The Next Junk Fee to Disappear From Your Bank Statements Might Be Your Unused Subscriptions

Personal finance experts have been saying for years that, by canceling subscriptions to services you rarely use, you can find more money in your budget to pay down debts, thereby reducing the overall amount you will spend on interest.  In fact, they have been saying that since they operated out of blogs instead of Tik Tok accounts, since before you needed subscriptions or apps to do almost everything.  You would love to cancel your subscriptions.  In fact, you have been meaning to, but it takes so much effort.  When you finally find a phone number you can call, you get a long-winded recorded message that tells you to go to the website, and in the rare event that you are persistent enough to jump through all the hoops it takes to get a live person on the line, the person makes it so hard for you to cancel the subscription that you eventually hang up in frustration.  The good news is that federal agencies have implemented new rules that remove some obstacles to canceling recurring charges and getting refunds for canceled or returned purchases.  For help moving forward if subscription payments have put additional stress on your already tight budget, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

Good News for People Who Fear That Their Next Attempt to Cancel a Gym Membership Will Go as Badly as Their Previous Attempts

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finally decided to call a spade a spade and categorize subscriptions that are excessively difficult to cancel as junk fees.  Pursuant to the new rules, companies must not require customers to go through multiple steps to cancel the subscription.  All it takes now is a verbal request by phone or filling out a cancellation form in person or online, depending on the service to which you have subscribed.  Furthermore, whether the reason for the call is to cancel a subscription, request a refund, or something else, companies cannot take customers through a “doom loop” of recorded messages on their automated answering systems.  They should be able to connect with a live person after just one menu.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation has enacted a new rule whereby airlines must automatically issue a refund to customers who have booked tickets when they cancel a flight or when major delays cause customers to miss a connecting flight.  Previously, customers had to call customer service numbers and suffer through the doom loops and hold times to get refunds for tickets for travel they had lost through no doings of their own.

These are minor changes, and they are long overdue.  They might make your day less frustrating, but to get out of debt, you will probably need bigger interventions.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Debt by a Thousand Cuts

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you see the big picture about all the little things that are keeping you in debt.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/money/companies/america-s-subscription-trap-nightmare-could-be-coming-to-an-end/ar-AA1oDXkA?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=eb28db8992f640fd9b083db6037e6dc3&ei=18