They want it to be difficult to cancel. Shit like this should be illegal.
It was made illegal in the EU years ago.
The rule is pretty simple: you have to be able to cancel a subscription the same way you signed up for it. If you used the Internet to sign up there better be a fucking button that allows you to cancel.
And California, which is like the EU of the US when it comes to consumer protection and privacy laws
Here in Paraná there’s a rather old law against that too, from 2007. Back then the concern was phone companies and credit card companies doing it, but the law was worded in a surprisingly sensible way, so it protects customers against online roach motels too. I’ll coarsely translate it from Portuguese, (sourced from p203):
Law #15627, 18/Sep/2007
*Enforces that providers of continued services are required to ensure to customers the ability to request the cancellation of the service through the same means which the acquisition was requested, as specified.
- Article #1 - Providers of continued services are required to offer to customers the ability to request the cancellation of services through the same means which the acquisition [of said services] was requested.
- Article #2 - Furthermore they should provide cancellation means through phone, internet, or mail.
- Article #3 - For the effects of this law, as “continued services”, without implying exclusion of similar [services]:
- I - subscription of newspapers, magazines, and other periodic publications;
- II - paid television, internet providers, landed or mobile telephone lines, data transmission and aggregated services;
- III - gym academies and open courses;
- IV - capitalisation titles and insurance bonds;
- V - credit cards and “discount cards”.
It seems that the governor back then was already expecting companies to rule-lawyer and say “ackshyually we aren’t offering [service], we’re offering [same service under different name], so it doesn’t apply to us”, so the way that article #3 was worded basically lists examples, not an exhaustive list. As much as I hate that specific governor I can’t help but think that he did a good job with this law.
I don’t know how well it would work in practice, but every time I see something like this, the darker, more childish part of my brain wants me to send a human shit to them in the post, with a note saying “Thank you for subscribing to Post-me-a-poo (Daily)! To cancel your subscription, please add a ‘Cancel Subscription’ button to your website!”.
Just send them invoices for your time to their AP department to see how tight their payment controls are…
I’d be surprised if these places are any good with paying their actual invoices, let alone fake ones
You might be surprised. They still have to pay for office supplies, it contracts, keep the lights on. And I have a have time they are spending top dollar on accounting professionals or software, so they might pay out. It’s quite random, and I have often seen the decision to pay a bill based off the size and name of the company lol. Bad spending controls starts with bad companies, and companies willing to go to war pinching pennies from people who barely have it don’t exactly make it into my books as a company I bet is run well. You can make a lot of money and accidentally pay a lot of money you’re not supposed to. School systems are notorious for being scammed because they have weird, or barely any spend controls.
It’s on purpose I think. I’ve been trying to cancel my alarm system for a house I no longer live in, and every time I call I wait on hold 1-2 hours minimum.
If I get through, I get transferred for some reason, five times once.
Twice now they just hang up on me.
I can’t issue a chargeback to the bank because they said they’ll just send me to collections.
They claim there is no way to cancel via mail or email, even though I know there is, the thing is you have to navigate the shitty tree and escalate it in a way where they will allow you to cancel that way.
Fuck companies that do this.
Stop paying
Did you read my comment? I tried and they threatened to send me to collections.
But that same person couldn’t cancel my account, but they could transfer me! Rinse, wash, repeat.
That sounds like the kind of conversation worth recording and taking to a lawyer. I can’t imagine a call that goes “Hi, I’d like to cancel my service. What do you mean you can’t do that? No one at the company can help? I’ve been on the phone with 4 different reps. Fine, I’ll just call my card to stop paying. What do you mean you’re going to send me to collections?!” wouldn’t get done kind of positive movement.
Absolutely. I’m actually working with a lawyer now and am involved in correspondence with the company. Hence why I haven’t named and shamed them (yet). It’s progressing slowly, but positively in my favor. It’s just annoying that it had to come to this.
If you’re in the US: https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/11/tried-cancel-service-couldnt-learn-steps-take
If not, maybe your government has similar steps?
Could you please name the company, so we all can avoid them in the future?
Dear everyone: please educate yourself on the beautiful treasure that is Privacy.com. I never sign up for any subscription without it now. I do not miss all the bullshit and you won’t either.
