Why is canceling a subscription so hard?

[Bipolarcy]

Never mind, I know why it's so hard -- so you give up in frustration and keep paying in perpetuity. I went to cancel my 247 subscription as the promotional period was about to end and followed the instructions to a T. I was told to go to my settings on the 247 site, then under the subscriptions column, click on "cancel my subscription." Only problem is, there is no such set of words to click on anywhere on the page.

It also gave me the option of calling to cancel or emailing. I chose calling when canceling online failed to work. I got the robo answering machine, went through all the prompts and after the final prompt, the phone rang and then nothing. No music, just dead silence. I had a sneaking suspicion they hung up on me. Turns out, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes that that is exactly what happened as the call just ended. So I called back.

If they expected me to give up at this point, they don't know who they're dealing with. I called back and finally got to talk to a live person, but they made me jump through hoops before they agreed to cancel the subscription. It shouldn't be this hard, but more importantly, it shouldn't be this deceitful. If you say there is a button where you can cancel your subscription, you ought to, by god, have a button where you can cancel your subscription.

 

[AdRock4Cy]

They used to not even have the cancel button. So, progress?

 

[Clonehomer]

Never mind, I know why it's so hard -- so you give up in frustration and keep paying in perpetuity. I went to cancel my 247 subscription as the promotional period was about to end and followed the instructions to a T. I was told to go to my settings on the 247 site, then under the subscriptions column, click on "cancel my subscription." Only problem is, there is no such set of words to click on anywhere on the page.

It also gave me the option of calling to cancel or emailing. I chose calling when canceling online failed to work. I got the robo answering machine, went through all the prompts and after the final prompt, the phone rang and then nothing. No music, just dead silence. I had a sneaking suspicion they hung up on me. Turns out, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes that that is exactly what happened as the call just ended. So I called back.

If they expected me to give up at this point, they don't know who they're dealing with. I called back and finally got to talk to a live person, but they made me jump through hoops before they agreed to cancel the prescription. It shouldn't be this hard, but more importantly, it shouldn't be this deceitful. If you say there is a button where you can cancel your subscription, you ought to, by god,, have a button where you can cancel your subscription.

Been dealing with this on a storage unit that I called and cancelled. But I had to call the national company because the local management are never actually there. Now the local management is telling me they were never notified and I have to pay for another month.

 

[wxman1]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

How has their not been an insane number of class action lawsuits about stuff like this? It seems like a slam dunk.

 

[SCNCY]

Been dealing with this on a storage unit that I called and cancelled. But I had to call the national company because the local management are never actually there. Now the local management is telling me they were never notified and I have to pay for another month.

Don’t pay. What are they going to do, evict you?

 

[SCNCY]

How has their not been an insane number of class action lawsuits about stuff like this? It seems like a slam dunk.

Probably because there aren’t any laws about it in the technology era we’re in.

 

[CycloneT]

Never mind, I know why it's so hard -- so you give up in frustration and keep paying in perpetuity. I went to cancel my 247 subscription as the promotional period was about to end and followed the instructions to a T. I was told to go to my settings on the 247 site, then under the subscriptions column, click on "cancel my subscription." Only problem is, there is no such set of words to click on anywhere on the page.

It also gave me the option of calling to cancel or emailing. I chose calling when canceling online failed to work. I got the robo answering machine, went through all the prompts and after the final prompt, the phone rang and then nothing. No music, just dead silence. I had a sneaking suspicion they hung up on me. Turns out, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes that that is exactly what happened as the call just ended. So I called back.

If they expected me to give up at this point, they don't know who they're dealing with. I called back and finally got to talk to a live person, but they made me jump through hoops before they agreed to cancel the subscription. It shouldn't be this hard, but more importantly, it shouldn't be this deceitful. If you say there is a button where you can cancel your subscription, you ought to, by god, have a button where you can cancel your subscription.

I can see the cancel membership button on mine. Its right below the membership info and expiration date.

 

[matclone]

Don’t pay. What are they going to do, evict you?

A possible collection referral. Better to be proactive, I think.

 

[KnappShack]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

A special circle of hell for those people.

 

[AppleCornCy]

Never mind, I know why it's so hard -- so you give up in frustration and keep paying in perpetuity. I went to cancel my 247 subscription as the promotional period was about to end and followed the instructions to a T. I was told to go to my settings on the 247 site, then under the subscriptions column, click on "cancel my subscription." Only problem is, there is no such set of words to click on anywhere on the page.

It also gave me the option of calling to cancel or emailing. I chose calling when canceling online failed to work. I got the robo answering machine, went through all the prompts and after the final prompt, the phone rang and then nothing. No music, just dead silence. I had a sneaking suspicion they hung up on me. Turns out, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes that that is exactly what happened as the call just ended. So I called back.

If they expected me to give up at this point, they don't know who they're dealing with. I called back and finally got to talk to a live person, but they made me jump through hoops before they agreed to cancel the subscription. It shouldn't be this hard, but more importantly, it shouldn't be this deceitful. If you say there is a button where you can cancel your subscription, you ought to, by god, have a button where you can cancel your subscription.

Had the exact same issue with them three or four years ago. It should absolutely be illegal. The hanging up on you after you’re on hold too long is especially infuriating.

 

[matclone]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

I was with XM/Sirius a short time years ago. Had to call on some matter and got the usual rep who didn't know anything and wouldn't/couldn't respond to anything that wasn't in her script. It was so bad I canceled and have since resisted joining again, even though I know they have some good content.

 

[wxman1]

I was with XM/Sirius a short time years ago. Had to call on some matter and got the usual rep who didn't know anything and wouldn't/couldn't respond to anything that wasn't in her script. It was so bad I canceled and have since resisted joining again, even though I know they have some good content.

We loved it when traveling back and from from Ames, CR and Wichita but the atrocious customer service drove me away for good.

 

[Clonehomer]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

They now have an automated chat bot that can cancel the service now. So much easier to cancel and get your $3 / month offer now. I hated having to do that every 6 months.

 

[JEFF420]

try cancelling on here. impossible.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

If you can easily subscribe to something online, you should have the same ease to cancel it. But frustrating people into not cancelling = money, so screw customers.

In terms of having live people to monitor phones for customer service, I'm not surprised that has essentially gone away. In a face to face situation, so many people have become unbearably entitled and are complete jerks to people in customer service. Imagine how much tougher they get when they're on a phone. Finding people that want to take that abuse can't be easy.

Additionally, society has basically gone away from talking to each other on the phone in the traditional sense. I'm very guilty of this. Outside of calls to my parents, I'd be surprised if the number of calls I've made this year hits double digits.

 

[pourcyne]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

That's why I pay the $2 they charge me to send an invoice and then I mail them a check.

When they don't get their money, they cancel your subscription. Problem solved.

 

[1100011CS]

Biden tried

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

If it's really difficult to remove just call your bank and tell them to stop pay on it.

 

[cowgirl836]

How has their not been an insane number of class action lawsuits about stuff like this? It seems like a slam dunk.

not sure if it was my state or federal but there was actually something on this from Biden I believe and the current rolled it back.