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FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

ftc.gov

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Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#71
post #50

My workaround to this has been to email the company telling them I want to cancel. Once I either don't get a reply, or get a reply saying "just call us and we'll cancel!", I dispute the next charge with American Express and have the email record of trying to cancel. I believe they also offer a "stop allowing charges by this merchant" feature that cuts off future charges.

> I believe they also offer a "stop allowing charges by this merchant" feature If they have this it's another reason to use them for automatic billing. I have tried to do this with a VISA card and they said they cannot do it; the only way to prevent future charges would be to close that account entirely and even then I might still get billed for some period of time.

American Express is a very special card that typically comes with annual fee that is very much worth it. I would never book any hotels, buy plane tickets or signup in any form of membership with any other card because I got burnt way too many times with Visa and MC is even worse. Also that's why businesses typically do not like AE because how easy it is to dispute the charge.

But to add - I discourage you from using chargeback as a feature to stop future charges. Most banks will report it to your credit bureau - you won't see it in form of points being withheld BUT it might be adverse for you when you try to get a loan, etc. My mother disputed way too many things (memory troubles at her age) and they did not renew her CC after expiration date and MasterCard told her she is not eligible for card with her excessive CB ratio.

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Sure, that is how it was designed. The reason it doesn't work that way anymore is because of a continuous parade of states violating Americans' rights, each one so egregious that people said "yeah, it was designed the way macinjosh describes, but boy it turns out a lot of these state 'cultures' or 'identities' are producing despicable outcomes for our fellow Americans, and we should step up to prevent those abuses."

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#74

Nice. I canceled a service recently and I had to "continue to cancel" and click on other such "confirmations" such that I think I proceeded through 7-8 pages before my subscription was actually canceled. Truly manipulative and obtuse. That was Spotify btw. I should have recorded the process, as it was nearly comedic (if it weren't so hostile).

Amazon is the worst in this regard.

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#77
post #11

Does this apply to every merchant? Like I'll be able to cancel my internet service without talking to support?

That is my question too, insurance companies make it easy to get a policy online, but require you to call to cancel. I looked through the FTC site, but could not find an answer to this.

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#78
post #17

SiriusXM is sweating right now

LPT: if you're not a customer but you get their mailing advertisements and want them to stop, create an account with them on their website then update your address to their headquarters.

If you call and tell them to stop, they will only stop for 2 years then resume. Or resume when you take your vehicle to someplace that (re)sells your information to them.

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> this is the actual faithful steelman argument for the people who vote against this. My argument is different. There should not be any regulation except where existentially necessary (e.g. you need government to manage an army, because otherwise someone else will conquer the country, this sort of thing). Sure, most rules sound good in isolation. But in aggregate you end up with huge administration and 50% marginal t…

Can you point to an example that's close to what you're describing?

Only thing that comes to mind is like de facto parts of Mexico, maybe Somalia?

Re: FTC announces "click-to-cancel" rule making it easier to cancel subscriptions

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Sure, that is how it was designed. The reason it doesn't work that way anymore is because of a continuous parade of states violating Americans' rights, each one so egregious that people said "yeah, it was designed the way macinjosh describes, but boy it turns out a lot of these state 'cultures' or 'identities' are producing despicable outcomes for our fellow Americans, and we should step up to prevent those abuses."

"I know better than the people that voted for their own state government so I am going to force my will upon them."

Mindsets like this are actually why democracies fail.

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