Dive Brief:
- The Federal Communications Commission launched a formal review of the current customer service practices of cable, phone and broadband providers Wednesday.
- The probe, which was approved with a 3-2 vote from the commission, aims to make sure consumers can easily cancel subscriptions and talk to live customer service agents. It also seeks to improve the accessibility of customer support for consumers with disabilities.
- “We can and should expect consistent, transparent and helpful customer service from the communications companies that provide so many services that are so vital in our day-to-day lives,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “No one should get stuck in a doom loop trying to cancel a subscription or just get a human being to help resolve their service problems.”
Dive Insight:
The FCC’s review is part of a broader federal initiative by the Biden-Harris administration to crackdown on poor customer service practices.
Launched in August, the “Time Is Money” effort targets businesses that purposefully make it hard to cancel subscriptions, make it hard to reach a customer service representative and otherwise waste consumers’ time in an effort to maximize profits.
As part of the initiative, the Federal Trade Commission finalized its “click-to-cancel” rule earlier this month in an effort to make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one. Another FTC rule banning the sale and purchase of fake reviews went into effect Oct. 21.
The FCC review will look to ensure businesses get explicit consent from consumers to automatically renew services and increase prices after the end of a promotional period.
The FCC plans to revisit and potentially update existing rules, including updating current cable customer service rules to reflect changes in the marketplace and expanding rules on cable installation, outage and service to satellite TV, voice and broadband services.
