Editing The Economist (section)

==Suggested User Action==

In the US, according to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) statement on 10/22/2021, thousands of complaints are made regarding "negative option" practices, including those about recurring subscriptions and inability to cancel the auto-renewing services. Users can submit complaints to the FTC via https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/. Section 5 of the FTC Act requires that "marketers must not erect unreasonable barriers to cancellation or impede the effective operation of promised cancellation procedures, and must honor cancellation requests that comply with such procedures". [https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/1598063/negative_option_policy_statement-10-22-2021-tobureau.pdf]
 
Some users suggest linking payment through Paypal to make it easier to block unwanted recurring charges. Others suggest disputing the unwanted charges with their credit card provider if cancelling via phone or online chat is not successful. [https://www.reddit.com/r/theeconomist/comments/1k8w94u/how_to_cancel_your_subscription_without_getting/] When using the online customer support tool, it is recommended by some users to screenshot or screen record the chat log, which can help support any disputes with users' credit card or payment method companies. Some users also turn to other third-party companies to purchase annual subscriptions at a more consistent price without the potential downsides of auto-renewing.