Fuck the circuits. It's absolute bullshit that entities can game the system and shop for "favorable" judges because of the appellate courts.

Yeah even if you literally cannot get their service and they have to cancel you (which happened when I moved) they still talk and talk and talk way more than is necessary for a cancellation. They even look up your location data so they can confirm what you already told them their own app said, screw these fuckers.

I swear if you're the kind of sociopath that's pro-Trump, them saving this rule alone should be enough to get you to vote Harris.

They made their own bed here by making it so ridiculously hard.

I was going to a gym and I moved to get out of that $20 a month contract I had to write a letter and deliver it to them by hand.

When I canceled my DirecTV service I was on the phone for over an hour. Half of that was spent waiting for someone.

If you want me to have to talk to somebody before exiting a contract I'm okay with that but I need to talk to them right then and I need them to take no for an answer.

Also the whole raising the rates until people terminate and then offering them lower rates is absolute bullshit

Well, no shit, that's what the rule is SUPPOSED to do! No more impossible-to-cancel subscriptions, please.

It’s your internet. Who cancels that without already moving to another ISP? I work from home so not having internet even for short durations is a non-starter. Forcing me to talk to someone is an absolute waste of everyone’s time. They have a zero percent chance of keeping me because I already left. I just want the bills to stop for a service I disconnected from.

I understand the whole ‘game’ for pricing/discounts but when you legitimately are leaving then this is just dumb. I think the whole game around discounts is dumb too but that’s capitalism.

if im cancelling, you trying to talk me out of it is not only a waste of my time it is a fruitless endeavor. just cut it and move on,leeches

I’m so sick of the 5th Circuit. We need legislation to end judge shopping. Every damn article about some terrible decision seems to come out of the Fifth Circuit.

“We live in the United States of Texas, Louisiana & Mississippi.” —The American Prospect

a consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling and it may be imperative that they learn about better options

See, if it's easy to cancel, then a consumer can leave your service, try something else, and then cancel that and come back if they don't like the alternative.

Also, imperative for who? Your bottom line?

I guess they prefer getting customer chargebacks which will cost them bank fees than just letting people cancel.

Lol!!! This is fantastic! They shouldn't be trying to talk them out of cancelling to begin with!

I learned something the last time I had to deal with phony charges. If you tell Visa to not pay for a service or product that you never got, then they won't pay.

Not that visa is great. They steal your money too. But at least it's a mechanism to help yourself.

That’s the whole point

Just for reference: in my State (somewhere in Latin America), since 2007, we have a law that TL;DRs to "if you offer a service through a certain mean, you must offer the cancellation method through the same mean; plus by phone, or internet, or snail mail".

It works like a charm because, contrariwise to what Michael Powell is claiming, customers aren't such disgustingly stupid trash that will "accidentally" hit the cancel button, nor they deserve to be punished by making cancellation a fucking pain in the arse. (There's probably similar laws elsewhere.)

But, Calling and threatening "I want to cancel" is the only way to get them to lower the $120 fuck-you price back to the market accurate $40 I signed up for.

When I want to cancel I want to cancel. I don't want to be put in line for over half an hour and then have to have a painful argument with some poor employee who gets punished if I somehow figure out the secret code that makes them cancel the account. And then have to do it all over again one month later because the account didn't cancel because of "technical problems".

But how will we force you to listen to some agent in the Philippines ramble on about how great the service is, and offer you a 6 month promo rate that you will forget about??

The fact that they are able to make these arguments and a judge takes it seriously... Is all you need to know who rules the peasants.

First Amendment now protects a corpos right to fuck you over.

But when private comapany blocks your speech on their platform for any reason is not 1a issue?

Hmmm, do these clowns have to be logically consistent or do they just win every time.

"Won't someone please think of the shareholders‽"

Sucks to suck, I'm so looking forward to easy cancellation from services.

Do gyms next.

Oh, and can we also extend this to banks? Sometimes closing a bank account or credit card is like pulling teeth (have to call between 9-5 EST, must navigate stupid phone menu first, then you need to listen to and agree to a disclosure agreement, etc. If I want to cancel, I should be able clear the account and cancel.

Good! Even though I HATE these BULLSHIT Services that cost me THOUSANDS a Year that I can't Opt Out of it's in MY Best Interest to let Corporations SCREW ME because I'm a Republican who HATES Corporations but I Hate GAY KIDS More something something TRANS ON ME!

NCTA CEO Michael Powell claimed during a January 2024 hearing that "a consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling and it may be imperative that they learn about better options" ...

Perhaps the consumer has "learn[ed] about better options" at another company, or that a "better option" for them is to not purchase the service at all from anyone. I'm sure the ... ::flips pages:: ... cable company is offering a completely holistic assessment of the consumer's needs to help them make the best decision for themselves, right?

...and that the rule's disclosure and consent requirements raise "First Amendment issues."

"It is our First Amendment right to browbeat people into ~~not being our customers anymore!~~ staying as our customers when they tell us they don't want to be!"

(edit oops)

Yippee! The death of cable is fast approaching, hopefully.