Some companies, such as news publications, use a “click to subscribe, call to cancel” tactic to discourage customers from cancelling their service. The FTC says this practice is illegal.
But it’s not just hedge fund-owned publishers that have adopted the subscription practices that have caught the government’s attention. Again, most U.S. news organizations don’t give readers an easy way to cancel online. When I checked — more than a week after the FTC announced it planned to crack down on companies who don’t make it easy to cancel — The New York Times still requires me to talk to someone to unsubscribe, either by starting a live chat or by picking up the phone.
A welcome move from the FTC. Currently, my tactic for this is using a disposable card and cancelling it.
Check It Out: FTC Rules That This Favored Tactic by News Media is Illegal
Add the Wall Street Journal to that list. And, there’s also everyone’s favorite, ComCast (not a news corporation but perhaps the worst to try to end a relationship that one signed up for online).