How we keep this list

This page explains what goes on the list, where the dates come from, and how we fix mistakes. It's here so you can judge for yourself how much to trust what you read on this site.

What goes on the list

A change goes on the list when three things are true:

• It switches off a service, or a way of doing things, that many people rely on.
• It has a date, announced by the company or agency itself, or set in an official filing.
• There's something useful you can do about it.

We leave out rumors, dates that come only from unnamed sources, and products that are said to be ending with no date attached. Closings that happen at different times in different towns, such as bank branches and pharmacies, get a guide of their own without a national date.

Where the dates come from

We go to the first source we can find: the company's own help page or announcement, the agency's notice, or the regulator's filing. For copper landlines, that means the public notices the FCC publishes when a phone company asks to stop old-style service. Each notice gives the earliest date allowed, and under the FCC's rules the request can be approved automatically 31 days after the notice unless the FCC steps in. When a date or detail comes only from a news report, the guide names the publication, so you know who said it.

How we write a date

We write a date the way the source does. "On or after November 15, 2026" means that's the earliest it can happen, not the day it will. "January 2027" means the company has named the month but not the day. Every item says how certain its date is, in plain words, right next to it.

What "coming up," "happening now" and "done" mean

Each item has a first date and a last date. Before the first date it's coming up. Between the two it's happening now. After the last date it's done. Your browser works this out from today's date each time you open a page, so a label changes on the right day.

Some last dates are only a plan, such as an agency's stated aim to finish by the end of a year. A plan's date passing doesn't prove the plan happened, so those items don't turn to "done" by themselves. They stay "happening now," with a note saying the planned date has passed, until we've checked what actually happened and updated the guide.

If your browser has JavaScript turned off, or your device's clock is set to a date before the page was last updated, you'll see the labels as of the day the page was last updated, and the home page says which day that was.

"Last checked"

Every guide shows the date someone last opened each of its sources and read the dates again. Rebuilding the website doesn't change that date. Only checking does. We check each date again as it gets close, again after it passes, and whenever a company changes its plans.

Most sources are checked with a program that confirms each link still opens a real page, and then read to confirm they say what we cite them for. Some websites, including Social Security's, block automated checks on purpose. We don't try to get around that, so those links can only be checked by a person, and a guide's list of sources says so when that hasn't happened yet.

Why we never print support phone numbers

Fake support numbers are one of the most common traps there are. They turn up in search ads, in pop-up warnings and on look-alike websites, and the person who answers is happy to "help." So this site never prints a support phone number for any company. Instead we name the company's own website and ask you to type the address yourself, or to use the number printed on your bill, card or letter. Those are the numbers you can trust.

Brands and companies

We name a company only to say, accurately, what it has announced or done. We aren't connected with any company named on this site, and none of them has paid to be on the list or kept off it.

Corrections

If you think something here is wrong or out of date, please email hello@whatsgoingaway.com. Tell us which page, and what you think is wrong. A link to where you read otherwise helps a great deal. We'll check the source. If we were wrong, we fix the page and add a note at the bottom of the guide saying what changed and when.

What this site isn't

These guides are general information to help you plan. They aren't legal, financial or medical advice, and we can't look into your own account, phone line or prescriptions. For anything about your own account, contact the company directly, the safe way: through its own website or the number on your bill.