s "free delivery" claims were illusory because they were offset by mandatory 15% service fees, and its "100% satisfaction guarantee" was often restricted to future store credits rather than actual refunds. Furthermore, the FTC alleged that Instacart hid refund options within its "self-service" menus and enrolled users in paid Instacart+ subscriptions at the end of free trials without clear disclosure or express informed consent. While Instacart denied wrongdoing, the settlement marks a significant milestone in the FTC's broader crackdown on "junk fees" and subscription traps in the digital economy.

Marketing Promises are Legal Obligations

For founders, the Instacart case is a stark reminder that "marketing puffery" has reached its legal limit. The FTC is increasingly treating "Satisfaction Guaranteed" or "Free Delivery" not as aspirational slogans, but as binding contractual terms. If your UI makes it difficult for a user to find a refund button—a tactic the FTC explicitly penalized here—you are effectively building a regulatory liability. Perhaps most critically for current tech trends, the FTC has simultaneously opened a separate investigation into Instacart’s "Eversight" AI pricing tool. Reports suggest that AI-driven price testing resulted in different customers paying up to 23% more for the same items. This signals that the FTC’s oversight has expanded from traditional deceptive advertising into the algorithmic fairness of dynamic pricing tools. If your startup uses AI to optimize pricing or "A/B test" costs, the burden is now on you to prove these tests are random and do not unfairly discriminate or deceive.

In addition to our newsletter we offer 60+ free legal templates for companies in the UK, Canada and the US. These include employment contracts, investment agreements and more