Joe Biden Will Let You Finally Cancel Gym Subscription You Haven't Used Since The Pandemic
Joe Biden Will Let You Finally Cancel Gym Subscription You Haven't Used Since The Pandemic
Let's get rid of a lot of headaches, how about?
The Biden-Harris administration this week announced yet another of its nifty efforts to use the power of government to make life just a little better for Americans. It’s not going to bring world peace or cure cancer (Biden’s Cancer Moonshot research program is on that one), but like the administration’s ongoing efforts to fight “junk fees” and occasional tweaks to fix dumb problems that have bedeviled some programs for years, it’s aimed at eliminating some everyday hassles that waste people’s valuable time on stupid bullshit. Called “Time Is Money,” because companies make a lot of money wasting our time, the package of initiatives seeks to
crack down on all the ways that corporations — through excessive paperwork, hold times, and general aggravation — add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people’s days and degrade their quality of life.
Damn right there are specifics. Since our Corporate Citizens know they can squeeze just a little more money out of us by making things like getting a refund or fixing a small problem more difficult, they do. Well knock it off, you jerks, says the government.
As a statement about “Time Is Money” explains,
Americans know these practices well: it’s being forced to wait on hold just to get the refund we’re owed; the hoops and hurdles to cancel a gym membership or subscription; the unnecessary complications of dealing with health insurance companies; the requirements to do in-person or by mail what could easily be done with a couple of clicks online; and confusing, lengthy, or manipulative forms that take unnecessary time and effort.
These hassles don’t just happen by accident. Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers, in order to deter them from getting a rebate or refund they are due or canceling a subscription or membership they no longer want — all with the goal of maximizing profits.
Heck, if it were a law and not an executive action, they could call it The There Oughta Be A Law Act of 2024.
Among other things, the plan includes a new Federal Trade Commission rule that will require companies make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for. That one’s currently in the public-comment phase.
This is actually a great idea, I said to myself, thinking of the automatically renewing “unlimited car wash” subscription that I could start by signing a form and handing over my credit card, but which I couldn’t cancel simply by asking the attendant. I think I lost the card with the easy toll-free number.
Another new regulation, this one from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor, will make it easier for people to submit health insurance claims online. Per the White House statement:
many of the largest plans still require some customers to print out and either scan or physically mail health claims forms, and people seeking help can encounter inaccurate or confusing websites, extended wait times, or narrow call center hours that force them to step away from work to talk to an agent.
The government is practicing what it preaches here, with an order from the Office of Personnel Management — which is pretty much the federal HR office — telling the government-run health plans that cover federal employees to improve their own practices and make it easier for eight million covered government employees to “submit out of network claims online, provide clear information about what health plan providers are in-network, and make it easier to find information on how to appeal claim denials.”
For people who always find themselves pounding the “0” key or saying “agent” when trying to navigate a phone menu, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is pursuing rules to prevent “doom loops” when people contact customer “service” lines. Oh, I got caught in one of those just last week! The cable company person I finally reached was lovely and helpful, but getting there was madness — there wasn’t any good option for what I wanted. The new rule will “require companies under [CFPB] jurisdiction to let customers talk to a human by pressing a single button.” In addition, the FCC will look into how it might do something similar for businesses it regulates, like phone, broadband, and cable providers.
Other proposed rules in the package would crack down on fake reviews on marketers’ websites and crappy customer service chatbots (especially if they’re designed to make callers think they’re talking to a human), and would improve communication between schools and parents.
Finally, the list includes one new regulation that’s actually in place: the FAA’s requirement that if an airline cancels or substantially delays your flight, it has to refund your ticket price, in cash (or money back to your credit card, so you aren’t walking around with $573.20 in dimes), immediately. Airlines can still offer you vouchers for another flight, but it’s up to you to decide, and the default setting is “refund.”
This is all some pretty good stuff! These are things that make life a pain in the ass, and are so common that nearly everyone can identify with at least some of them. No doubt Republicans and businesses will complain that this is “government overreach” or the pesky old “nanny state,” but we suspect most people will be happy to have some tools to push back against the dysfunctional corporate policies.
Of course, if the administration does too good a job cleaning up such corporate messes, it may have to fear a lawsuit from red-state comedians who have been deprived of fodder for their little “observations.” What’s the deal with that?
PREVIOUSLY!
[White House / NBC News]
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Ever try to make a claim for damaged goods delivered by UPS. Just happened to me earlier this month. Go online with UPS, click file a claim, fill everything out and Whoops Just disappeared. Do it again. Seems to go through. Check next day: no Claim. Contact seller with photos of what was delivered, they say no, we didn't do that. Back online with UPS, No Claim on record. Try to talk to real person....about 20 minutes, they'll look into it and back to me. So far. Nothing. I wish there was a local store I could buy from. <sigh>
Even websites make it hard. My husband, who is pretty tech savvy, had to schedule a call with Medicare to enroll because the security measures to set up an online account were so Draconian that there was no going back if you made a mistake (he could upload documents). I had to reset my password at another government website, which had no message to explain that my account was locked, and, even though the website was accessible from any browser, it required users to use Chrome or Edge to log in. Again, no notice given to the users of other browsers.