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Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

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Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#101

Post by jimcsharp »

atum47 wrote: post #96
lolinder wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did customer support confirm that that is the feature they were talking about—watching something after renewal triggers the charge? Or is it possible you were talking past each other? The only documentation on Netflix for this doesn't mention this 'feature' [0], and I can't find any discussion of similar cases (which I would expect for something like this). Also, this kind of behavior would unambiguously violate seve…

I mean, they have a lot of complaints about the same issue: https://www.reclameaqui.com.br/netflix/conta-reativada-sem-a... https://www.reclameaqui.com.br/netflix/cancelar-assinatura_R... https://www.reclameaqui.com.br/netflix/cancelei-a-minha-assi... https://www.reclameaqui.com.br/netflix/cobranca-no-cartao-me... I mean, sorry about the topics being in PT-BR, but they seem to be doing that with a lot of customers...

Maybe the feature is regionally active in Brazil. Perhaps this particular pattern hasn't been tested in your court. That sucks.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#103

Post by atahanacar »

RGBCube wrote: post #37

In Turkey, you can cancel any subscription you have through the governments app called "e-Devlet" which stands for "e-Government". It is an awesome system, a service making it hell to unsubscribe? Just cancel it through e-Devlet and if they don't cancel your subscription, you can sue them. Though I think it only works for Turkey based companies, sadly.

For more context, prior to this, ISPs would force you to send them a cancellation notice over fax (which nobody has) if you wanted to cancel your subscription, even though they would come to your house to sign the contracts when first subscribing. There exists a law that states "cancellation can't be harder than subscription" and if you intend to cancel a subscription but an easier way is not provided, you aren't legally obligated to pay for the service anymore. Ask me how I know.

Also, "you can sue them" in this context means "you can use e-Devlet to sue a company online, without having to leave your house". It goes straight to your local Consumer Court, who asks the company to send in their defense and then the Consumer Council gathers together to reach a verdict. This total process normally takes around 3 months and you have to do absolutely nothing once you send the official complaint online, but some companies like to delay this procedure just because they can, by sending in their defense the last day before the deadline.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#104

Post by ryaneager »

Luctct wrote: post #76

The issue is so simple. The companies claim that it would impose heavy costs on them. Well. So it either costs the companies or it costs the consumer. But the consumer is exercising their free choice while the companies are ignoring said choice and forcing them to pay for something they don't want. That's textbook extortion. Easy solution: impose crippling fines or maybe a little prison sentence here and there for ex…

A company be responsible for their actions? Where in heaven did you get such a dastardly idea?

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#105

Post by blitz_skull »

andsoitis wrote: post #91
Luctct wrote: post #76

The issue is so simple. The companies claim that it would impose heavy costs on them. Well. So it either costs the companies or it costs the consumer. But the consumer is exercising their free choice while the companies are ignoring said choice and forcing them to pay for something they don't want. That's textbook extortion. Easy solution: impose crippling fines or maybe a little prison sentence here and there for ex…

> Easy solution: impose crippling fines or maybe a little prison sentence here and there for extortion. Why not? That's what it is. How is it extortion? Who is being coerced and how?

Pretty sure they directly stated it—the consumer is being coerced. Deceptive tactics to make it hard to stop paying for something you don't want is coercive and deceptive behavior.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#106

Post by RGBCube »

tantalor wrote: post #66
RGBCube wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd prefer to see it as a non-government, not-for-profit service. Hard, because the government has authority, a random company does not. I'd still trust my government more than a random non profit company, if my trust decreases, I'd vote for different people to manage the country - which is not possible with companies.

You could run it like the Fed, independent from govt but still official.

Ah, then that would be the best solution.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#107

Post by RGBCube »

hayd wrote: post #81
RGBCube wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd prefer to see it as a non-government, not-for-profit service. Hard, because the government has authority, a random company does not. I'd still trust my government more than a random non profit company, if my trust decreases, I'd vote for different people to manage the country - which is not possible with companies.

Does the government really need to know every subscription that every person in the county has? This seems like massive overreach/invasion of privacy.

Well, the government can access your bank logs, so I don't think them seeing you have a TV and internet subscription is an issue. It's a great benefit of having an authoritarian government.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#108

Post by cad1 »

LanceH wrote: post #95
atum47 wrote: post #69

Netflix is such a crook. I had cancelled my subscription a while ago. They gave me the rest of the month to watch (since i already paid that month). Well, I had cancelled because I don't watch anymore. Guess what? Since it was a family plan, my father end up watching on his house, in another city. So Netflix renew the subscription. Fun right? I get a message everytime my card gets charged, that's why I noticed I was…

And most of these don't allow removing the last card on file, even if it's cancelled.

I was going to mention this dark pattern too. So many sites have no way of removing a payment method. It should really be illegal, but until then I will use virtual card numbers.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#109

Post by ericmay »

muro wrote: post #22
ericmay wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same amount it takes to sign up

You might need name, address etc as part of the sign up, but if they made me enter all of that againz it would be infuriating.

They don't have to, they can just do fewer or the same that it takes to sign up. Better yet, we could require "one-click unsubscribe". It's our country and we get to choose to make it better.

Re: Disney, Netflix, and more are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

#110

Post by sitkack »

lolinder wrote: post #79
atum47 wrote: post #69

Netflix is such a crook. I had cancelled my subscription a while ago. They gave me the rest of the month to watch (since i already paid that month). Well, I had cancelled because I don't watch anymore. Guess what? Since it was a family plan, my father end up watching on his house, in another city. So Netflix renew the subscription. Fun right? I get a message everytime my card gets charged, that's why I noticed I was…

Do you know the details of what happened here? Unless you know otherwise, it sounds like your father probably ended up clicking the "renew subscription now" button when prompted, not that simply logging in triggered the charge. I'm ready to believe that the renewal prompt was heavily geared towards making it easy to renew, and Netflix should be required to make it equally easy to cancel, but unless you know he didn't…

No the onus is not on the customer to not step on the landmine.
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