By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have launched Time Is Money, a government-wide initiative to put an end to corporate time-wasting practices. The White House called the initiative a significant new effort to alleviate the daily frustrations experienced by millions of Americans. The initiative targets the excessive paperwork, long wait times and other bureaucratic hurdles often imposed by companies that waste people’s time and impact their quality of life.
The government has already made great strides in reducing hidden costs by cracking down on junk fees that often drive up prices for services from travel to banking. Now, with Time Is Money, the Biden-Harris administration is focusing on corporate strategies that force consumers to jump through unnecessary hurdles to get the services or refunds they are entitled to.
“Americans are tired of feeling like they are being taken advantage of,” White House officials said in a fact sheet. “This administration is committed to tackling the problems people face every day and ensuring that corporations can no longer profit by wasting our time and testing our patience.”
Getting everyday stress under control
The initiative aims to address a number of consumer frustrations that are all too common in modern life, including long wait times for customer service, complicated processes for canceling subscriptions and the hurdles consumers must overcome to receive refunds or discounts. Officials said these practices are often deliberately designed to discourage people from exercising their rights – all in the name of corporate profits.
The most important measures of the “Time is Money” initiative include:
- Simplify subscription cancellations: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule that would require companies to make canceling a subscription as easy as signing up. This change aims to eliminate the complicated processes that currently make it difficult for consumers to stop paying for services they no longer need.
- Automatic refunds for airline tickets: A new rule from the Department of Transportation (DOT) requires airlines to automatically issue refunds when flights are canceled or significantly changed. This rule is intended to end the frustrating and often complex process of obtaining a refund for a service that was not delivered as promised.
- Online health insurance applications: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are urging health insurers to allow their consumers to submit claims online to reduce the need for physical paperwork and make the application process more user-friendly.
- Combating “Doom Loops” in Customer Service: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are taking steps to ensure consumers can quickly reach a customer service representative without getting stuck in an endless loop of automated prompts.
- Hold companies accountable for misleading reviews: The FTC is developing rules to prevent companies from using fake or misleading reviews to deceive consumers. This measure will help ensure people can rely on honest feedback when making purchases.
- Regulating ineffective chatbots: The CFPB plans to issue guidelines on how to deal with unhelpful chatbots in customer service to ensure consumers can get real help when they need it.
- Optimizing school communication for parents: The Ministry of Education will issue new guidelines to help schools simplify communication processes with parents, reducing the time and effort spent on routine tasks such as filling out forms and communicating with teachers.
The White House is also asking the public to share their experiences and suggestions on how the federal government can help reduce the time and frustration associated with corporate practices. The administration said its goal is to ensure that companies make it as easy for consumers to cancel services, get refunds and receive customer support as it is for them to spend money in the first place.
Officials also noted that the initiative builds on the administration’s ongoing efforts to improve customer service in the public and private sectors. Since the 2021 Executive Order aimed at improving the federal government’s customer experience and service delivery, agencies have reportedly made notable progress, including the beta release of the State Department’s online passport renewal and the IRS’s new Direct File tool for secure, free tax filing.
“Time is one of our most valuable resources,” the officials said. “With this initiative, we want to ensure that Americans can spend more time on what matters most to them, instead of having to struggle through unnecessary obstacles in the economy.”
