FCC's Rosenworcel Wants to Address Consumer Pain Points

WASHINGTON, August 13, 2024 – Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday shared a notice of inquiry that would seek information on ways to improve provider service to phone, cable and broadband customers. 

The FCC's notice followed a White House announcement just hours before that launched its “Time is Money” campaign to crack down on ways corporations add excessive paperwork and hold times to consumers. 

The FCC is seeking comment from the public, including consumers and service providers, about simplifying the cancellation process of services, improving access to live representatives, establishing requirements regarding service calls and outages, the automatic renewal of service or price increases, and special considerations for people with disabilities. 

“Consumers deserve the ability to resolve problems quickly and easily, in a way that works for them, not just what benefits the company’s bottom line,” Rosenworcel said in a statement.  “Through this effort, we want to explore options to take some of the pain out of routine customer service problems and pass along cost savings to consumers.”

The FCC’s new effort followed an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission in March 2023 that, if approved, would require companies to make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one. The agency is currently reviewing comments to its proposal. 

NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, has actively fought the FTC’s proposal, claiming that it could harm consumers by allowing them to cancel services that were part of the bundled billing package and inadvertently increase their monthly bill by eliminating the discount. 

“The proposed simple click-to-cancel mechanism may not be so simple when such practices are involved. A consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling, and it may be imperative that they learn about better options,” NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in a hearing regarding the rule in January.

To reduce long hold times on phones, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent federal agency, was intending to initiate a rulemaking that would require companies to allow consumers to talk to a human representative by pressing a single button. 

The FCC’s release stated that “consumers should have access to customer service resources that are helpful and efficient so that they can easily resolve issues and make informed choices when it comes to their telecommunications service providers.”

According to the White House, “companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers in order to deter them from getting a rebate or refund they are due or canceling a subscription or membership they no longer want – all with the goal of maximizing profits.”