Have you ever used some streaming for a while, but then you started to feel like you subscribed but you are the one being subscribed? The time of optimism is also coming to California residents. New law has been recently enacted in many countries to eliminate such subscription woes. It has criminalized complexities of subscriptions making cancellations as simple as a click.
What is it with this new law?
From the first of January, 2025, the new law with the Assembly Bill (AB) 2863 will replace the existing law.
Its goal?
To ensure that in equal measure and with the same ease can one be able to cancel your HBO NOW subscription, Netflix subscription, gym membership, or any other subscription service for that matter. If you were once able to register with a single click, then today, you can also unsubscribe just the same.
This isn’t California’s first time trying to protect consumers from the ‘sticky trap’ of unsignaled, continuous subscriptions. We already have some rather stringent regulations in place that prevent firms from keeping you on connecting with endless customer support helplines simply to employ the option. But the current law had a sneaky little loophole – companies could still make it irritatingly difficult to cancel, all you had to do was make the consumer go through hoop after hoop like clicking a few pages on a website or having to fill in reams of forms. Not anymore!
Goodbye Subscription Maze
The major drawback of many subscriptions today is that while it is very simple to sign up, canceling it is a real nightmare. That is what this new law is trying to solve. These are the companies that run streaming services such as Roku, Amazon, and Apple TV: All subscription businesses—from newspapers that publish online to fitness clubs—will now have to allow you to cancel your subscription with the same ease as when you signed up.
Now we are able to cancel a service that has become useless, without going through four different forms and ‘are you sure you want to cancel?’
Why Now?
It’s all about saving money! The author of the bill Assembly Member Pilar Schiavo insisted that subscription costs have been accumulating for a long time to consumers, now it is high time to let people control their money. From streaming services to gyms, Schiavo was confident that it is now time for the internet to give consumers a simple way out when they no longer want to commit.
“Many across the country will follow this example that California is showing,” Schiavo added. “We are safeguarding the consumer from being charged for something they do not need, and we are putting into place measures that will check malpractice from business people.” That is to say, this law seeks to give you back a larger portion of your money.
Who Will Be Affected?
The change of this law will affect a lot of CEOs and particularly those companies where software allows you to register for the services offered with one click. That means all sorts of digital subscription services, be it fitness or entertainment, from Fettle to Netflix, will need to adhere to these rules. In fact, wine clubs and even computer software services should follow the scheme, thus simplifying the process of handling subscriptions for everyone with little nuisance.
It is not limited to convenience though. Consumers interested in this bill include the CFC, which meant to say that consumers have had enough of subscription services they cannot cancel easily. “It should be as easy to opt out of a subscription as it is to opt into one,” noted Robert Herrell, the Executive Director of CFC. Wouldn’t that be logical?
What Does This Mean for You?
This includes everything from your Netflix subscription to your magazine subscriptions – you’ll be able to cancel them with zero hassle.
And if you’re not in California, do not worry! This is a good law that may act as a benchmark to other states in future. For instance, who wouldn’t want a solution that will help them better organize their subscriptions?
