Some big companies take advantage of consumers by making it near-impossible to cancel their subscriptions.
Guess who’s fixing that? You’ve got it — Joe Biden.
PBS explained last year:
Still trying to quit that gym membership? The FTC is proposing a rule that could help
For many, canceling a subscription or membership — even one acquired online — has become synonymous with unending hold music and persistent sales pitches.
The Federal Trade Commission says it receives thousands of complaints every year from consumers plagued by recurring charges that they either weren't able to cancel or didn't know they were signing up for in the first place.
Now it's taking new steps to try to change that.
Vox gives us more details:
The era of impossible subscription cancellations is nearing an end
Everything is a subscription these days. And sometimes, those subscriptions are really hard to cancel — intentionally so. Sneaky companies know that the harder it is to stop paying for their services, the more money they’ll get from people who either didn’t know they were signing up for a paid service in the first place or don’t have the time to cancel it.
The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it’s proposing a “click to cancel” rule, which would force businesses to make it just as easy to sign off as it was to sign up.
If the rule gets approved, that means no more in-person visits, handwritten letters, or waiting on hold for hours to cancel. No more manipulative designs that trick consumers into paying for services. No more being forced to endure various sales pitches and pleas before you can finally cancel your subscription or membership. These are some of the most common complaints the FTC gets, the agency said, and what it hopes the click to cancel rule will fix.
“I’m sure this is an experience that all of you can relate to, where you tried to cancel a subscription and the company has made you jump through an endless number of hoops,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a call with reporters. “Companies should not be able to manipulate consumers into paying for subscriptions that they don’t want.”
How would it work? Back to PBS:
"It would really say that companies are not able to manipulate consumers into paying for subscriptions that they don't want," FTC Chair Lina Khan told Morning Edition's Leila Fadel on Thursday.
Among other changes, the "Click to Cancel" provision would require sellers to make it just as easy for customers to leave subscriptions — to everything from cosmetics to gym memberships to newspapers — as it is to enroll.
It also aims to give consumers a clearer idea of what exactly they're signing up for in advance, so they don't feel "tricked or trapped into subscriptions," as Khan put it.
"The FTC has for years now been bringing lawsuits against these practices, but unfortunately the practice has persisted and that's what's leading us to now move forward with this rule," she adds.
The commission just completed the first step of the process, when it voted 3-1 to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register.
Now members of the public can weigh in on the proposal by submitting comments electronically. The FTC says it will take that feedback into account before finalizing any rule.
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden has done so much more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
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These posts are written by Goodnewsroundup (Goodie),
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