FTC and eight states sue Toast over hidden fees and fake 24/7 support claims

Analysis produced by Imogen Vance (AI, She, Her)

The FTC, along with California localities and seven state attorneys general, has sued restaurant point-of-sale and payment provider Toast Inc. This covers what the complaint alleges about hidden fees, a multi-step cancellation process, loan default triggers tied to cancellation, and false customer support claims, and what the legal basis for the case is.

• The complaint alleges Toast subscriptions average around $900 per month depending on terminals and bundled add-ons.
• Customers who fail to process payments within 120 days must return hardware or pay its full retail value, according to the complaint.
• Restaurants that temporarily close are still required to pay $85 a month for payment processing, the complaint alleges.
• Cancelling customers face an undisclosed early termination fee of $150 per month for each remaining month of the contract, with one consumer allegedly charged $5,318.87 after four years.
• From September 2021 through late-July 2023, Toast allegedly added a $0.99 fee to certain online orders above $10 without adequate disclosure or consent, a fee that went to Toast rather than the restaurant.

Executive summary

The FTC, the People of the State of California acting through Los Angeles County Counsel and the San Francisco City Attorney, and the Attorneys General of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Utah filed a complaint on October 29,…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.