FTC 'Click to Cancel' Rule Aims to Make Canceling Subscriptions Easier

[MacRumors]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a final "click to cancel" rule that aims to simplify the process of ending subscriptions and memberships for US consumers.

The new rule will require businesses to make cancellation processes as straightforward as sign-up procedures, and companies will be prohibited from forcing customers to use chatbots or speak with agents to cancel subscriptions that were originally initiated online or through an app. For memberships started in person, businesses must offer cancellation options by phone or online.

In a statement accompanying the Commission's press release, FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said: "Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. The FTC's rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want."

The rule will apply to almost all negative option programs across all media. It also requires sellers to provide clear information before obtaining billing details and to secure informed consent for negative option features prior to charging customers.

The move follows a significant increase in consumer complaints about subscription practices, according to the FTC. In 2024, the government agency received an average of nearly 70 complaints per day related to negative option and recurring subscription issues, up from 42 per day in 2021.

The Commission voted 3-2 to approve the final rule, with two Republican commissioners opposing it. Some initially proposed measures were dropped, including requirements for businesses to send annual reminders about recurring charges. The new regulation is set to take effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The regulation is part of the FTC's efforts to modernize its 1973 Negative Option Rule and address unfair practices, and follows recent legal actions against major companies like Amazon and Adobe over their subscription practices.

Article Link: FTC 'Click to Cancel' Rule Aims to Make Canceling Subscriptions Easier

 

[abatabia]

Actually a great idea.

 

[progx]

I think this would be a great idea. So many streaming services make you go through three or four screens before you cancel. Some of them can be deceiptive with getting you to hit "Cancel" from Cancelling the Service. Not too many offer a straightforward cancel and your done.

I can understand if you don’t know where subscriptions are in your iCloud, then it might be a bit difficult to cancel. I’ve never had an issue with it.

 

[StuBeck]

There should be no one against this.

 

[Moukee]

Win for the consumers!

It's actually the reason why I often subscribe via in-app purchase as long as the pricing is similar. Because Apple makes it trivial to cancel any subscription whenever I feel like it within the Settings app.

 

[AppleTO]

Good luck SiriusXM.

 

[twintin]

I think this would be a great idea. Not only Apple, but so many streaming services make you go through three or four screens before you cancel. Some of them can be deceiptive with getting you to hit "Cancel" from Cancelling the Service. Not too many offer a straightforward cancel and your done.

Not sure if this applies to all subscriptions made through Apple, but at least streaming services subscribed that way seems pretty easy to cancel by going to my account. That's why I prefer to subscribe through Apple rather than any other way. Services that can not be subscribed that way like Netflix and Spotify I simply ignore.

 

[Geoffb9]

About time.

 

[FelixDerKater]

It should be just as easy to sign up as to depart. Planet Fitness should have taught other businesses that. Easy come, easy go, and easy return later.

 

[michaeljk]

Why does this need to be in "politics?" is this a political issue? It shouldn't be. It is so obvious. It is also very germane to the daily lives of MacRumors readers--all of us. You do not have a single apple product that does not have some kind of subscription tied to it.

 

[windywalks]

Good initiative. I vividly remember how absurd canceling a Photoshop suite sub was. It was like an arduous reading comprehension test that you had to take as a kid, only instead of Charlottes Web or a Very Hungry Caterpillar you got smacked right in the face with Catcher in the Rye.

 

[Shirasaki]

These rules should be enforced worldwide, not just US. But obviously, making cancelling subs easy means those mega corps will have a tinny tiny bit harder time to retain customers without all the grossly unfair and unethical practices they have all employed over the decades, so they will protest.
Now, let’s see what deplorable tactics businesses will use after this ruling to make cancelling subs hard again.

 

[lkrupp]

I suggest Apple create an app expressly for this purpose. You open the app and it presents you with all of your subscriptions with Apple. Each subscription has information about the subscription, who, when, how much, along with a cancel button.

On my Mac running Sonoma it is System Settings->Apple ID->Media & Purchases->Subscriptions->Manage. That’s blathering nonsense and seemingly designed to obfuscate the cancelation process. Apple’s own support documents database has complete, multi-paragraph articles on how to cancel something. Really? A full page document?

I’m also seeing TV ads for an app called Rocket Money that purports to make it easy to cancel any subscription. I guess it’s gotten bad enough for some developer to make a profit on canceling subscriptions for users.

And don’t get me started on being referred to “retention specialists” who basically refuse to cancel without you getting stern with them.

