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> Some of them will make you literally call them up to cancel. This should be illegal. If you can easily sign up online, it should be possible to cancel online

> Some of them will make you literally call them up to cancel. This should be illegal. If you can easily sign up online, it should be possible to cancel online just as easily.

renewiltord 4y ago
It is, if you're in California. It's the law.
- TulliusCicero 4y ago
  Well, good. Should be illegal basically everywhere, though.
  - renewiltord 4y ago
    Well, there's a mechanism for that. I believe other states' residents don't care as much about these things, though. For instance, the amount of work required to make this law in North Dakota is pretty low, but I don't think it's going to happen.
    - TulliusCicero 4y ago
      I think it should just be a federal law enforced by the CFPB. The level of obviousness, in terms of consumer protection, is very high here.
      - lupire 4y ago
        Republicans strongly oppose the CFPB: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protectio...
      - kelnos 4y ago
        Maybe the FTC? CFPB is solely concerned with financial institutions. They're not going to care too much about newspaper subscriptions.
        TulliusCicero 4y ago
        Ah okay, I thought that they enforced consumer finance stuff more broadly.
  - LordDragonfang 4y ago
    But consumer protections are for "liberal nanny states" that "no one wants to live in".
    - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
      It's the problem of a two-party system. Apparently wanting easy online cancellation means you need to support an entire debt-ridden, tax-heavy, welfare state that encourages high crime rates, violent criminal releases, and penalizes self-defense.
  - immibis 4y ago
    It won't happen, because it would extract less profit for shareholders.
- benmanns 4y ago
  It’s also possible to… “move” to California for long enough that a “Cancel” button magically appears in your account setting a page. This was true for WSJ who otherwise wanted a phone call with hold times.

> Some of them will make you literally call them up to cancel. This should be illegal. If you can easily sign up online, it should be possible to cancel online just as easily.

renewiltord 4y ago

It is, if you're in California. It's the law.

TulliusCicero 4y ago
Well, good. Should be illegal basically everywhere, though.
- renewiltord 4y ago
  Well, there's a mechanism for that. I believe other states' residents don't care as much about these things, though. For instance, the amount of work required to make this law in North Dakota is pretty low, but I don't think it's going to happen.
  - TulliusCicero 4y ago
    I think it should just be a federal law enforced by the CFPB. The level of obviousness, in terms of consumer protection, is very high here.
    - lupire 4y ago
      Republicans strongly oppose the CFPB: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protectio...
    - kelnos 4y ago
      Maybe the FTC? CFPB is solely concerned with financial institutions. They're not going to care too much about newspaper subscriptions.
      - TulliusCicero 4y ago
        Ah okay, I thought that they enforced consumer finance stuff more broadly.
- LordDragonfang 4y ago
  But consumer protections are for "liberal nanny states" that "no one wants to live in".
  - ThunderSizzle 4y ago
    It's the problem of a two-party system. Apparently wanting easy online cancellation means you need to support an entire debt-ridden, tax-heavy, welfare state that encourages high crime rates, violent criminal releases, and penalizes self-defense.
- immibis 4y ago
  It won't happen, because it would extract less profit for shareholders.
benmanns 4y ago
It’s also possible to… “move” to California for long enough that a “Cancel” button magically appears in your account setting a page. This was true for WSJ who otherwise wanted a phone call with hold times.