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If it’s harder to leave than to join, then it’s also illegal in the EU. You have to be able to cancel through the same medium through which you can subscribe (

If it’s harder to leave than to join, then it’s also illegal in the EU. You have to be able to cancel through the same medium through which you can subscribe (so if you can subscribe through email, then unsubscribing only through snail mailing a letter is illegal), and it can’t be an unreasonable effort. I’m very interested what the consumer protection agencies in the EU have to say about this.

distances 8y ago
This is definitely not the case in Germany, unless there has been a very recent change in legislation. There are lots of scummy companies in Germany that make you fax/email copies of official ID to unsubscribe, even if joining was possible with a click of a button.
- tormeh 8y ago
  I'd say that this is more common than not. Fax/mail is the standard among the telecoms. That said, I'm trying really hard to buy internet from Deutsche Telekom right now without much success, so it might just be that they're really struggling to make anything work at all, and they prioritize selling. I don't know how Germany got here. It's just absolutely insane at this point.
- kuschku 8y ago
  They simply violate the law and don't care about it, it's that simple. It wouldn't be the first time they did that. I've been waiting since November to try and switch ISPs cause Unitymedia is as reliable as RFC 1149.
  - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
    > reliable as RFC 1149 Don't tell me... As reliable as Twitter? It's got birds :-D
- germanier 8y ago
  Since October 2016 this practice is explicitly outlawed (for most cases) https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Artikel/DE/2015/12182015_Verbandsklagerecht.html https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Artikel/DE/2015/12182015_Verb... Although the way you describe it probably wasn't legal for a long time.
cge 8y ago
As of July 1, 2018, California also has a law requiring that services you've subscribed to online allow you to cancel online (from SB-313). This should apply to any US company doing business with a California resident.
- astura 8y ago
  I've heard that for the Wall St Journal only members with California mailing addresses get access to the online form, everyone else has to call. So the way to get around calling is using privacy.com with a California mailing address.
pintxo 8y ago
Could you point to the actual regulation? I have not heard about this yet.

distances 8y ago

This is definitely not the case in Germany, unless there has been a very recent change in legislation. There are lots of scummy companies in Germany that make you fax/email copies of official ID to unsubscribe, even if joining was possible with a click of a button.

tormeh 8y ago
I'd say that this is more common than not. Fax/mail is the standard among the telecoms. That said, I'm trying really hard to buy internet from Deutsche Telekom right now without much success, so it might just be that they're really struggling to make anything work at all, and they prioritize selling. I don't know how Germany got here. It's just absolutely insane at this point.
kuschku 8y ago
They simply violate the law and don't care about it, it's that simple. It wouldn't be the first time they did that. I've been waiting since November to try and switch ISPs cause Unitymedia is as reliable as RFC 1149.
- crankylinuxuser 8y ago
  > reliable as RFC 1149 Don't tell me... As reliable as Twitter? It's got birds :-D
germanier 8y ago
Since October 2016 this practice is explicitly outlawed (for most cases) https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Artikel/DE/2015/12182015_Verbandsklagerecht.html https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Artikel/DE/2015/12182015_Verb... Although the way you describe it probably wasn't legal for a long time.

cge 8y ago

As of July 1, 2018, California also has a law requiring that services you've subscribed to online allow you to cancel online (from SB-313). This should apply to any US company doing business with a California resident.

astura 8y ago
I've heard that for the Wall St Journal only members with California mailing addresses get access to the online form, everyone else has to call. So the way to get around calling is using privacy.com with a California mailing address.

pintxo 8y ago

Could you point to the actual regulation? I have not heard about this yet.