New Federal Law Finally Makes It Easier to Cancel Subscriptions

The Federal Trade Commission has received more than 16,000 complaints from Americans about how hard it is sometimes to cancel an ongoing subscription, so they finally decided to act.

Whether it be for an app on your phone, a gym membership or maybe a streaming service, it now must be as easy to cancel as it was to subscribe.

The new law is called the Click to Cancel rule. It will require sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up.

We all know how easy they make it to sign up for subscriptions; sometimes you don’t really even have to click much, and boom, you’re being charged a monthly fee that is extremely hard to cancel.

Some companies have you jump through so many hoops. Like, in the early 2000s, with those Girls Gone Wild or Steve-O from Jackass DVDs, you order one and then they keep sending them.

Then when you tried to cancel, you would have to call a phone number, then leave a message, and they never seemed to return your call. This is all known due to personal experience. What can I say?

FTC Commission Chair Lina M. Khan said, “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. 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.”

Once all the ink dries and the important people sign off on the details, the law will then take 180 more days to take full effect.

Rest assured, though, the subscribe-easily, but impossible-to-cancel shenanigans will most certainly be coming to end soon.