Every month, tens of thousands of credit and debit card charges are made for "memberships" that consumers are largely unaware of. It begins when an Internet offer or a phone solicitation for one product or service also contains a barely noticeable "trial membership" for something entirely different. If the consumer does not promptly go through some difficult process to cancel, this results in a monthly charge without end, typically in the $11.95 to $18.95 range, to a credit or debit card number obtained when another offer was first discussed. In other words, NO RESPONSE leads to an unwanted and neverending monthly charge unless it is eventually noticed. On websites like The RipOff Report, there are hundreds of detailed accounts about dozens of companies engaged in this deceptive and borderline fraudulent practice. An an individual, I have filed an FTC complaint, but they don't work to resolve individual consumer complaints. This unfair trade practice particularly affects senior citizens who are hard of hearing on the phone and can't follow the fast talking sales pitch. It also affects those who go to one web site for a product or service, and suddenly are unknowingly signed up for one or two or three other website services, each with a different and difficult process to contact customer service to cancel a membership. This needs to be changed - a credit or debit card should not be charged for a monthly membership when NO RESPONSE to an offer is made. It should only be allowed when a POSITIVE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT authorizes a monthly charge. At the least, the FTC should pull in place a rule for double your money back. In my personal case this week, I finally noticed a $12.99 charge each month to my wife on our Visa card that went back at least 8 months when she visited a shopping website. With a new regulation in place, I would receive back the $103.92 we were charged and an additional $103.92 as a penalty. Enforcing that type of rule would soon bring this deceptive practice largely to a halt. In our case, we finally had to cancel our credit card and get a new number to stop these unfair trade predators. Let's hear from others of you that have been affected by this unfair trade practice and your detailed stories of how hard it is to cancel and get a refund.