Breaking a relationship with an online subscription service can be difficult, but soon the process may become easier.
FTC wants to make canceling subscriptions easier
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a “click-to-cancel” rule that would require companies to provide an easy way to stop those unwanted subscriptions. Experts say the measure is overdue.
"Companies have pulled out all the stops to make sure that once you order a renewable product, whether it's an internet subscription or a political donation, you have a hard time stopping the constant renewals," Gary Pieples, a law professor at Syracuse University, told Lifewire in an email interview. "We've all had the experience of having to pay for multiple months of a product or service that we no longer wanted or used because it was difficult, if not impossible, to stop the renewals."
The FTC’s proposed rule would require companies to make it at least as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to start one. For example, if you can sign up online, users would have to be able to cancel in the same number of steps on the same website.
