Easy in/Easy out
The law is simple to describe, fair and useful: It should be as easy to unsubscribe from an online service as it is to sign up.
Other than powerful brand bullies, who is against this?
It took me five minutes to sign up for a data connection for my car a few years ago. Yesterday, after selling the car, it took me more than three hours to get AT&T to stop charging me for the service. Went to the store, they won’t do it. Went to their website, they won’t do it. Went to online chat, half an hour later, discovered they won’t do it (I have the transcript if Kellyn Smith Kenny wants to see it). I called, waited on hold for half an hour, was disconnected, you get the idea…)
Yes, this is bad marketing by AT&T. It’s unlikely that making it inconvenient to turn off service for a car you no longer own is going to dissuade someone from doing it. It hurts their brand, demotivates the employees and destroys loyalty. It’s short term-thinking by a lazy brand manager.
But they do it anyway.
When organizations get too big and too short-term focused to pay attention to the market, it’s a perfect moment for consumers to band together and give them a guardrail.
If I can sign up with a few clicks, I should be able to unsign up with a few clicks.