Technology

"The proposed simple click-to-cancel mechanism may not be so simple when such practices are involved. A consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling and it may be imperative that they learn about better options," NCTA CEO Michael Powell said at the hearing. For example, a customer "may face difficulty and unintended consequences if they want to cancel only one service in the package," as "canceling part of a discounted bundle may increase the price for remaining services."

This sounds like a "you" problem. If your service were any good this wouldn't be a concern because nobody would have a reason to reach that page. Take those discounted bundles and fuck right off.

That’s exactly the point. There should not be any consequences for cancelling a monthly subscription.

They can oligobble my balls

Sending a notification that a renewal is coming up? Impossible, will cost a fortune.

Sending mountains of junk mail offering bundles and limited time offers? Clearly much cheaper and easier.

Also, think of the labor costs, retraining the call center staff to not spend hours trying to talk people out of canceling and instead just having them hit a button. Why, that's got to force a price hike.

Thank goodness those lobbyists are looking out for us and our easily confused little brains. Perhaps if we're so easily confused, they should lobby to get rid of the fine print and simplify those contracts while they're at it. Oh... Wait... Not that.

so, just a thought, make it illegal for there to be consequences of cancelling

This crap is why I haven't had cable in over a decade.

Easy solution.. Make it clear, write a prompt "are you sure you want to cancel your cable service? Please don't? 🫣"

'We shouldn't have to let users sign up with a click'.

They are going to offer your a discount to keep their service. Maybe if they had offered you a better price in the first place you wouldn't be trying to cancel. Making it hard to cancel so that they can offer you discounts to stay is a way to keep prices high for everyone else. It's a way to maximize profits. Why not simply put a one click, "cut my bill in half" button on the website?

Where they see consequence I see benefit.

And then they will pay the FTC and they will say this is acceptable.

The End.

That's like the dairy lobbyists not wanting the vegetable milk products to feature the word "milk" because people might buy them by accident.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Lobbyists for cable companies and advertisers yesterday expressed their displeasure with a proposed "click-to-cancel" regulation that aims to make it easier for consumers to cancel services.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has said that changes are needed because "some businesses too often trick consumers into paying for subscriptions they no longer want or didn't sign up for in the first place."

NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, the primary trade group for cable companies like Comcast and Charter, said the rule would make it harder to offer deals to customers who are trying to cancel.

The FTC also proposes that sellers be required to "provide an annual reminder to consumers enrolled in negative option programs involving anything other than physical goods, before they are automatically renewed."

"The proposed rule would disrupt the current regime by adding specific requirements dictating what auto-renewal disclosures must say and how they must be presented," said Lartease Tiffith, the IAB's executive VP for public policy.

Tiffith defended auto-renewals generally, saying the practice of automatically renewing services brings "significant benefits to both businesses and consumers in the form of cost savings, convenience, and heightened value."

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