Biden tries to cut through fog of confusion caused by deliberately deceptive customer service tricks

Businesses that use labyrinthine subscription cancellation procedures, flaky customer service bots and other cynical schemes used to give customers the run around have been put on notice by the Biden administration.

The White House on Monday announced a new government-wide effort dubbed "Time Is Money" this week that aims to take action against unfriendly business practices that bilk customers, building on previous efforts to tackle junk fees that inflate the cost of services like tax filing.

"These hassles don't just happen by accident," the White House stated in a press release. "Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers ... all with the goal of maximizing profits.

"Americans should not be subject to confusing, manipulative, or deceptive practices online."

The Biden administration cited a number of previous efforts by various agencies to tackle such practices, including rules proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that "would require companies to make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one," and a ban on fake reviews and testimonials. Both measures were proposed last year but were not finalized.

The FTC is treading familiar ground here, with complaints filed against both Adobe and Amazon for the pair's use of substantial termination fees and so-called "dark patterns," respectively, to prevent customers from leaving for cheaper pastures. Both cases are ongoing.

A rule enacted in April 2024 that requires airlines to issue automatic refunds when flights are canceled (which this vulture has personally benefited from) was also mentioned.

The White House is not alone in this effort, as other federal government agencies have announced similar initiatives.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday announced an inquiry into customer service problems in the communications industry, essentially proposing to extend the FTC's easy cancellation rules to phone, cable and broadband services.

"We are seeking information on how to promote efficiency in customer service in the telecommunications industry," FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said. "Through this effort, we want to explore solutions to take some of the pain out of routine customer service problems and pass along cost savings to consumers."

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an inquiry into customer service in the health insurance industry, especially the difficulty some customers face accessing care and communicating with human representatives at their insurers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said it's looking into misuse of AI customer service agents in the financial services sector.

"[Large language model chatbots] may provide incorrect information, fail to provide meaningful dispute resolution, and raise privacy and security risks," the CFPB stated. The Bureau claims customer service chatbots can also represent potential violation of other federal laws, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, if they discriminate against certain types of customers. Such biases have already seen bots been banned from determining Medicaid eligibility.

The White House added that the CFPB also plans to initiate rulemaking procedures to require companies under its jurisdiction to include a one-touch option to connect customers to a human customer service representative, with similar rules forthcoming from the FCC and HHS as well.

The Biden administration teased further action in coming months, without offering any details. It's also entirely possible the White House hasn't decided on a course for future actions given the launch of an online form inviting upset Americans to rat out companies who've wasted their time and money and a promise to consider "ideas for how federal action can give [consumers] their time back."

"After endless hours on hold or piles of incomprehensible paperwork, we give up pursuing a service, rebate or refund we're due, we take a hit to our pocketbooks, and companies profit," the administration stated in its announcement. "Companies should make it as easy to do things that you want to do as it is to do things they want to do."

We've asked the White House for information on its initiatives, but at the time of publication have not received a response. ®