The Biden administration launched a new initiative on Monday intended to crack down on “corporate tricks” that make it difficult for customers to unsubscribe from unwanted memberships and recurring payment plans. The interdepartmental legislative programs, known collectively as “Time is Money,” promise to make unsubscribing as easy as a single click by imposing new regulations on the healthcare, fitness, media, and retail sectors, ensuring that canceling a subscription is as easy as activating one.
“The administration is cracking down on all the ways that companies, through paperwork, hold times, and general aggravation, waste people’s money and waste people’s time and really hold onto their money,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden told reporters last week ahead of the official announcement. “Essentially in all of these practices, companies are delaying services to you or really trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service that they get to hold onto your money for longer and longer. These seemingly small inconveniences don’t happen by accident — they have huge financial consequences.”
Learn more about the 2024 Vault Conference and secure your ticket today!
The “Time is Money” efforts announced on Monday include an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission into whether communications companies should be required to offer easy unsubscribe options for their services. Other proposals include requiring airlines to offer automatic, prompt, and full refunds upon request, pushing healthcare companies and insurance providers to improve the customer service process, and placing new restrictions on automated call services that create “doom loops” and prevent customers from talking to a real person.
“These hassles don’t just happen by accident,” the administration wrote in a press release on Monday. “Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers, in order to deter them from getting a rebate or refund they are due or canceling a subscription or membership they no longer want — all with the goal of maximizing profits.”
President Joe Biden and others within his administration have frequently spoken out against “junk fees” attached to air travel and concert tickets, promising to make eliminating these hidden costs a top priority.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
Got a hot scoop or an idea for a story? Connect with the VT writers on Minnect!
Add comment