You Can Manage App Subscriptions in the App Store
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Managing your subscriptions is about to get a lot easier, thanks to the FTC's new “Tap to Cancel” rule, which blocks companies from using deceptive or harmful tactics to keep customers from canceling.
We’ve all had a subscription we wanted to cancel, only to find that the price of keeping it was worth the hassle. A new rule from the Federal Trade Commission goes into effect in 180 days, and it will make it easier for customers to cancel pesky subscriptions.
According to an FTC press release, companies should essentially make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up for one. For example, if you sign up for a subscription online, you should be able to cancel it online.
“Too often, companies make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” said commission Chairwoman Lina M. Hahn. “The FTC’s rule will put an end to these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. No one should be stuck paying for a service they no longer need.”
There are some subscription services that are notorious for making it impossible to cancel. You may come across an online form that gives you a phone number to call instead of a simple “cancel” button.
Companies will often try to get you to call to entice you to stay with free vouchers or discounts. Or they will try to change your existing package rather than completely end the business.
The rule provides a legal framework that prohibits sellers from:
- Missing any material fact when marketing a product or service with a negative option feature
- Failing to clearly and conspicuously disclose material terms before receiving a consumer’s payment information in connection with a negative option feature
- Failing to obtain the consumer’s express informed consent for a negative option feature before charging the consumer
- Failing to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative option feature and immediately stop charging the consumer.
Hopefully, the FTC’s final “Click to Cancel” rule, included in its revision of the 1973 Negative Option Rule, will make life a little easier for consumers, especially as many companies have shifted to subscription models in an attempt to secure recurring revenue.
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