Why Is It So Hard to Cancel a Subscription?

You've finished the show and want to stop paying for it. By the time you've reset your password and worked through the offers to stay, dinner's gone cold and you're still subscribed. This video covers Amazon's former Prime cancellation process, the FTC's case against Chegg, and research on why subscription payments keep going. We also look at whether automatic renewal can put people off signing up, and why a monthly bill can come with a yearlong contract. The viewer's story and unnamed streaming service are fictional. Company examples come from the sources below, including historical FTC allegations and published subscription terms. Policies were checked on September 30, 2026. CHAPTERS 00:00 Trying to cancel 00:30 Amazon's cancellation process 01:10 Why we keep paying 02:08 Free trials and automatic payments 04:01 What card replacements reveal 05:12 Finding the cancellation button 05:47 When cancelling doesn't stop the bill 07:00 Monthly payments, annual contracts 07:38 Why readers reject automatic renewal 08:56 When a discount helps 10:04 What a clear cancellation looks like 11:07 Cancelling versus pausing 12:19 Keeping proof of cancellation 13:57 Subscribe to Snag Theory Sources Numbers match the references shown in the video. [1] FTC: Amazon Prime amended complaint (2023) https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_... [2] FTC: Amazon Prime refund update (September 2026) https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/... [3] Deloitte: Digital Media Monitor (March 2026 reporting) https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insigh... [4] Einav, Klopack and Mahoney: Selling Subscriptions (2025) https://web.stanford.edu/~leinav/pubs... [5] FTC: Chegg cancellation allegations (2025) https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/... [6] Adobe: US subscription terms (January 2026) https://helpx.adobe.com/account/indiv... [7] Miller, Sahni and Strulov-Shlain: Sophisticated Consumers with Inertia (January 2026 working paper) https://marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/w... [8] Netflix: How to cancel Netflix https://help.netflix.com/en/node/407 [9] FTC: Free trials, auto-renewals and cancellation guidance (2024) https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/get... #subscribe #subscription #consumerrights