I have almost no opinions these days, the outside world seems confusing and I fear the tectonic plates of society are shifting under my feet. I’m not disabled by my fears, but I have nothing to say in these confusing times. I have no idea of the significance of Hunter’s laptop. I don’t know if lockdowns are necessary. Asking for a friend, is Hunter banging his daughters and Obama’s? Is that why the FBI did not move on his laptop? Will the Dems win in a landslide? Three minor pollsters predict a Trump victory (Patrick Basham, Trafalgar, Rasmussen). In 2012, Mitt Romney never had a chance and the pollsters were right. In 2016, the elites and the pollsters were wrong and Trump surprised everyone. I see no chance of a Trump landslide. I bet he either squeaks to victory or the Dems win big.
Here is what I am reading:
* NPR: You’re Not Welcome Here: How Social Distancing Can Destroy The Global Economy
* COVID’s cognitive costs? Some patients’ brains may age 10 years
I’ve done almost no in-person socializing since the virus hit in March. I just live in my little bubble, talk to people on the phone, and read books.
You know what I’m talking about. An insurance plan, a gym membership, a cable or internet service — sometimes breaking up isn’t just hard to do; it seems downright impossible.
Do a search for the phrase “why is it so hard to cancel.” You’ll find anguished posts involving dozens if not hundreds of companies whose cancellation policies and practices left customers at wit’s end.
Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, called automatic contract renewals and difficult cancellations “a predatory practice that many industries are addicted to for an obvious reason — a monthly stream of income.”
“Don’t sign contracts that bind you to monthly renewals with no option to cancel,” she warned…
The business world needs to know clearly and definitively that muscling consumers in this way will result in hefty penalties and/or prison terms.
“If companies aren’t willing to do the right thing voluntarily, we should strengthen state laws to ensure consumers aren’t stuck with goods and services they don’t want and don’t need,” said Emily Rusch, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group.
“Especially during a pandemic, you shouldn’t have to show up in person in order to cancel your gym membership, as some gyms require,” she said. “Nor should you have your phone call put on hold interminably in order to cancel your cable or internet service.”
At a minimum, all companies should be required to clearly disclose their cancellation procedure before any money changes hands. Their websites and apps should be required to make canceling easy to do online, including mandatory confirmation emails that the service has stopped.
I’ll go that one better. How about a law that says any consumer who cancels a service via registered mail, and who can verify that cancellation with a receipt from the U.S. Postal Service, cannot be held responsible for any subsequent fees imposed by a business?
Moreover, any such fees collected by a company would have to be immediately returned or the company would face stiff penalties.