 

[michaeljk]

I just had this terrible experience with "NordPass," which is the Nord suite of apps version of a password manager. I will NEVER do business with them again. I signed up for a two-year subscription to save money on the monthly charge. Big mistake. The app itself was so dumb--on iPhone, it did not automatically insert into its own database of passwords the passwords it generated. Once I discovered this, and confirmed it by seeing others complain about this obvious oversight, I tried to cancel. What a chore they made it to cancel--obviously hoping you'd forget about cancelling. First, they hid the process on their website, then you had to talk to a chatbot, then the Chatbot said it couldn't do the cancel, that you needed to talk to a real person, then you had to wait for the real person, then that person tried to talk you out of it. OMG! Terrible! Yes, this rule needs to put that kind of practice and business model in the grave.

 

[CharlesShaw]

That's why I prefer to subscribe through Apple rather than any other way. Services that can not be subscribed that way like Netflix and Spotify I simply ignore.

I haven't had Netflix for a long time, but the last time I did, I subscribed through the Netflix Stranger Things game app which gave me a subscription to Netflix.

 

[dynamojoe]

I'm thrilled with this rule. I'm still not going back to SiriusXM ("but what if I offered you the package for $7/Mo?") but if I can be spared this shady business tactic in the future from other companies, I'm all for it.

 

[wanha]

I think this would be a great idea. Not only Apple, but so many streaming services make you go through three or four screens before you cancel. Some of them can be deceiptive with getting you to hit "Cancel" from Cancelling the Service. Not too many offer a straightforward cancel and your done.

not sure why you lumped Apple in with the rest here, as my experience with Apple has been that they make unsubscribing extremely easy and straightforward, along with notifications before a renewal is coming due

 

[WarmWinterHat]

not sure why you lumped Apple in with the rest here, as my experience with Apple has been that they make unsubscribing extremely easy and straightforward, along with notifications before a renewal is coming due

There are plenty of apps on the iPhone that don't use the App store for subscriptions..

 

[wanha]

I suggest Apple create an app expressly for this purpose. You open the app and it presents you with all of your subscriptions with Apple. Each subscription has information about the subscription, who, when, how much, along with a cancel button.

On my Mac running Sonoma it is System Settings->Apple ID->Media & Purchases->Subscriptions->Manage. That’s blathering nonsense and seemingly designed to obfuscate the cancelation process. Apple’s own support documents database has complete, multi-paragraph articles on how to cancel something. Really? A full page document?

I’m also seeing TV ads for an app called Rocket Money that purports to make it easy to cancel any subscription. I guess it’s gotten bad enough for some developer to make a profit on canceling subscriptions for users.

And don’t get me started on being referred to “retention specialists” who basically refuse to cancel without you getting stern with them.

I dunno man, I just checked how to do it for myself and it seems pretty straightforward to me to see my subscriptions and to unsubscribe from them 🤷‍♂️

 

[wanha]

There are plenty of apps on the iPhone that don't use the App store for subscriptions..

sure, but we were talking about subscriptions through the App Store and how easy/hard Apple makes cancelling subscriptions, were we not?

 

[leicaman]

I'm thrilled with this rule. I'm still not going back to SiriusXM ("but what if I offered you the package for $7/Mo?") but if I can be spared this shady business tactic in the future from other companies, I'm all for it.

They actually made it easy to get a great price this year. I thought I was going to have my annual, "You're going to have to offer me the new member price to keep me," pitch. But I couldn't find a good deal for new members on their website.

I called them, and she immediately offered me a plan for $5.99 a month (paid at one time) without any muss or fuss. That's a bargain to be able to listen to my favorite channels without ads. A steady stream of "Tom Petty Radio," makes the drives so much more pleasant compared to one song & three ads in commercial radio, when I'm not listening to sports or news, or using AirPlay.

 

[rforno]

Read the fine print....

Per the WSJ, pursuant to the new FTC order on 1-click cancellation:

"Consumers can’t be required to interact with a live or virtual representative, such as chatbot, unless they consented to that step when they initiated the subscription. "

Watch this order be completely circumvented by companies slipping something into the ToS that nobody reads and then later claiming in court that customers 'consented' to their (existing if not enhanced) friction-filled unsubscription process.

 

[zerocharlie]

Who's gonna tell Adobe?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like the idea. Will this apply to SiriusXM? lol

 

[Chazak]

There are plenty of apps on the iPhone that don't use the App store for subscriptions..

Any subscription you purchase through Apple's app store can be easily ended using the App Store. Just wait until you see what happens in the area now that EU regulators have forced third party stores on us. Pray American regulators don't do the same.