By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 11/4/2026
Category: Consumer Protection / Government Accountability / Media Accountability / New York State
NEW YORK CITY, NY – Bloomberg News will pay New York $500,000 and refund eligible subscribers after the state Attorney General’s Office found that the company failed to clearly disclose automatic renewals, sharp price increases and practical ways to cancel.
The November 2 settlement focuses on Bloomberg.com subscriptions. According to Attorney General Letitia James, customers were drawn in by promotional prices, then charged much more when subscriptions renewed.
One monthly offer cost $1.99 for the first three months and then rose automatically to $39.99 a month. A student annual plan cost $99 but increased to $415 after graduation, the Attorney General’s Office said. Other annual subscribers saw renewal increases of more than $100.
The state’s investigation found that Bloomberg News did not clearly present key subscription terms, failed to provide the required post-purchase acknowledgment and did not give adequate notice before renewal. Those are findings by the Attorney General’s Office. The settlement resolves the investigation and requires changes to Bloomberg’s practices.
Cancellation was part of the problem. The state said Bloomberg’s website and chatbot forced some customers through a maze of questions and pages before showing an option to cancel. Email and phone cancellation existed, but the company did not tell subscribers about those routes until 2023.
The settlement requires Bloomberg News to improve disclosures, obtain informed affirmative consent, provide legally compliant acknowledgments, give sufficient renewal notices and make cancellation information easier to find.
Refunds are not limited to New Yorkers. Eligible subscribers nationwide include people who complained to Bloomberg News, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General’s Office, along with certain customers who canceled after an automatic renewal at a higher price.
The agreement is an accountability measure, but it does not answer every question. The Attorney General’s announcement does not state how many subscribers were affected, how much total restitution will be paid or how quickly eligible customers will receive money.
The case also shows why a low introductory price cannot be judged in isolation. A promotion that turns into a recurring charge of nearly $40 a month can become a significant household expense, especially when the renewal warning is unclear and the exit is hard to find.
New York law requires businesses to disclose renewal terms, obtain consent, provide a purchase acknowledgment and offer an easy cancellation mechanism. Those rules are supposed to prevent a consumer from discovering a costly commitment only after the charge hits.
For subscribers, the immediate step is to review renewal notices and billing records and preserve any complaints or cancellation confirmations. For regulators, the larger test is whether the required changes make enrollment and cancellation equally clear, rather than leaving the burden on customers to fight their way out.
Sources
New York Attorney General: Bloomberg News Subscription Settlement
FingerLakes1: Bloomberg Agrees to Refunds and $500,000 Settlement
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