NYC click-to-cancel rule: a gym how-to-cancel clip for $0.20

A video does not satisfy New York City's click-to-cancel rule; a working cancel path does. But once your member portal can cancel in the same way a person signed up, a captioned screen recording of those steps is a cheap way to show members where it is. On Sume that is one captions job at a flat $0.20 per clip of up to 60 seconds, with your own step text burned in.

The rule took effect on October 1, 2026. This post only repeats what nyc.gov says on its click-to-cancel page and is not legal advice. Whether your studio is covered, and what counts as the same method, is a question for your own counsel.

What nyc.gov says the rule requires

The city's page says companies must provide a straightforward cancellation process in the same method as sign up. If someone signed up online, they cannot be forced to cancel by phone, in person, or through another channel. The page adds that companies must clearly explain subscription terms, disclose cancellation rights, and not charge return shipping for free promotional items.

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) enforces it. Civil penalties start at $525 per violation, and businesses may be liable for refunding consumers. The page does not list exemptions or say anything about chatbots or retention offers, so this post does not either.

How do I caption a silent screen recording?

Record the cancel flow on a phone or laptop with no voiceover, upload it where it has a public HTTPS URL, and send it to Sume's video captions endpoint. A silent clip has no speech, so transcription fails with caption_no_speech; send authored cues with text, start and end instead, and Sume burns your wording as written without running speech-to-text.

Write one cue per tap, three to five seconds each, and keep each cue short, since the design.phrasing.max_chars setting accepts at most 60. A cue may hold a newline for a two-line card. The URL cannot be signed, private or a localhost address.

{
  "video_url": "https://example-gym.com/media/cancel-flow.mp4",
  "style": "slam",
  "cues": [
    { "text": "1. Open Account", "start": 0, "end": 4 },
    { "text": "2. Tap Membership", "start": 4, "end": 8 },
    { "text": "3. Tap Cancel membership", "start": 8, "end": 12 },
    { "text": "4. Confirm. You get an email receipt", "start": 12, "end": 17 }
  ]
}

What does it cost, and what does it not do?

One job covers a video up to 60 seconds and reserves $0.20 on the rate card. A second language is a second job, another $0.20, because the cues change. Use an Idempotency-Key per language so a retry does not charge twice, and poll as described in Jobs and results.

Sume does not build your cancel button, change your billing system, or confirm that the steps in the clip match what the page does. If you redesign the portal, the clip is out of date. Re-record it and run a new job.

• English clip: $0.20.
• English plus one more language: $0.40.
• Re-record after a portal change: $0.20 per language.
• Checks the wording against the law: not done by Sume.

Where to put it

Link it from the same page that holds the cancel button, not from a hidden help article. A member who signed up online should reach the clip, and the button, without calling or visiting. Pair it with the schedule notices you already send, such as the clocks-back class schedule reminder.