ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Launches New Effort to Crack Down on Everyday Headaches and Hassles That Waste Americans' Time and Money

Americans are tired of being played for suckers. That's why, this week, President Biden and Vice President Harris launched a new "Time Is Money" initiative, a governmentwide effort to crack down on all the ways that corporations—through excessive paperwork, hold times, and general aggravation—add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people's days and degrade their quality of life.

The Biden-Harris Administration is already cracking down on junk fees—hidden costs and surcharges in everything from travel to banking services—that hit people in their pocketbooks. Now, with this new initiative, the Administration is taking action to crack down on other corporate tricks and hassles that waste Americans' time, while asking Americans' to submit their ideas for future actions the Administration can take.

Read more below:

Good Morning America: White House Takes On Customer Service Headaches
[Elizabeth Schulze, 8/12/24]

This is a new push from the Biden Administration to try to cut down time and money that Americans spend wrangling with companies over customer service. One target here is so called doom loops where you're stuck on the phone with an automated response or talking to a chat bot instead of an actual person. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to propose companies like banks need to let customers talk to a human representative by pressing a single button. The Federal Trade Commission is also on the verge of finalizing a new rule that would make it easier to cancel subscriptions so if it takes you one click to sign up for a membership to a gym or app on your phone, it should take you one click to cancel it, too. A similar regulation could be applied to internet and cable subscription subscriptions. 

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It's part of a broader effort from the Biden Administration to try to lower cost, by urging companies to slash hidden frees in industries like airlines, concerts and credit cards. 

AP News: The US government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button
[Fatima Hussein, 8/12/24]

In the name of consumer protection, a slew of U.S. federal agencies are working to make it easier for Americans to click the unsubscribe button for unwanted memberships and recurring payment services.
A broad new government initiative, dubbed "Time Is Money," includes a rollout of new regulations and the promise of more for industries spanning from healthcare and fitness memberships to media subscriptions.

"The administration is cracking down on all the ways that companies, through paperwork, hold times and general aggravation waste people's money and waste people's time and really hold onto their money," Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser, told reporters Friday in advance of the announcement.

"Essentially in all of these practices, companies are delaying services to you or really trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service that they get to hold onto your money for longer and longer," Tanden said. "These seemingly small inconveniences don't happen by accident — they have huge financial consequences."

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CBS News: White House moves to make canceling subscriptions and memberships less hellish
[Kate Gibson, 8/12/24]

As many consumers know from first-hand experience, it's often much easier to sign up for a subscription or service than it is to cancel it.

The White House says it is looking to ease that frustration, whether it involves a cable subscription, gym membership or other service, Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's domestic policy advisor, said in announcing new rules.

Companies frequently count on people giving up on ending a subscription or service because of the aggravations imposed upon them by companies that profit by making the process time-consuming and frustrating.  

Whether it's putting customers on hold or making them jump through other time-consuming hoops, companies often delay or otherwise make it hard to cancel so they "can hold onto your money for longer," Tanden told reporters in a briefing on Friday.

These hassle don't just happen by accident, administration officials contend. Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be burdensome or hard to navigate in order to deter consumers from claiming a rebate or canceling a service they no longer want, according to Tanden.

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Reuters: Biden to tackle helpline wait times in pro-consumer push
[Andrea Shalal, 8/12/24]

The Biden administration on Monday unveiled new rules and efforts targeting consumer annoyances ranging from hard-to-cancel subscriptions, cumbersome insurance forms, and not being able to get a live customer service agent on the phone.

The "Time is Money" initiative is aimed at cracking down on endless hold times or deliberately complicated procedures that cost consumers, said Neera Tanden, U.S. President Joe Biden's domestic policy adviser.

She said it shouldn't take 45 minutes to cancel a subscription that it took one click to order, and people shouldn't be forced to print out complicated forms to file an insurance claim. Often they give up, she said, leaving companies holding onto money that consumers could spend elsewhere.

"These seemingly small inconveniences don't really happen by accident. They have huge financial consequences," she said.

