HelloFresh, Youfoodz accused of wrongfully charging 100k customers
Two of Australia’s popular meal kit delivery services face separate legal proceedings for allegedly misleading consumers over subscriptions.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has started legal proceedings in the Federal Court against E-Service Australia, better known as HelloFresh, and Youfoodz.
According to the ACCC, both HelloFresh and Youfoodz breached consumer law by advertising on their websites and apps that new customers could easily cancel their subscriptions through their online account settings as long as it was done before a cut-off time.
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But, the consumer watchdog alleges, when consumers cancelled their subscriptions online prior to the first delivery cut-off time, they were still charged for the received order.
HelloFresh allegedly carried out this conduct between January 1, 2023 and March 14, 2025, and Youfoodz between October 1, 2022 and November 22, 2024.
According to the ACCC, more than 100,000 Australians were wrongfully charged, with 62,061 HelloFresh customers and 39,408 Youfoodz consumers allegedly being charged a fee despite cancelling their subscription before the specified cut-off time.
“Despite what HelloFresh and Youfoodz represented to new Australian subscribers, tens of thousands of consumers were charged for their first order, even though they cancelled their subscription before the cut-off date,” ACCC commissioner Luke Woodward alleged.
The ACCC also alleges HelloFresh required its customers to provide payment details to view the business’s full range of meals but failed to inform them they would be charged even if they didn’t select an option.
Instead, the ACCC alleges, when consumers clicked the button to progress to the meal selection screens, they were entered into an ongoing subscription and charged for the first delivery.
“In the case of HelloFresh, many consumers had not even selected meals but were unknowingly subscribed and charged regardless,” Mr Woodward alleged.
“Traders must clearly communicate when consumers are signing up for a subscription as well as how they are able to cancel and avoid being charged.”
The ACCC also alleges that Youfoodz wrongly communicated to consumers who had taken steps to cancel their subscription in their online account settings that the first delivery was cancelled and they would not be charged when the first delivery could not be cancelled this way and they were still charged.
NewsWire has reached out to both HelloFresh and Youfoodz for comment.
Originally published as HelloFresh, Youfoodz accused of wrongfully charging 100k customers
