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California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

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Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#371

Post by thelastidiot »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #368
joering2 wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent renewal contract for LA Fitness has this cover. If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. I was told in LA Fitness you cannot cancel without any sort of proof if you want to use "moving away" as a reason.

>If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. Just tell them you're moving to another continent then... or Antarctica!

Strange you would have to suggest that. To me, it shows how some American people can't even imagine that living in another country (or even lying about it) would be taken seriously.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#372

Post by ouid »

sequoia wrote: post #313
leekyle333 wrote: post #17

The New York Times doesn't allow you to cancel your subscription online.

Not only do they not allow you to cancel online, they autorenew your annual subscription to the tune of HUNDREDS of dollars. This happened to me and I'm certain I didn't explicitly opt-in to autorenewal, as I would never consciously opt-in to autorenewal of such a costly service. The told me the following: "by choosing to pay by credit card, you opted into autorenewal." !!?? I moved out out of the country, they autor…

you should issue a chargeback.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#373

Post by thelastidiot »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #312
petilon wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PayPal tried to take money from my checking account because Consumer Reports "autorenewed" my subscription -- without my knowledge or explicit authorization. As soon as I saw this I reported this as an unauthorized transaction on PayPal. But PayPal failed to stop the payment in time, even though at the time of my flagging it was unpaid. I then called BofA and blocked PayPal and that worked. So at the moment I have a…

"I didn't realize PayPal could dip into my checking account any time they wanted to." EBay did this to me once, I think this is an American thing, doesn't happen here in Canada like that.

It's even worse than you think. Because even if you put a credit card to back up your payments (easier now that PayPal has a deal with VISA), and you are hoping that a passed expiration date on your card will block a transaction from happening, the company will try new dates with one year increment in the future, till eventually the transaction goes thru.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#374

Post by sjwright »

bfred_it wrote: post #180
radicaldreamer wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple iTunes based subscriptions also have a very easy way to unsubscribe, probably to the chagrin to companies which use them.

I wouldn't call "having to open a separate, unrelated app, visiting its homepage, entering your Account area, finding the Subscriptions list" easy. Easy would be: - Open app with subscription - Go to settings - Find subscriptions

Perhaps not easy, but it is (a) online, (b) consistent from one app to the next, and (c) pretty much guaranteed to work correctly and work immediately.

Considering the sort of problems people are discussing in the wider thread, this is pretty idealistic.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#375

Post by fragsworth »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #366
fragsworth wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. You tell the credit card company that you 1) tried to cancel, and they wouldn't do it; and 2) you did not get any service from them since you tried to cancel. They have to pay you back AND THEY GET CHARGED an additional $20-$30 that your credit card company takes from them as punishment. Please don't abuse chargebacks unless the merchant deserves it, though.

>The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. They had me sign over my direct withdrawal banking details the day I signed up. I regret doing that.

Fucking assholes. I guess that's why we need these stupid laws.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#376

Post by dtech »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #366
fragsworth wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. You tell the credit card company that you 1) tried to cancel, and they wouldn't do it; and 2) you did not get any service from them since you tried to cancel. They have to pay you back AND THEY GET CHARGED an additional $20-$30 that your credit card company takes from them as punishment. Please don't abuse chargebacks unless the merchant deserves it, though.

>The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. They had me sign over my direct withdrawal banking details the day I signed up. I regret doing that.

Oof, that seems like a bad thing to do in America. In the EU thanks to SEPA regulations banks allow you do withdraw direct withdrawal consent at any time luckily.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#377

Post by cyphar »

mehrdadn wrote: post #71
striking wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could use a thing called a website to help people do it automatically, which probably costs them less than the IVR or human rep on the phone. They just don't want that. Because they don't want you to cancel.

I'm not saying what they want is good, I'm asking if what you (or OP rather) want is legal.

In most cases (private parking lots) it isn't illegal to take a disabled parking space. The fines a private company levies against you don't have any merit (though of course they can refuse you entry and sue you for damages or whatever).

Parking spaces on public roads is a separate issue, and it's more in line with driving in a bus-only lane (technically illegal but it is because you need a particular permit -- so it requires more than just being disabled).

My point is that your are jumping the gun with discussions of legality here. The litmus test should be wheter it's shitty to lie about a disability in order to cut through reselling bullshit. Other commentors have more than adequately covered this topic though.

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#378

Post by robin_reala »

thelastidiot wrote: post #373
sonnyblarney wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I didn't realize PayPal could dip into my checking account any time they wanted to." EBay did this to me once, I think this is an American thing, doesn't happen here in Canada like that.

It's even worse than you think. Because even if you put a credit card to back up your payments (easier now that PayPal has a deal with VISA), and you are hoping that a passed expiration date on your card will block a transaction from happening, the company will try new dates with one year increment in the future, till eventually the transaction goes thru.

Huh? Does your card number not change when you get a new one in the US?

Re: California law requires businesses to let you cancel your subscription online

#380

Post by robin_reala »

jrowley wrote: post #357
dizzant wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did this happen to you? I've been considering the same, but switching accounts hasn't yet been worth the hassle.

You should be able to just disconnect your facebook account, and login via email, no?

Maybe now? When I tried to swap from a Facebook login to an email login after deleting my FB account a couple of years ago there was literally no way, so I just cancelled my payments and went with Apple Music instead.
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