LogInNo more endless hoops.
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Companies' goal is to make you pay them money, so often, it's a hassle to cancel subscriptions. They will ask you 100 questions, send you to 100 pages, and might even charge you. To stop this buffoonery, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its final "click-to-cancel" rule, which will require sellers "to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up."
"Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription," said Commission Chair Lina M. Khan. "The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want."
The updated rule will apply to "almost all negative option programs in any media." It will also prohibit sellers from misrepresenting material facts while using negative option marketing, require sellers to provide important information before receiving consumers’ billing information and charging them, and require them to get consumers’ informed consent to the negative option features before charging.
Most of the final rule's provisions will go into effect 180 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
The rule is likely a reaction to the Adobe drama that started in June. The Department of Justice filed a federal court complaint, claiming that Adobe had been enrolling users in its subscription plan without clearly disclosing important terms about the cancellation process. Moreover, the FTC said that those who tried to cancel through customer service encountered numerous obstacles that delayed the cancellation process. The law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy offered its services to investigate Adobe.
This new FTC rule is a great change that hopefully leads to a more informed society, along with California's recent law forcing digital stores to tell customers they don't own content.
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