“Click-to-cancel” is canceled for now, but consumers have some options while some lawmakers make a push to revive the effort to make it just as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them.
The policy was halted by a U.S. appeals court earlier this month, just days before it was set to take effect, and just this week, a group of Democratic senators on Capitol Hill called on the Federal Trade Commission chair to find a way to bring back click to cancel.
The rule, passed by the FTC under the Biden Administration, was set to cover everything from gym memberships to streaming services to free trials.
“Companies shouldn’t be able to engineer a website to trap you in a doom loop simply so that they can keep taking money out of your account every single month when you don’t want them to anymore,” said Erin Witte, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America.
Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had criticized the rule as micromanaging businesses, and the court nixed it because they said the FTC failed to conduct a preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits.
“They dismissed the rule based on a technicality with the FTC’s rulemaking process. We were certainly disappointed to see that result, but the good news is that it’s not the end of the story,” Witte said.
Some state and federal lawmakers have possible legislative protections in the works, Witte said.
But for now, consumer advocates say households can take some steps on their own to protect their money, particularly by being vigilant when signing up for a subscription service.
Set a calendar reminder for the end of a free trial or the next billing date.
“Try to look before you sign up at what the cancellation process really looks like so that you know going into it what it’s going to take for you to cancel when you don’t want that product or subscription anymore,” Witte said.
The Consumer Federation of America also says consumers who do experience difficulty canceling a subscription or a membership should report it to the FTC so they’re aware of the continued scope of the problem.