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“Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

niemanlab.org

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Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#211

Post by soco »

rich_sasha wrote: post #74
KennyBlanken wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You hand that info to the merchant because your credit card company can issue chargebacks against them and that costs them a pretty penny with their payment processor, especially if it happens often. Credit card disputes almost always slant in favor of the customer. Folks just don't seem to realize: you make a reasonable effort with the vendor, and then go straight to your credit card company. I caught a restaurant "…

I believe this doesn't work with debit cards, which are the norm in Europe. Still though, it's a weird system. Instead of giving someone just enough permissions to spend my money, I give them permissions to spend all of it, with some other party reimbursing me if that goes awry (and I notice).

I also wouldn't call debit cards "the norm". They are in majority (1 to 5?), true, maybe also because many are issued for free by the bank where you have the account (which doesn't mean they are also used). But still not really "the norm".

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#212

Post by Nextgrid »

yosito wrote: post #52

What would the consequences be of subscribing to something with a disposable card, then deactivating that card instead of formally unsubscribing? Can companies send your information to a debt collector or somehow force you to pay since you didn't cancel? Can it affect your credit score?

If there's a minimum term/commitment it can be considered morally wrong (as you're depriving them of revenue you've agreed to pay in advance) and there might be more incentive to collect that amount.

If there's no minimum commitment (or it's expired already) there's basically no problem. Yes, they can in theory send that debt to collections and litigate. Both of these are expensive and are unlikely.

If you've made reasonable efforts to cancel you can indeed block future payments and let them sort it out. If they want to litigate they'd have to explain why those reasonable efforts were ignored (and have the court rule in their favour).

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#213

Post by rexreed »

Vonage is notorious for not only preventing people from canceling online but making it hell to cancel over the phone. They frustrate people trying to port numbers and charge ludicrous cancellation and other fees. Totally extortionate and predatory behavior. I hope all customers become aware of these practices.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#214

Post by alpaca128 »

xg15 wrote: post #161

> Publishers tend to think of this as “retention.” My understanding was that "retention" used to be simply a measure of how many unique users/customers kept using your product. With some implicit (maybe too optimistic) understanding that they stayed because they wanted to. In classic "if your measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a measure" tradition, "retention" today seems to be about keeping as many recurring…

Maybe they confused it with detention.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#215

Post by bodge5000 »

Reason077 wrote: post #157
kieloo wrote: post #18

Same thing with The Guardian. Subscribed online and was then told I can’t cancel via email and have to endure a pushy sales call if I want to cancel. Similar experience with The Economist except it was via live chat instead. These experiences honestly make me want to never subscribe to a newspaper again.

Same with the UK subscription craft beer service, beer52.com [1]. Subscribe easily with a few clicks, but they make you call during office hours and endure 10+ minutes on hold to cancel. Sadly in the UK I guess we won't get the benefit of any new EU legislation to address this. [1] https://ibb.co/r4LfK5F

This is the FTC, not the EU (as far as I'm aware theres no EU legislation planned or in place for this).

Of course you could argue that the EU might do it one day, but you could say the same about the UK.

That being said I thought it already was against UK law. Maybe I got that wrong, or there are loopholes around it, or its just not heavily enforced. Who knows

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#216

Post by lexapro »

yodsanklai wrote: post #138

I had the issue with the WSJ. I couldn't believe it was so hard to cancel. My solution was to update my card with an incorrect number, they canceled the subscription after the payment was declined.

You still owe them the money technically.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#217

Post by ds »

ajb wrote: post #185
yodsanklai wrote: post #138

I had the issue with the WSJ. I couldn't believe it was so hard to cancel. My solution was to update my card with an incorrect number, they canceled the subscription after the payment was declined.

The problem with that is that you still have a valid contract, some companies will ding your credit rating and still pursue you for the money.

You cant ding a credit rating unless you have a users SSN, which the NYT almost certainly does not.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#218

Post by matheusmoreira »

soco wrote: post #202
matheusmoreira wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could it not invalidate the contract? Services are provided after payment is made. If no payment is made, no service is provided.

Have you ever read your contracts? Maybe it would be time to do so now, before you run into troubles with collectors.

Of course. I just opened up a contract I signed with a legal firm. It says lack of payment ends the contract.

Why can't everything be simple and easy? Maybe somebody needs to pass a law to make it so.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#219

Post by ds »

acnops wrote: post #186
bodono wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this strategy could impact your credit rating though?

Does it? I'm having the same issue

No. You cant do anything to someones credit unless you have their SSN. Damn good thing thats the case also, if you happen to be named Jane Doe or Bob Smith.

Re: “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says

#220

Post by sitic »

llampx wrote: post #195
t0mas88 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's illegal in Europe. You have to be able to cancel via the same means as you signed up. So if you can signup online then you must be able to cancel online.

Europe is big. This is most definitely not illegal in Germany, in fact it is the preferred practice by anti-consumer companies.

A recently passed German law requires (among other changes) an online cancel button, however companies don't have to implement it until July 2022 unfortunately.

https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/vertraege-reklamat...

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