Weight loss app: "Fastic" could also unknowingly slim down your wallet
Consumer advocates are taking legal action against the weight loss app "Fastic", which lured users into an annual subscription, among other things.
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The Baden-Württemberg Consumer Advice Center is reporting a subscription trap with the weight loss app “Fastic”. Numerous users have reported that they were unintentionally taken into an annual subscription for 99 euros, although the app initially advertised a free offer. For this and other reasons, the consumer protection organizations have taken legal action against the provider.
According to the complaint, “Fastic Plus” promised a free subscription if users documented two meals a day in the app for 14 days. Anyone who did not reach this target was automatically sent an invoice, even if there was minimal deviation. Many of those affected stated that they had never consciously signed a paid contract. The order button in the app was also misleadingly designed, as it was highlighted with “0 €.”
The Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center therefore criticized “the design of the app interface” and the button to conclude the subscription as “misleading”. “The button to confirm the supposedly free program was labeled 'Order now for the price mentioned', with the price '0 €' highlighted. In reality, this resulted in a fee-based contract for €99, which was only waived if the app was actively used for 14 or 21 days and food was tracked twice a day,” according to the criticism. The consumer advice center provides a sample letter (PDF) for anyone who has received an invoice.
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In addition to unclear contract terms, the consumer protection organization also criticizes exaggerated health promises and non-transparent price information. A lawsuit is also pending before the Berlin Regional Court against Fastics regarding alleged customer reviews in which, according to the consumer advocates, the operators do not indicate “whether these originate from real users” (case no. 105 O 51/25). The Federation of German Consumer Organizations has also filed a lawsuit (case no. 52 O 220/25), as the company had provided different information on the reimbursement of costs by health insurance companies.
(mack)
