Bell tells 88-year-old she must wait 4½ years to get cellphone credits refunded

This is the result of our current climate of corporate deregulation. If consumer protection agencies had any teeth at all, they would have rules against automatic charging of customers for services that are never provided. They would have rules about refunding money paid for services that were never provided. This is the dystopia the west hath wrought.

Bell is really just following the terms of service here. She should just initiate a charge back with her credit card company and let the two corporations battled it out.

This isn't really a good HN story. Companies do this sort of thing all the time, and the comment section is just going to be a predictable rage against the company. There really isn't a connection to any particular HN interest other than the vague fact that the particular charge being disputed happens to be about something electronic, but the story could just as easily be disputes about flower delivery or natural gas service.

(I am posting this because community standards do simply maintain themselves.)