WEBVTT - New CA Law: Sign Up Online, Cancel Online Too

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<v Speaker 1>Canceling free trials just got a whole lot ease. You're

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<v Speaker 1>in California. What's going on? I'm rich DeMuro. This is

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<v Speaker 1>rich on Tech. A new California law that went into

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<v Speaker 1>effect on July first makes it easier to cancel subscriptions

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<v Speaker 1>and those free trials that you sign up for. It's

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<v Speaker 1>called California Senate Bill three one three, and it requires

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<v Speaker 1>that companies make it easy to cancel services that you

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<v Speaker 1>sign up for online. This is pretty big because how

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<v Speaker 1>many times have you been tempted to sign up for

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<v Speaker 1>something like a free trial, but you kind of stop

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<v Speaker 1>short at the sign up page because you don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to have to deal with the headache of the cancelation process.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, there are entire websites dedicated to helping you

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<v Speaker 1>cancel subscriptions, like get human, which provides the phone numbers

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<v Speaker 1>to call as well as the instructions, but it's still

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<v Speaker 1>kind of complicated and time consuming. The new law says

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<v Speaker 1>that California customers who accept an automatic renewal or continuous

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<v Speaker 1>service offer online must be able to cancel the service

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<v Speaker 1>online as well. This makes a ton of sense. I've

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<v Speaker 1>always said, if you sign up one way, you should

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<v Speaker 1>be able to cancel that same exact way. Now, don't

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<v Speaker 1>get me wrong, lots of online services do make it

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<v Speaker 1>easy for you to pause or cancel your subscription and

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<v Speaker 1>a few clicks. But this new law is going to

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<v Speaker 1>take care of all of those other services that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of make money on the fact that you don't feel

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<v Speaker 1>like waiting on hold forever or finding the right eight

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<v Speaker 1>hundred number to cancel. The new law also says that

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<v Speaker 1>companies must accept a pre written termination email to cancel

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<v Speaker 1>the service, and they can't dispute it. Basically, once you

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<v Speaker 1>send that email, it's done, they have to cancel it. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Keep in mind this is only for California consumers at

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<v Speaker 1>this point, but other states might see this law and

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<v Speaker 1>take note and then follow suit. It makes a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of sense in our on demand economy. Easy to sign

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<v Speaker 1>up for, easy to cancel, and it really puts a

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<v Speaker 1>little more pressure on companies to provide a great service

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<v Speaker 1>because they want to keep those customers. By the way,

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<v Speaker 1>a couple things to know. One service I love for

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<v Speaker 1>keeping track of all of my subscriptions is called true bill.

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<v Speaker 1>What you do is you sign in with your credit

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<v Speaker 1>card and debit card information. Then it spits out and

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<v Speaker 1>keeps track of all of your recurring bills. You can

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<v Speaker 1>literally see, Okay, I pay fifteen dollars a month for Netflix,

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<v Speaker 1>I pay nine ninety nine for YouTube, whatever it is.

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<v Speaker 1>They'll keep an eye on all your monthly rates and

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<v Speaker 1>if they go up, they'll also tell you. Plus you

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<v Speaker 1>also see exactly how much you spend each month on

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<v Speaker 1>all these services, which is kind of scary when you

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<v Speaker 1>add it all up. And that's the other side of

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<v Speaker 1>all this. Subscriptions are so easy to sign up for

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<v Speaker 1>these days, and lots of them require a recurring bill

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<v Speaker 1>on our credit or debit cards, so you might not

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<v Speaker 1>notice an increase in fees automatically because you have to

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<v Speaker 1>really check your statements. I don't know about you, but

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<v Speaker 1>I don't get an email every month when Netflix bills

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<v Speaker 1>my card. So another place to look is also your

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<v Speaker 1>iTunes account. I talk about this in my book one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and one Handy Tech Tips for the iPhone. Apple

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<v Speaker 1>makes subscribing to things really easy, but when you have

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<v Speaker 1>to find that subscription section to go to cancel it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of tough to find. But it's a good

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<v Speaker 1>idea to go in there and see what you're being

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<v Speaker 1>billed for on a monthly basis. You can find it

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<v Speaker 1>by going into the iTunes store on your phone, scroll

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<v Speaker 1>all the way down to your Apple ID where it

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<v Speaker 1>has your ear Tap that, then tap view Apple ID.

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<v Speaker 1>You put in your password or use your face, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you scroll to the middle of this page where

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<v Speaker 1>it says subscriptions and you can see all the stuff

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<v Speaker 1>that you have going on in there. You can learn

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<v Speaker 1>more about that tip in my book. Just go to

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<v Speaker 1>richon tech dot tv slash book. Thanks so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>Hopefully you get those subscriptions under control and they're much

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<v Speaker 1>easier to cancel in California. I'm Rich Demiro. I'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you real soon.