Second-hand Tempo locks you into surprise 12-mo membership

I bought a second-hand Tempo Studio on FB marketplace and Googled how to register an account (since this was not apparent on their website), and went to the top search hit at https://members.tempo.fit/register to create an account. I entered my info and payment method and clicked Submit. I checked the box for "I agree" on their terms of service without clicking into the link to actually read it (like 99% of people).

Later while trying to find out how to subscribe and select a plan, I was connected with customer service in chat - who informed me that I had already committed to a minimum 12-month $39/mo subscription by simply creating an account at the link above, and that the minute I logged on my Studio I would start the irrevocable payments. Surprise!

I was told that this was made clear in the terms of service, and that their payment model is transparent. I disagreed and found this to be pretty shady.

I pointed the customer service rep and their supervisor to the following Enforcement Notice from the Federal Trade Commission: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-ramp-enforcement-against-illegal-dark-patterns-trick-or-trap-consumers-subscriptions

Which requires businesses that sell subscriptions to (1) Disclose clearly and conspicuously (2) Obtain the consumer’s express informed consent before charging them for a product or services. (3) Provide easy and simple cancellation.

The current process does not adhere to all 3 requirements, is predatory, intentionally obfuscated, and according to the FTC - likely illegal. I requested that they update the registration page so that future customers are not misled. A quick scan of Reddit revealed at least 3 other users who were similarly defrauded in the past few months.

I've submitted a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and I encourage others to do the same.

I also find the idea of a mandatory 12-month subscription to be really inconsistent with what I've come to expect from other digital services, and wish they offered shorter, more flexible options, especially for secondhand users.