Contract trap · Terms of service
Service change/discontinue anytime
The provider may change features, remove catalogue content or channels, cut usage limits, change club facilities or class schedules, move features to higher tiers or shut the service entirely without liability or refund.
- Severity
- Expensive
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 20
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- we may modify, suspend or discontinue the Service or any part of it at any time
- features may change or be removed
- we may impose limits on certain features
- the content available may change
- we do not guarantee that any content will remain available
- beta or experimental features may be withdrawn
- does not entitle you to a refund
- facilities and class schedules are subject to change
- we reserve the right to change the programming
- substitute or remove any part of the service
In Russian-language contracts
- вправе в любое время изменять функциональность Сервиса
- приостановить или прекратить работу Сервиса
- перечень Контента может изменяться, в том числе сокращаться
- изменение перечня не является основанием для возврата денежных средств
- не гарантирует доступность отдельных функций
- отдельные функции могут быть недоступны
- расписание и состав услуг могут быть изменены клубом в одностороннем порядке
- на период ремонта услуги не оказываются без перерасчета
- состав пакета каналов может быть изменен
- обязан самостоятельно отслеживать информацию о перечне
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
You pay for X and receive less; prepaid annual plans lose value; APIs and hardware die when the cloud is switched off; 'change of catalogue is no ground for refund' is written into subscription terms.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
In the EU, platform terms are covered by Directive 93/13, the Digital Content Directive 2019/770 and DSA Art 14; in the US, ROSCA and FTC Act §5 apply to consumer sign-ups, and browsewrap acceptance turns on notice.
United States
Enforceable unless deceptive; degrading a paid service to push users out can be unfair (FTC v. MoviePass 2021); CA AB 2426 for 'buy' claims; state gym laws require refund/extension when a club closes or relocates.
- Cited
- AB 2426
- FTC v. MoviePass
European Union
93/13 Annex (k); Directive 2019/770 Art 19 — modification only for a valid reason stated in the contract, no cost, clear notice, 30-day termination right with refund.
- Cited
- 93/13 Annex (k)
- Directive 2019/770
United Kingdom
CRA 2015 Sch 2 para 13; ss.36-37 digital content must match description; CMA37 — valid reason, notice and free exit for material changes.
- Cited
- CMA37
- CRA 2015 Sch 2 para 13
Russia
ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1 ЗоЗПП; ст. 310 ГК; ст. 4, 10 ЗоЗПП — соответствие описанию; ст. 32 — возврат за неиспользованный период; ст. 29 — недостатки услуги; Роспотребнадзор: закрытие на ремонт требует продления или частичного возврата.
- Cited
- ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1 ЗоЗПП
- ст. 29
- ст. 310 ГК
- ст. 32
- ст. 4
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Google Terms of Use — right to 'discontinue features and functions at will' struck by LG Berlin 2013 / KG Berlin 2019
- Яндекс Плюс, Условия подписки п. 2.13-2.14 — перечень Контента 'может изменяться... сокращаться', 'не является основанием для... возврата денежных средств'
- Sony PlayStation Store, Dec 2023 — announced removal of purchased Discovery content; reversed after backlash
- FTC v. MoviePass (2021 order) — alleged deliberate blocking of paid subscribers' use of the service
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Prefer monthly billing where this clause is broad
- Keep data exports
- EU/UK: Digital Content Directive Art 19 gives a right to terminate and pro-rata refund when a modification negatively affects you
- RU: ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1, ст. 32, 29 ЗоЗПП — возврат за неиспользованный период
- SMB: negotiate 6-12 months' deprecation notice and data return.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.