Advertising: automatic renewal and continuous service offers: notice and online termination.

Existing law regulates automatic renewal offers and continuous service offers that businesses make to California consumers. Existing law makes it unlawful for a business that makes an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer to a consumer in this state, among other things, to fail to present the automatic renewal or continuous service offer terms in a clear and conspicuous manner, to charge the consumer for an automatic renewal or continuous service without first obtaining the consumer's affirmative consent, and to fail to provide an acknowledgment that includes the automatic renewal or continuous service offer terms, cancellation policy, and information regarding how to cancel in a manner that is capable of being retained by the consumer, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2022, revise and recast these provisions to also make it unlawful for the business to fail to provide a consumer with a notice containing specified information if the consumer accepted a free gift or trial, lasting 31 or more days that was included in an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer or accepted an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer at a promotional or discounted price, and the applicability of that price was more than 31 days. In these circumstances, the bill would require the notice to be provided at least 3 days before and at most 21 days before the expiration of the period of time for which the free gift or trial, or promotional or discounted price, applies. This bill would also require the notice, as specified, if the consumer accepted an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer with an initial term of one year or longer that automatically renews for a subsequent term that is longer than one month, unless the consumer cancels the contract. In these circumstances, the bill would require the notice to be provided at least 15 days and not more than 45 days before the automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer renews. The bill would provide that if both types of notice are warranted, only the notice provisions requiring notice at least 15 days and not more than 45 days before the automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer renews apply. If sent electronically, the bill would require the notice to include a link that directs the consumer to the cancellation process, or another reasonably accessible electronic method that directs the consumer to the cancellation process if no link exists. Under existing law, if a consumer accepts an automatic renewal or continuous service offer online, then the business is required to allow the consumer to terminate the offer exclusively online, which may include a termination email formatted and provided by the business. This bill would additionally require the business to allow a consumer to terminate the automatic renewal or continuous service offer at will, and without engaging any further steps that obstruct or delay the consumer's ability to terminate immediately. The bill would require the business to provide a method of termination that is either online in the form of a prominently located direct link or button to cancel or by a termination email, as provided. This bill would also authorize a business to require a consumer to enter account information or otherwise authenticate online before termination of the automatic renewal or continuous service online, provided that a consumer who is unwilling or unable to enter account information or otherwise authenticate online before termination is not precluded from authenticating or terminating offline using another method, as specified. The bill would authorize these requirements to be fulfilled after completion of an initial order.