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Back in 2012, I wrote about how companies make it unnecessarily difficult for customers to cancel subscriptions and memberships. Fast-forward more than a decade, and sadly, little has changed – despite proposed new laws requiring brands to make it easy. (Like they should need laws for that!) If anything, the stakes are higher, and regulators are finally taking notice.
Just last month, the FTC filed suit against LA Fitness and its parent company, Fitness International, accusing them of making membership cancellations “exceedingly difficult.” Customers were forced into hoops that read like a parody of bad customer experience: print a form, mail it certified (at your own expense), or track down a specific manager who may or may not be available. All for the simple act of saying, “I’m done.” (This is fact. I’m an LA Fitness member, and my son had joined only to want to cancel a short while later. He got this exact runaround.)
This wasn’t a few isolated complaints; tens of thousands of consumers were affected, and the FTC claims the company raked in hundreds of millions in unwanted fees as a result.
Let’s call this what it is: deliberate friction, engineered not to serve customers but to squeeze more dollars out of them on the way out.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
The FTC’s case against LA Fitness isn’t happening in a vacuum. Amazon has been sued over “dark patterns” that make Prime harder to cancel than to join (which could have happened without the consumer even realizing it). Match Group recently settled with regulators for subscription traps that kept users paying when they thought they were free to leave. And the FTC’s proposed “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required cancellations to be as simple as sign-ups, may have been struck down in court (imagine that!), but the regulatory momentum is unmistakable.
In other words: companies can either clean up their act voluntarily or wait to be forced into it, expensively and publicly. Never mind the fact that they should just do the right thing! This is what happens when you put profits before people.
Last and Lasting Impressions
Here’s what too many executives miss: the cancellation process is often the customer’s last interaction with your brand. Ever. (Though it doesn’t have to be.) That means it has outsized weight in shaping lasting impressions.
A painful cancellation experience confirms every negative assumption customers already had. It locks in resentment, sparks angry word of mouth, and shuts the door on any future relationship. In the end, the brand “pays” as a result of all of that.
A respectful, easy, and transparent cancellation experience does the opposite. It acknowledges the customer’s choice, preserves dignity, and – even in “goodbye” – leaves the door cracked open for “welcome back.” (That’s the “it doesn’t have to be the last interaction ever” part.)
It’s not just about ethics. It’s about strategy. If you treat customers well on the way out, you increase the odds that they’ll return when circumstances change – or at the very least, that they’ll speak well of you to others.
How to Get This Right
Here’s a more succinct and streamlined playbook (including my points from 2012, which haven’t changed) for companies that want to avoid FTC scrutiny, and more importantly, avoid alienating the very people they’ve worked hard to win.
- Make it as easy to cancel as it is to join. No printouts, no postage, no games.
- Be transparent. Tell people upfront, in plain language, how to end their subscription or membership.
- Honor cancellations immediately. Don’t stall, delay, charge a fee, or “accidentally” bill again.
- Get optional feedback. Ask why they’re leaving, but don’t make it a barrier.
- Leave the door open. Thank them for being a customer, and make sure they know they’re welcome back.
IN CLOSING
In 2012, I argued that breaking up shouldn’t be hard to do. In 2025, that truth hasn’t changed, but now more than ever companies face legal and reputational consequences for ignoring it.
Cancellation is not just the end of a relationship. It’s the final act of your customer experience. And like any final act, it leaves an impression – one that lingers long after the relationship is over.
Handle it poorly, and that last impression becomes a lasting one that damages your brand. Handle it with respect, and you create the possibility of return, referral, and goodwill.
Breaking up may be hard to do. But making it harder than it needs to be? That’s a business choice. And it’s not a smart one.
If someone can walk away from you, let them walk. ~ T.D. Jakes
Related: Don’t Just Rebrand—Reconnect: How To Refresh Without Losing Loyal Customers