‘I have a huge case brewing’: US readers’ frustrations with canceling various subscriptions

Readers share their experiences after a US appeals court vacated the FTC’s ‘click-to-cancel’ rule

Canceling subscriptions could continue to be a grueling process after the US court of appeals for the eighth circuit vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required companies to allow consumers to cancel subscriptions using the same method they used to sign up.

The court’s decision came down due to the commission behind it failing to follow required procedures under the FTC Act. In response, the Guardian asked readers to share their experiences while trying to cancel their various subscriptions - from Hulu, to Roblox, to dating apps. These are their stories.

‘I want to make noise, and push for real change’

“I have a huge case brewing, related to Verizon home internet failure of click to cancel. They offered me $100, saying they did not come under the new law. Which was false, though the law wasn’t being enforced. I pushed and they offered $500 if I sign a confidentiality agreement – which I have. But I have no intention of signing and getting the $500,” said Chris Cooper of Pennsylvania.

“Verizon is a behemoth, whose intentionally complex and restrictive practices are worthy of a takedown.”

‘I told my bank it was fraud and canceled my card’

“I booked a flight through Kayak. The cheapest flight sent me to a website called eDreams. I booked the flight without even realizing I had signed up to a subscription service with eDreams,” said Kaja in New York.

“A year later, an annual subscription fee was deducted from my debit card I had used to book the flight. No obvious link to cancel, so I contacted the service and was assured that my subscription was canceled. A year later, however, the fee was deducted again.”

‘Not cool. I want out’

“Recently, I cannot cancel my daughter’s subscription to Roblox. It’s supposed to be in my Apple subscriptions, or in my daughter’s, as also suggested by the invoice emailed by Apple! I wrote to them but they say they don’t get inquiries via their website any more … The only way to get out of these things is to change cards! Very infuriating! How do I get those back without spending my precious time on top of the $$$?” wrote Ella from San Diego, California.

‘I quit them all. My life is better now’

“Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, dating apps like Tinder and Hinge and credit cards. All of them made it difficult by burying the option in counter-intuitive places on their websites or apps. And then sending emails and other steps that had to be taken in order to quit the service. This all led to confusion and continued billing cycles,” said Jacob, a 47-year-old government worker living in Washington state.

‘We then had field employees start showing up to our home unannounced’

“A door-to-door salesman for a pest control company caught me at an opportune moment while we were dealing with ants, so we signed a one-year contract that contained early cancellation fees and an auto-renewing subscription for quarterly visits.

“I finally sent a formal cancellation letter from my vacation rental to their address in the contract, which they again responded that it ‘required’ me to call the service center. Eventually they must have determined it was a waste of their resources to try to convince me otherwise,” shared Rob, a 37-year-old software engineer living in Virginia.

‘This was an outrageous and painful way to end my membership’

“The Burbank YMCA doubled my membership fee without any notification to me. They had access to my bank account and debited it for three months running while I asked for a refund. They dragged their feet for three months, until I camped out in their office and refused to leave until they gave me a check for the amount they overcharged me and canceled my membership,” said Pamela, a retiree living in Los Angeles, California.

‘I presume I can finally cancel when I’m dead’

“I am unable to cancel my Hulu subscription. The experience has been frustrating to the point of outrage. It didn’t help that the Hulu staff (male) accused me of being too emotional after three hours on the phone. I am charged the monthly fee which goes on without my wanting or using the network. I have wasted hours on useless phone calls to the Hulu customer service line,” said Kathleen, 68, in Washington DC.

‘This should be illegal’

“I subscribed to a HUM product called Collagen Love for a few months. Easy-peasy to subscribe but when I tried to cancel the subscription the company made it difficult,” said a 69-year-old retiree from Colorado who asked to remain anonymous.

“I have zero confidence they will not sell my personal data and even though they say they removed my payment method, I have no confidence they’ve done so. Shameful!”