The Government Wants to Make Cancelling Subscriptions Easier

The days of jumping through an endless set of hoops to cancel your unwanted subscriptions may be numbered, thanks to a new set of proposals put forward by the government.

With its list of actions – entitled ‘Time is Money’ – the Biden-Harris administration says it will “crack down on all the ways that corporations… add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people’s days and degrade their quality of life”.

In addition to making it easier to cancel subscriptions and memberships, the wide ranging actions also include rules to introduce automatic cash refunds for canceled flights, allow people to submit health claims online, and improve customer service chatbots.

Saving Time and Money

The Time is Money proposals were put out by the White House on behalf of President Biden and Vice President Harris in the form of a fact sheet.

“Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” it says, while decrying the excessive paperwork and long hold times that “pad the profits of big business at the expense of everyday Americans’ time and money”.

The fact sheet sets out several areas on which the new rules would focus. It cites long wait times to claim refunds, hurdles faced to cancel gym memberships, complications caused by health insurance companies, lack of online facilities, and the requirement to complete “confusing, lengthy, or manipulative” forms.

“These hassles don’t just happen by accident. Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers, in order to deter them from getting a rebate or refund they are due or canceling a subscription or membership they no longer want—all with the goal of maximizing profits.” – The White House

It claims that such practices are “robbing” people of their time and money.

Governmentwide Crack Down on Unfair Practices

Governmental departments such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Transportation’s (DOT), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Education (DOE) contributed to the key actions:

• Making it easier to cancel subscriptions and memberships (FTC) From gym memberships to newspapers to cosmetics, consumers can be tricked into taking or continuing unwanted subscriptions. In a continuation of the FTC’s previous plans to crack down on hard-to-cancel subscriptions, companies will be required to “make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one”.
• Ending airline runarounds by requiring automatic cash refunds (DOT) Airlines have to automatically refund the cost of canceled or significantly changed flights for any reason – instead of the customer being forced to use the credits to rebook alternative flights in the future.
• Allowing you to submit health claims online (HHS/DOL) Unwieldy physical claim forms will be replaced with a straightforward online alternative. Inaccurate or confusing websites, extended wait times, and narrow call center hours will also be cracked down upon.
• Cracking down on customer service “doom loops” (CFPB) The use of frustrating mazes of menu options and automated recordings will be curbed. Companies will have to let customers talk to a human customer service agent by pressing a single button.
• Ensuring accountability for companies that provide bad service (FTC) The use of illicit and deceitful review and endorsement practices (e.g. fake reviews, paying for positive reviews, suppressing negative reviews) will be deterred.
• Taking on the limitations and shortcomings of customer service chatbots (CFPB) The fact sheet acknowledges that chatbots can be “useful for answering basic questions”, but cites their limitations when it comes to more complex problems and disputes. Time-wasting chatbots will be cracked down on, in addition to those that pretend to be human beings.
• Helping streamline parent communication with schools (DOE) Streamlined processes will make communication between schools and parents less time-consuming.