Are you tired of struggling to cancel your gym memberships or other service, only to find out that the process is very complicated? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has heard your complaints and has offered a solution.
The FTC is proposing a “One-Click Cancellation” rule that would require companies to make it easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships, for example from a gym, newspaper or magazine. “What we’re seeing now is that there are so many of these subscriptions that it’s very difficult for consumers to cancel them.” Said Rosario Mendez of the FTC.
The new rule would aim to improve this situation. If you purchase a subscription online, you can cancel it on the same website by following the same steps. Businesses must obtain consumer permission before suggesting additional offers or changes to their membership, and if the consumer refuses, the business must immediately unsubscribe.
Additionally, companies will need to send an annual reminder before automatically renewing a subscription. According to Rosario, “it would help people, so that if they no longer want to continue with the subscription or the membership or do not want to, they cannot continue to pay”.
The FTC hopes these changes will make it easier to manage listing services and reduce the number of complaints the agency receives. “But ultimately it’s the commissioners of the Comisión Foral de Comercio who decide and vote on exactly how, what the rule is going to do.” Rosario explained
Soon, people will have the ability to submit comments electronically before a final decision is made on the proposed rule. The FTC is interested in hearing from all communities about how this rule will affect them, and says it will consider all comments and suggestions.
To stay informed when the comment period opens, you can sign up for FTC Consumer Alerts.