81–90 of 126 posts
It's not short-sighted at all. Literally every adult should be aware that subscriptions generally auto-renew, unless advertised otherwise. It's been like that since the dawn of time.
From a business perspective, it makes little sense not to do auto-renewals. Of all the subscriptions that I've ever had, those that didn't auto-renew, I let lapse, often permanently. I didn't think to myself "I should reward this company for not doing auto-renewals!", I thought "I'll get to it later".
Those that did auto-renew but that I didn't need, I didn't cancel for a long time. Of course I'm annoyed at the auto-renewals wasting my money, but not to the point where I wouldn't use the service again out of spite. If I need it, I need it.
The other day I was stopped on the sidewalk by someone who told me they worked for a large environmental non profit that helps save endangered species. He asked if I would subscribe to help. I offered to make a donation and was told they I can't do a one time donation and they "really need subscribers". He even told me I could just cancel after the first payment. Taking advantage of someone being forgetful is sleazy.
It's not just taking advantage of forgetfulness, I think there are a number of additional psychological factors that make you more likely to keep it active. Off the top of my head, I'd say: laziness might make you convince yourself that it's not a big amount, there might be a sunken cost fallacy at play (similar to how phone agents keep you on the line on purpose, which also serves to make you feel like you didn't wa…
The other day I was stopped on the sidewalk by someone who told me they worked for a large environmental non profit that helps save endangered species. He asked if I would subscribe to help. I offered to make a donation and was told they I can't do a one time donation and they "really need subscribers". He even told me I could just cancel after the first payment. Taking advantage of someone being forgetful is sleazy.
It's not just taking advantage of forgetfulness, I think there are a number of additional psychological factors that make you more likely to keep it active. Off the top of my head, I'd say: laziness might make you convince yourself that it's not a big amount, there might be a sunken cost fallacy at play (similar to how phone agents keep you on the line on purpose, which also serves to make you feel like you didn't wa…
yeah, these companies really like to take advantage of my adhd too.
Pluralsight Nobody help you on pluralsight if youre stuck
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…
Adobe hit me with an unintended annual renewal out of a trial . I just wanted to try Adobe Premiere Pro on a school project...well, final exams happened and I forgot to cancel the subscription. Then I moved to a different country, started a new job, and continued to forget about Adobe. A month later I see the credit card bills and try to cancel. Somehow I have an annual contract that carries an early termination pena…
Here's what you don't want to hear: You were acting negligent and irresponsible. You paid the price. Worst of all, you didn't seem to learn anything from it. You're here complaining that companies shouldn't take your money when you agree to give it to them, because you can't be trusted to actually read the contracts that you enter. It's embarrassing.
The first counter offer I got, when requesting a full refund was adding 1 year or paying 37 for 1 year. Reminding then that in the EU you have a 14 day return period for online purchases made them refund the complete order.
What is especially ironic about this is that they supposedly want to protect me against online scammers, etc. In my book auto-renewals like this are scams.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Adobe hit me with an unintended annual renewal out of a trial . I just wanted to try Adobe Premiere Pro on a school project...well, final exams happened and I forgot to cancel the subscription. Then I moved to a different country, started a new job, and continued to forget about Adobe. A month later I see the credit card bills and try to cancel. Somehow I have an annual contract that carries an early termination pena…
Perform a chargeback and leave a negative review on any app store you may have bought it from. Companies will just keep screwing people over if they never get punished for it.
Who is screwing over who here?