See Full Price Of Sh*t, Cancel Sh*t As Easily As You Subscribed, Get A Quick Refund On Sh*t.
Thanks Joe Biden.
The Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule this week that’s going to make canceling subscriptions a hell of a lot easier for millions of American consumers. It’s simultaneously a huge deal and something you might never give any thought to, because it’s just so freaking obvious when you give it some thought.
The new rule is called “click to cancel,” and the concept is remarkably simple: It should be as easy to stop a subscription to a service as it is to sign up. Almost anyone who’s tried to cancel a gym membership will know why this rule was needed.
In some cases, while you can sign up for a membership online on the phone, or by walking in, canceling may require sending a request by certified mail. Similarly, dropping cable or satellite service may require repeated calls to customer service, inevitably with a transfer to a “customer retention” rep who’ll try to persuade you to keep the service, and would you like a free month of STARZ as an incentive?
The new rule, as NPR explains, is all about letting people know what the hell they’re getting into as well as requiring that they can also get out of it too:
The new rule also directs companies to give people a clearer idea of the exact terms before they sign up, so they don't feel "tricked or trapped into subscriptions," as FTC Chair Lina Khan has told NPR.
“Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription," Khan said in a statement on Wednesday. “Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.”
The rule also will allow the FTC a bit more regulatory power to help customers get a refund when they’re due one, and we’re sure Republicans are as mad about that burden as they are at the very idea of eliminating the roadblocks to cancellations that many businesses rely on to stay profitable. Tough cheese, guys: If you can’t make a profit honestly and have to trick people to keep paying you, you’re cheating and FUCK YOU.
Now, it’s worth noting that the new requirements won’t actually go into effect for another six months, giving businesses time to comply with the rules.
“Click to Cancel” is only the latest in a series of executive-branch actions the Biden administration has taken to reduce or eliminate “junk fees,” those irritating extra charges that companies load on to make the final price of goods and services higher than the price sticker makes it seem.
Among other rules, the administration has sought to fight junk fees that jack up the real cost of renting an apartment, as well as taking on stupid bank and credit card fees, too. It hasn’t always been successful; in May, banks suing to overturn a rule limiting credit card late fees to $8 got a federal judge to block the rule from going into effect.
Have you booked a hotel lately? Or purchased Ticketmaster tickets online? In every case, did you notice that the cost of that hotel or those tickets already included all the Expedia or ticket-scalper fees instead of tacking them on at the end in a big ugly surprise? That that Airbnb didn’t go from $160 to $700 after the cleaning fee … it was already listed on there as part of the price? This is new! Thanks, Joe Biden.
Despite griping from the airline industry, the Transportation Department was able to force airlines to disclose up front baggage fees and other stuff that adds to the ticket price, and also to require that if your flight is canceled or significantly delayed, the airline has to refund the purchase to you as the default option. An airline can still offer you a voucher for later travel, but it can’t make you accept that instead of a refund. Anyone who’s booked a flight online in the last few months has already seen those fees listed right along with the ticket price, so hooray for no surprises.
Might be nice if there were some way to make sure people know who did those changes, because they’ve made so many small parts of being a consumer (that is, being an American) so much easier.
So hey, maybe forward this article to anyone who tells you about what a pain it was to get out of their monthly car-wash subscription, and let them know that Joe has their back — change is on the way.
[NPR / Federal Trade Commission]
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[Rebecca here! You know what you can always cancel? Your donation to Wonkette. BUT sometimes you have to email me — and I am always happy to help! — because Paypal doesn’t make a “cancel my donation” button for me to put on the bottom of every page!]
When my mom died, I called to cancel her cable.
They spent several minutes arguing with me and trying to upsell me. Demanding to know if I, or *who* would be living in Mom’s house and wouldn’t service need to be continued, hmmm??
I was so furious I cried and demanded a manager. The one and only time in my life I’ve ever gone full raging Karen.
OT Jack Smith just dropped 2000 pages of evidence, crashing the server