New FTC Rules Make It Easier To Cancel Services, Punish Companies For Being Annoying Little Shits About It
Enter the FTC’s latest effort: cracking down on the predatory and annoying ways companies try to prevent you from cancelling services. Cemented by AOL in its heyday, and perfected by everybody from the Wall Street Journal to your broadband and wireless phone provider, corporate America loves to make it as annoying as possible to simply cancel services, often actively hiding any way to do so.[…] Most of the FTC’s new guidelines will go into effect in 180 days, with some in effect within 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The rulemaking updates started way back in 2019. There’s a fact sheet here that explains the proposal in more detail.
I’m switching my internet service provider in a few days, but I’m not looking forward to all the bullshit I’ll have to go through to cancel my old carrier.