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CNBC: White House launches broad new regulatory effort, as Harris prepares to unveil economic plan
[Josephine Rozzelle, 8/12/24]

The Biden administration on Monday unveiled a new, multi-agency regulatory initiative to target corporate practices that officials claim are designed to waste consumers' time and needlessly burden them with red tape, in order to maximize profits.

"I think we can all relate to this," White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden told reporters Friday.

"For example, you want to cancel your gym membership or subscription service or newspaper. It took one or two clicks to sign up. But now ... you have to go in person, or wait on hold for 20 minutes ... just to opt out," she said.

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"In all of these practices, the companies are delaying services to you, or really trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service, that they get to hold on to your money for longer and longer," Tanden said Friday.

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Forbes: White House Pushes New Rules To Simplify Canceling Subscriptions
[Siladitya Ray, 8/12/24]

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Monday's "Time is Money" initiatives are the latest step in a long line of aggressive consumer protection actions the Biden administration has taken over the past three years.

The White House has pursued aggressive antitrust regulations and taken a highly skeptical approach to crypto currencies, both of which have rankled Wall Street.

Biden has also championed a fight against what he labels "unfair and illegal pricing," including so-called junk fees, corporate "price gouging" and shrinkflation.

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Instead, the "Time is Money" initiatives represent "a new frontier of consumer protections," the official said. "That is the way that we are thinking about it."

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Money: White House Takes Aim at 'Corporate Tricks' That Waste People's Time and Money
[Adam Hardy, 8/12/24]

The Biden administration is taking sweeping actions to combat what it calls "corporate tricks and scams" that waste people's time and money.

The White House announced Monday the roll out of its new "Time Is Money" initiative, which is a collection of regulatory rules across several federal agencies as well as a host of new industry guidelines that corporations can choose to implement.

"The administration is cracking down on all the ways that companies — through paperwork, hold times and general aggravation — waste people's time and then really hold on to their money," Neera Tanden, director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, told reporters during a press briefing.

"I think we can all relate to this," she added. "It happens to Americans every day."

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Business Insider: America's subscription trap nightmare could be coming to an end
[Avelet Sheffey, 8/12/24]

Sick of spending hours trying to cancel your gym membership or get money back on a flight? A solution might be coming your way.

On Monday, President Joe Biden's administration announced a new effort to crack down on hard-to-cancel subscriptions and bad customer service in a series of proposals known as the "Time Is Money" initiative.

In partnership with several government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Transportation, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the administration is proposing rules to make business processes easier for consumers to navigate. These rules would ensure people are not stuck paying subscriptions they don't want, losing money and time in the process.

"Essentially, in all of these practices, the companies are delaying services to you, or really trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service that they get to hold on to your money longer and longer,"

Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden told reporters on a Friday press call. "These seemingly small inconveniences don't really happen by accident. They have huge financial consequences. They really are just taking advantage of the fact that people are really busy."

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"I think we can all relate to this. It happens to Americans every day," Tanden said. "For example, you want to cancel your gym membership or subscription service to a newspaper. It took one or two clicks to sign up, but now, to end your subscription or cancel the membership, you have to go in person or wait on hold for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or half an hour just to opt out."

Quartz: The war on junk fees just got even bigger
[Rocio Fabbro, 8/12/24]

The Biden administration unveiled a new rule Monday aimed at doing away with headache-inducing processes that waste customers' time and money, as part of an extension of its crackdown on junk fees.

In a new governmentwide initiative known as "Time is Money," the White House is targeting the unnecessarily complicated steps that companies force customers through to receive refunds, return items, or cancel subscriptions.

"These seemingly small inconveniences don't really happen by accident — they have huge financial consequences," said Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Joe Biden.
Tanden described paperwork, hold times, requiring customers to go to physical locations, and "general aggravation," as tools companies use to take advantage of people's busy lives to hold onto their money.

For that reason, this initiative is in the same vein as the White House's approach to hidden and misleading costs known as junk fees, according to senior administration officials.

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