New FTC rule aims to end subscription cancellation nightmares

We’ve all been there. You join a free trial for one thing you want in a rush, solely to discover out that it’s not all the things it’s cracked up to be, and eliminating it’s a lot more durable. This kind of factor has been related to fitness center memberships and “music club” subscriptions for many years, however lately it’s turn into far more prevalent on-line, the place you may join one thing with a couple of clicks however eliminating it requires a name to the corporate or an e mail to help. The US Federal Trade Commission is as sick of it as the remainder of us.

In a 3-1 vote, the FTC has proposed to amend a statute first put in place in 1973 to make unsubscribing from providers simpler and extra constant within the fashionable world, as reported by Ars Technica. Called the “click to cancel” provision to the unique Negative Option Rule, the Commission desires to “require businesses to make it at least as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to start it.” So, if it takes three clicks from the Amazon house web page to subscribe to Amazon Prime, it ought to take not more than three clicks to cancel it.

Crucially, this rule would demand that the identical methodology be obtainable for signing up or canceling: no extra “call our support line to confirm your cancellation.” The proposed adjustments would additionally restrict the sorts of provides that companies could make earlier than confirming the cancellation, giving customers the choice to flip down even wanting on the pitches for, say, a month of free service. Finally, the FTC proposes a requirement for an annual reminder earlier than a buyer is robotically charged for a renewing subscription. These adjustments would possibly imply that Googling for “how the hell do I cancel my Peacock Plus subscription?” is perhaps a factor of the previous.

The FTC will likely be accepting public touch upon the Click to Cancel provision. You can count on a bitter battle from the businesses that profit most from free trials that instantly turn into laborious to cancel. But with a 3-1 vote from the Commission’s chairs and a basic pro-consumer slant below the present administration, the adjustments have a good probability of constructing it into federal pointers.

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer