The Biden administration has unveiled a new initiative to make it easier for Americans to unsubscribe from unwanted memberships and unwanted payment services. The “Time is Money” initiative brings together multiple government agencies to stop corporate practices that waste consumers’ time, making it easier to cancel subscriptions, get refunds, submit health care and insurance forms online, and access high-quality customer service.
Biden’s domestic policy advisor, Neera Tanden, said it shouldn’t take 45 minutes to cancel a subscription that took one click to start and people shouldn’t be forced to print out complicated forms to file an insurance claim. Tanden said consumers often give up, leaving companies holding onto their money.
Among the new initiatives are a series of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules that will target customer service “doom loops.” The rules would require companies to offer customers a single button to reach a real person instead of having to deal with a phone tree. The CFPB is also planning a crackdown on “time-wasting chatbots.”
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is launching an inquiry into whether to expand the CFPB’s proposed customer service requirements to include phone, broadband and cable providers. The FCC is also considering a “click to cancel” rule, which would require companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them.
Meanwhile, the heads of the Departments of Labor and of Health and Human Services are urging health insurance to allow consumers to file forms online.
