The Cancel Button That Didn't Exist, and What It Taught Me About Modern Commerce

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I spent three hours yesterday trying to cancel a subscription I don't remember signing up for. The website had a prominent upgrade button and a cheerful pause button, but no button that simply said stop. The chat function connected me to something that felt more spreadsheet than person. The phone line told me to use the website.

In the end I rang my bank and blocked the payment. This is what commerce has quietly become: a hostage negotiation conducted through systems built to exhaust the ordinary customer into giving up before the cancellation gets processed.

I am sixty-seven and retired. I have, for the first time, more spare time than the company on the other end has patience. That single fact turned out to matter more than any complaint letter I could have written.

Want something more practical?

I’ve created a collection of guides for people who still believe life isn’t over just because the calendar says so. You’ll find them here:

The Library

And if you’d simply like to support the writing, some readers buy me a pot of Yorkshire Tea.

It’s not mandatory. But neither is keeping the lights on.

Tea remains the official fuel source of The Old Grey Thinker.

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