NEW YORK — Subscriptions now deliver dishwasher pods, diapers and coffee to doorsteps across the U.S., fueling a market that has quadrupled in the last decade to $1.5 trillion. Yet for many, these conveniences turn into costly traps. Shoppers accidentally enroll in recurring charges for humidifier filters, toddler snacks and bulk toilet paper, sometimes without any memory of signing up.

Take Samantha, a New York photographer who fought a $9.99 monthly DoorDash DashPass charge for weeks. She insists she never enrolled—the fee jumped from an expired credit card to a new one. Customer service demanded the old card number she no longer had. Deleting her account failed. Disputes through her bank got overturned because DoorDash claimed she subscribed. Only a fraud department block stopped the billing, after $50 in losses.

“Convenience sells, but subscriptions are a financial loser,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative and author of the upcoming book Gouged: The End of a Fair Price — and What That Means for Your Wallet. Small s rarely offset months or years of forgotten payments, she added.

Intentional sign-ups fare little better. One woman faced a $1,300 annual software fee after missing a six-month cancellation notice requirement. Two months’ warning wasn’t enough; she owed the full next year regardless. Another man closed his credit card to escape a dating site bill, only to face a collections agency.

Dr. Harry Brignull, author of Deceptive Patterns: Exposing the Tricks Tech Companies Use to Control You, calls these tricks “dark design.” Companies pre-check recurring payment boxes, bury terms in fine print or hide cancel buttons. Stanford researchers found hard-to-cancel setups boost revenues 14% to 200%, depending on the product.

Social media amps up the problem. “Instagram quizzes on sleep or parenting styles dangle results behind one-week trials that auto-renew for years,” Owens said. Users forget, and charges pile up.

Federal efforts hit a snag. The Federal Trade Commission rolled out a “click-to-cancel” rule under President Biden, mandating cancellations as simple as sign-ups. A judge blocked it this year over procedural flaws. The Trump administration shows no sign of reviving it. States like Massachusetts, California, Minnesota, Oregon and Colorado have passed their own versions.

Consumers fight back individually. Owens urges quarterly bank statement reviews. Credit card disputes work when companies won’t budge. Apps like Rocket Money scan accounts, flag subscriptions and negotiate cancellations—for a subscription fee, ironically. Set calendar reminders for renewals; companies hide them on purpose, Owens noted.

Public shaming helps too. One MoviePass user canceled only after posting her ordeal online, pressuring the company to act. Owens calls for stronger laws. “Policymakers must ease the burden on consumers,” she said. “Companies exploit our busy lives.”

The subscription model dates to the 1600s, when newspapers prepaid printing costs. Today, it powers Substacks, streaming and groceries. But as e-commerce booms, so do complaints. The FTC logged thousands of subscription gripes last year alone. Until regulators step up, shoppers must stay vigilant against the charges that won’t die.