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Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

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Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#31

Post by scarface74 »

aosaigh wrote: post #3
dangrossman wrote: post #2

Did you come through a shady landing page somewhere? From what I see, you cannot sign up without being informed of their auto renewal policy, and they do not charge you without warning, which were your two complaints. Every signup button I could find on their public website says "10-day free trial then $X/month, billed monthly/annually" immediately beside or below the button. Clicking any of these buttons brings you…

Sorry, didn't explain properly. I had subscribed already for the first year ($300). My renewal date for this next year came without warning and I was charged again, without recourse. I updated the text to clarify.

What do you mean it came without warning? It’s a subscription plan that you pay for yearly.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#32

Post by aosaigh »

scarface74 wrote: post #29

All subscription plans auto renew. That’s basically what a subscription is.

Please see some of my other comments. The issue isn't with the fact that there is a renewal (despite my poor explanation that might have made it seem that way) but with how they go about it.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#34

Post by technics256 »

a13n wrote: post #27

If they won't refund you then they're being dicks. Chargeback your credit card if you're in the US. You'll almost certainly win and there's likely no penalty if you don't. Chargebacks also cost providers money on top of the refund, which disincentives their shitty refund policy. I run a SaaS company (with a great refund policy) and am part of many SaaS startup groups and it's standard practice to basically refund any…

What are the startup groups you are a part of, if you don't mind sharing? I also run a small SaaS.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#35

Post by a13n »

technics256 wrote: post #34
a13n wrote: post #27

If they won't refund you then they're being dicks. Chargeback your credit card if you're in the US. You'll almost certainly win and there's likely no penalty if you don't. Chargebacks also cost providers money on top of the refund, which disincentives their shitty refund policy. I run a SaaS company (with a great refund policy) and am part of many SaaS startup groups and it's standard practice to basically refund any…

What are the startup groups you are a part of, if you don't mind sharing? I also run a small SaaS.

Facebook group: SaaS growth hacks

There are a few others if you search SaaS on Facebook, but that's the best/biggest one.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#37

Post by mhxion »

I believe what your point is since the subscription costs 23 times more of what Netflix HD costs, there should've been a warning since Netflix and many other companies do even for their low prices. From my experience this is nothing new, but there should've been a fair refund system.

Many of devs might already know Visual Studio offers free 1-month (it was 3-months before) of Pluralsight, I'm not sure if you need to sign up with your CC now, but it's a nice deal. https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/dev-essentials/

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#38

Post by jordanmorgan10 »

Disclaimer: I've done about 4 videos for Pluralsight.

I have to agree - if you make it hard to cancel your service I think you're losing money. We're kinda seeing this a lot on iOS, where subscriptions and the process of carrying those over after a limited free trial are very, very shady.

It's a shame, because you want those dollars earned - and if I decide your product isn't right for me and you make it hard to leave, then by proxy you've made it almost impossible for me to come back.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#39

Post by jordanmorgan10 »

motohagiography wrote: post #12

Try buying ads on linkedin and setting an amount you want to spend. It auto-renewed that amount, every day for weeks, without an email or even linkedin profile notification. It's an extremely shady dark pattern. I lost well over $1000 to them before I discovered it and cancelled. Have fun getting a refund as well. In short, avoid.

I'm curious if this was obvious during the on boarding of when you bought/created the ads though? The world of spending on ads alludes me, and as I start to venture into it to promote my own stuff - these are the things that have me a bit apprehensive to pull the trigger on any significant ad spend.

Re: Tell HN: Pluralsight and the dark-pattern of auto-renewals

#40

Post by distantaidenn »

JackC wrote: post #11

Slightly different, but Adobe got me with an unintended annual renewal. For their annual plan billed monthly, there's no way to turn off autorenewal until the 12th month without losing access immediately and paying a penalty. They do send you reminder emails, which I missed, but it struck me as pretty abusive to require an opt-out exactly 11-12 months after signup to avoid being locked into a new one-year contract, w…

You can cancel. It's in their CS rep book to refuse or outright lie about being unable to cancel without a penalty fee, but just ask to speak to a manager.

After the reps gets back from their smoke break, rest assured suddenly they are able to proceed with the request.

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