Things To Do In SW Florida

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

One frustrated Reddit user recently shared that canceling a subscription seemed impossible. They had used a now-defunct work email address to sign up for a web services company. With that email no longer accessible, the service said it was unable to process a cancellation.

Subscription cancellation headaches are so common that the Federal Trade Commission recently took action to ease the process: In a rule that fully goes into effect later this year, sellers must make it as easy to cancel their subscription as it was to sign up.

The FTC says that it received about 70 consumer complaints a day in 2024 about recurring subscriptions, up from 42 per day in 2021.

“Companies are on notice that they have to clean up their act,” says Chuck Bell, financial policy advocate at Consumer Reports.

In the meantime, consider these four tips for canceling subscriptions.

Search using the company’s name

Bell says conducting a web search using the company’s name, such as, “how do I cancel my subscription for x,’ can lead to specific tips for reaching the right contact number. “Other people might have had that problem in the past and you might find a point of contact,” he says. read more

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and JACK DURA, Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — When North Dakota’s petroleum association was going to hold a banquet honoring top fracking executives last year, it turned to Gov. Doug Burgum. The two-term Republican, now President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, co-hosted the event — at the governor’s mansion.

And when energy industry lobbyists were looking for help taking on Biden administration greenhouse gas rules, they also turned to Burgum. In an email to Burgum’s office seeking the legal heft the state could provide, an industry lobbyist argued that “combating” such regulations required “a one-two punch” from industry and government.

While it is not surprising that the governor of the third-largest oil producing state would have a close relationship with fossil fuel producers, records obtained by the Associated Press reveal Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry even as the governor was profiting from the lease of family land to oil companies. And his assistance came at a time when Burgum was leaning on those very connections to build his national profile in the Republican Party. read more

By MATT OTT, AP Business Writer

The Justice Department sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of rival Juniper Networks on Thursday, the first attempt to stop a merger by a new Trump administration that is expected to take a softer approach to mergers.

The Justice complaint alleges that Hewlett Packer Enterprise, under increased competitive pressure from the fast-rising Juniper, was forced to discount products and services and invest more in its own innovation, eventually leading the company to simply buy its rival.

The lawsuit said that the combination of businesses would eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation.

HPE and Juniper issued a joint statement Thursday, saying the companies strongly oppose the DOJ’s decision.

“We will vigorously defend against the Department of Justice’s overreaching interpretation of antitrust laws and will demonstrate how this transaction will provide customers with greater innovation and choice, positively change the dynamics in the networking market,” the companies said. read more