Warning: "Subscription trap" schemes make free trials nearly impossible to cancel

The pattern starts with an ad for a free trial, a heavily discounted "just pay shipping" sample, or a one-time purchase — often for a supplement, beauty product, or software subscription. Buried in fine print, or never disclosed at all, is a clause that automatically enrolls the buyer in recurring monthly charges once the trial period ends, sometimes at a much higher price than expected.

Cancelling is deliberately made difficult: the option may be hidden deep in account settings, require a phone call during limited hours, or trigger a retention gauntlet of transfers, holds, and counter-offers designed to make giving up easier than following through. Some networks operate dozens of branded storefronts behind the same billing infrastructure, so a single company can be responsible for subscription traps across many seemingly unrelated products.

The FTC recently took court action to halt a sprawling enterprise of deceptive subscription schemes spanning more than a dozen corporations, and Canada's Anti-Fraud Centre separately tracks subscription traps as a recurring consumer complaint. Both regulators note that a lawful subscription must let you cancel as easily as you signed up.