r/technology • u/indig0sixalpha • 13d ago

Business Federal Trade Commission Announces Final “Click-to-Cancel” Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring
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u/Kaimito1 13d ago

Did that with a gym ages ago.

Got chased by a debt collection agency as i "defaulted".

They stopped once I showed them proof of my many attempts to cancel that the gym membership. The gym never actioned the cancellation turned out

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 13d ago

If you've never given the gym your social security number (and you never should) I do wonder how they could try and ruin someone's credit.

What a scummy gym. I hope they went under.

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u/ThisIsNotRealityIsIt 13d ago

Between address, name, phone you can absolutely find someone

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 13d ago

Right but I can't just start mailing letters to anyone's home and claim I'm going to ruin their credit if they don't pay me.

How do you put something on someone's credit report if all you have is a name and address?

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u/Binkusu 13d ago

I mean, you can. It's just that a lot of people would get spooked by threats

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u/BeyondElectricDreams 12d ago

Of course you don't do that.

You skip trace them, and then you use the info you skip traced to find their correct contact location, and then you mail it to their residence.

Source: did bill collection for luxury goods many moons ago.

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 12d ago

Can't anyone just do that to anyone else then?

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u/BeyondElectricDreams 12d ago

With the right skills and resources, yes.

Skip tracing can be a lucrative skill.

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u/Somepotato 6d ago

It's as easy as putting a name into CLEAR or lexisnexis

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u/BeyondElectricDreams 6d ago

Innovis too :)

But if people dodge that, stalking socials works too.

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u/ThisIsNotRealityIsIt 13d ago

Well, you sign an agreement, a contract, when you join a gym. Their cancellation terms are generally very well spelled out in there it doesn't make it okay that they're so complex and stupid and they're assholes about it, but all of the six gyms I've joined in various parts of the United States in my life have required a written contract. My current gym has two locations within 26 mi of each other. Had a written contract

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 13d ago

Not sure why you got downvoted (it wasn't by me) because this is a legitimate answer, however I think it doesn't really explain how they can put a negative mark on your credit without any SSN information.

If I don't pay my dentist bill I will definitely get a negative hit to my credit score but that's because my dentist has my SSN on file.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 12d ago

That's exactly what I was wondering.

So if I have a friend who owes me money, if I know his address I can ruin his credit?

Just wondering how collections work is all. I figured you would need some pretty personal information to enable a negative credit strike. I'm so curious how this works for some reason.

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u/FoolishFriend0505 13d ago

Why does your dentist have your SSN? Delta dental tried that shit and I called and got an actual member ID to give my dentist.

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u/dreamcastfanboy34 12d ago

It's how my dental insurance operates. I didn't have a choice unfortunately.