Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

niemanlab.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

471–480 of 890 posts

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

#471

Post by metalliqaz »

jdc0589 wrote: post #464
nunez wrote: post #459

This is amazing. I wanted to delete a bunch of services I had passwords for in 1Password. A significant number of them couldn't be cancelled online. You couldn't even call. You had to email to ask for a cancellation. This, in effect, meant that they held your data hostage. Of course, this means nothing if fees aren't associated with non-compliance.

this is only useful for some paid services (and does nothing to deal with your data they still have), but virtual credit cards are a life saver. I feel powerful every time I can't cancel something from a service's website but I can just go kill the virtual credit card I signed up with.

some of them will continue billing your account, even if they can't charge your card, and eventually turn it over to collections

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

#472

Post by [deleted] »

newshorts wrote: post #461

Nothing is easier than mailing a letter. You don’t even need a router for it! Simply click to subscribe and mail us a letter of intent to cancel when you want. Of course it will take us 60 days to process mail and if your handwriting isn’t great we might not be able to read your account number. To access your account number, simply log in and click the lower right hand side of the page 5 times while holding the shift…

[deleted]

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

#473

Post by Spivak »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #392
codingclaws wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portugal is logical on some stuff. Another example is prostitution is legal but you can only advertise yourself. I wonder what other countries have prostitution set up like this. Or the speed traps that just trigger a red light. Decriminalization of all drugs obviously too.

>Or the speed traps that just trigger a red light. Sounds like a great way to train the entire population is to run reds between 10pm and 5am.

The population who would run a red light <<< population who would speed.

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

#474

Post by fuzzer37 »

marcosdumay wrote: post #410
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it’s a form of slavery. Or a protection racket. Or just fee for protection. Depends on the specific situation in question. There's a wide variety of schemes that fall under the definition of pimping.

Those are variations of slavery. "You work or I will make you suffer" is slavery.

> "You work or I will make you suffer" is slavery.

All work is slavery.

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

#475

Post by annoyingnoob »

Looking at you Consumer Reports and LA Times!

Any company that forces me to call to cancel, and then works really really hard to retain me, and then starts offering me better and better deals loses my business for life.

If you can't offer me your best rate before I leave then you are just trying to get over on me and I'm offended. Have fun losing customers and going out of business.

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

#476

Post by travisporter »

I once had to reset my password for Comcast via web chat. "while I'm resetting this, can I interest you in a TV service? Only 60/mo no additional fees." Wasted 10 mins of his time getting TV service priced out (of course - set to box wasn't included!) and said no thanks. Of course as a student my time was essentially worthless

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

#477

Post by tpxl »

jjnoakes wrote: post #382
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Next time pay for the subscription by check (mail it in). They can’t bill you again automatically.

Is this legal? I assume if they wanted to (which admittedly is unlikely) they could send you to collections for not paying for the renewal that you agreed to when you subscribed.

In short, no it's not legal. Just because they can't take the money from you doesn't mean you don't have to pay them.

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

#478

Post by lostcolony »

drstewart wrote: post #462
daenz wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>so they sent my account to a collections agency Important clarification: they sold your account to a collections agency. They made more than what you actually owed them by doing that, which is probably why they did that.

> They made more than what you actually owed them by doing that This makes absolutely zero sense and does not happen. Why would the collections agency pay more for debt than it's worth? Why wouldn't they sell all their accounts then? Free increase in profits!

Yeah; that is absolutely false.

They make more, across all accounts, than they would in lost time/expenses -pursuing- those debts. But the collection agency did not pay them > X to collect on X. Far from it; the collection agency paid them a small percentage of the total debt for the 'right' to try and collect on it.

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

#480

Post by quitit »

vojvod wrote: post #171
quitit wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IAP for in app purchase. There are currently two ways to sign up for the New York times online, one is via the website and the other is via a subscription from the various app stores(an in-app-purchase). To unsubscribe from the website-based subscription requires a call to NYT’s customer service based in New York which have limited operating hours- here they’ll try their best to convince you not to unsubscribe after…

Thanks, it hadn't occurred to me that the app stores would enforce easy cancellation. I'll remember to prefer in-app sign up over website for any new subscriptions in future.

It’s best to check both options before proceeding, as some businesses do offer a cheaper subscription service when working directly - however as mentioned that may come with strings attached.

I feel the success of small developers relies on IAP, it means I can purchase from them without needing to trust them - the app stores do a good job of reviewing the app for malware and if the app doesn’t live up to expectations it is trivial to get a refund from the various app stores.

Post reply on HN