Cerebral, Inc. provides what sounds like a convenient “mental health subscription” telemedicine service that offers therapy and counseling as well as medication for things like ADHD, anxiety, and depression, all at a monthly price. But the complaint for this class action claims that Cerebral does not provide what it promises and that it makes it hard for customers to cancel or obtain refunds.
Cerebral offers subscriptions at different pries, depending on what is included. It portrays itself as being accessible, the complaint alleges, with points of contact available between 6 am and 6 pm Pacific Time on weekdays and 7 am and 4 pm Pacific Time on weekends. The complaint quotes the company as saying that “[a]ll outreach will receive a response within one business day.”
But the complaint alleges that these promises are deceptive and used “to trap them into [an] automatically renewing subscription that fails to provide access to adequate prescribers and counselors, makes scheduling mental health appointments unnecessarily tedious, and is virtually impossible to cancel.”
The complaint also claims the company overprescribes ADHD medications, and that it cancels appointments with providers, or that providers do not show up at the appointed time.
While the complaint quotes the company’s website as saying subscribers can “cancel anytime,” the process is not easy. The complaint refers to an article on Cerebral in Forbes, claiming that it’s both difficult to cancel and even more difficult to obtain a refund. This is true whether customers are able to obtain services or not, the complaint claims: “Customers are charged when the only available appointments are weeks away, and some customers do not even have available counselors, therapists or prescribers in their geographic location. Yet none of this is clear to customers up front: when customers sign up, their credit card is billed before they can see the schedule showing provider availability.”
To cancel, subscribers must send an email request for cancellation—and this is not itself a cancellation; they must then wait to have their request reviewed and approved and are then required receive and fill out a cancellation form. During this process, they are still being charged for their subscriptions.
A Nationwide Class and two additional or alternative classes have been defined for this action:
- The Nationwide Class is all persons in the US who bought a Cerebral subscription on the Cerebral website or mobile app and who (1) were charged for a subscription by Cerebral and (2) did not receive a full refund or chargeback of the Cerebral subscription charges.
- The California and Washington Classes are all persons in either California or Washington, respectively, who bought a Cerebral subscription on the Cerebral website or mobile app and who (1) were charged for a subscription by Cerebral and (2) did not receive a full refund or chargeback of the Cerebral subscription charges.
Topic: Contract
Most Recent Case Event
Cerebral Telemedicine Subscription Services and Cancellations Complaint
June 8, 2022
Cerebral, Inc. provides what sounds like a convenient “mental health subscription” telemedicine service that offers therapy and counseling as well as medication for things like ADHD, anxiety, and depression, all at a monthly price. But the complaint for this class action claims that Cerebral does not provide what it promises and that it makes it hard for customers to cancel or obtain refunds.
Cerebral Telemedicine Subscription Services and Cancellations ComplaintCase Event History
Cerebral Telemedicine Subscription Services and Cancellations Complaint
June 8, 2022
Cerebral, Inc. provides what sounds like a convenient “mental health subscription” telemedicine service that offers therapy and counseling as well as medication for things like ADHD, anxiety, and depression, all at a monthly price. But the complaint for this class action claims that Cerebral does not provide what it promises and that it makes it hard for customers to cancel or obtain refunds.
Cerebral Telemedicine Subscription Services and Cancellations Complaint