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Comment by gausswho | Hacker News Reader

I'll mourn the loss of sensible regulation here.

For now, if the unsubscribe process isn't obvious or takes me more than a couple minutes, I cancel the virtual card I gave that business.

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In case of preauthorized charges, a closed credit card account can still be debited, and you’re ultimately liable for repayment.

Yes, this is a ridiculous state of things, but such is the world we live in, here in North America anyway.

In EU we mostly use debit cards (virtual and real), as having debt isn't something most people want to have, and credit cards inherently mean debt. Apart from that, you can't really use the card for payments without authorization. Someone types in my card's info in some payment form? I get a SmartID (https://www.smart-id.com/) verification request, further making credit cards not very useful (I understand security is why North Americans use credit cards?).

Being liable for preauthorized charges sounds reasonable to me unless we're talking about an expanding use of preauthorization into areas it wasn't used before. It's rare for me to encounter this apart from hotels, car rentals?

> I cancel the virtual card I gave that business.

Then you get sent to collections and pay with your credit report

Hasn't happened to me and I've cancelled this way over a dozen times. What sort of businesses have you heard of doing this vs ending your service?

I hear this a lot about gym memberships

https://www.wcvb.com/article/mass-woman-struggles-to-cancel-...

Yeah something is completely broken with American gyms. I tell everyone to avoid them and especially the private trainers they let patrol their floors. There's other ways to maintain fitness than risk being held ransom.

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