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Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

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Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#21

Post by Spoom »

jwie wrote: post #6

This is just lack of auto renew protections. Consumers are wise to this, and they’re not really canceling. I bet if you could turn off auto-renew they wouldn’t cancel. But, to nobody’s surprise, the MBAs don’t like options where the user doesn’t give away money by accident. Auto renew is one of those things that should be illegal to default users into.

I'm seeing more companies terminate accounts immediately upon cancellation, especially for free trials. This makes people back out of cancellation while it's on their mind, and then they forget to cancel before the deadline. It's a dark pattern I really wish the industry would stop pushing.

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#23

Post by CoastalCoder »

brigandish wrote: post #7
jwie wrote: post #6

This is just lack of auto renew protections. Consumers are wise to this, and they’re not really canceling. I bet if you could turn off auto-renew they wouldn’t cancel. But, to nobody’s surprise, the MBAs don’t like options where the user doesn’t give away money by accident. Auto renew is one of those things that should be illegal to default users into.

I'm currently subscribed to something for a year because of auto renew. The subscription is something useful but was going to use a competitor but once I'd paid it they made it so painful to back out I let it go, turned off auto renew properly, and will never use them again once this one lapses.

How do things play out if you call your credit card company and say, "Please don't allow any more charges from this vendor. I'm trying to cancel but they're making it hard."?

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#24

Post by registeredcorn »

auggierose wrote: post #16
ctxc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of Amazon Prime where many movies have an extra paywall ("rent?") even if you own a subscription. So annoying.

Would you prefer the movies you can rent were not there at all?

I'd prefer a higher subscription rate for the service. The sensation of paying for something, then paying on top of that thing is infuriating. It's like paying admission to enter a theme park, then having to pay a fee for each ride: either let me enter for free, and pay for each ride, or pay to enter, and ride for free.

Assuming a higher subscription rate would be prohibitively expensive, then yes, I would prefer no option at all.

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#26

Post by lifeisstillgood »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #23
brigandish wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently subscribed to something for a year because of auto renew. The subscription is something useful but was going to use a competitor but once I'd paid it they made it so painful to back out I let it go, turned off auto renew properly, and will never use them again once this one lapses.

How do things play out if you call your credit card company and say, "Please don't allow any more charges from this vendor. I'm trying to cancel but they're making it hard."?

I wish I could cancel a credit card recurring payment as easily as a standing order or direct debit.

But guess what - it's in the interests of the business and the credit card company for me to keep paying

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#27

Post by markus92 »

annoyingnoob wrote: post #20

They signed up to read one interesting article. The experience of news subscriptions, and especially cancellations, is terrible. Where are the pay as you go plans? I'll give your site $20, then you can debit my account some fee per article that I actually read. And no auto-renew.

Blendle tried this, but it didn't really work out for them.

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#28

Post by brigandish »

registeredcorn wrote: post #17
brigandish wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently subscribed to something for a year because of auto renew. The subscription is something useful but was going to use a competitor but once I'd paid it they made it so painful to back out I let it go, turned off auto renew properly, and will never use them again once this one lapses.

What's the service, if you don't mind saying? I'd like to avoid them if I can help it.

I'd tell you if it was in person, sorry. Just watch out for those settings!

I wonder if there's a service that handles this kind of thing, it would be worth a subscription.

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#29

Post by PaulHoule »

registeredcorn wrote: post #24
auggierose wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you prefer the movies you can rent were not there at all?

I'd prefer a higher subscription rate for the service. The sensation of paying for something, then paying on top of that thing is infuriating. It's like paying admission to enter a theme park, then having to pay a fee for each ride: either let me enter for free, and pay for each ride, or pay to enter, and ride for free. Assuming a higher subscription rate would be prohibitively expensive, then yes, I would prefer no…

I think you can pay to watch movies a la carte on Amazon even if you don't have a prime subscription.

Personally I've enjoyed paying for individual movies on Amazon because the selection of free movies on Prime is underwhelming. (e.g. they have all the "C" sci-fi movies)

Re: Nearly a third of new subscribers to news publications cancel in the first 24hrs

#30

Post by eganist »

Spoom wrote: post #21
jwie wrote: post #6

This is just lack of auto renew protections. Consumers are wise to this, and they’re not really canceling. I bet if you could turn off auto-renew they wouldn’t cancel. But, to nobody’s surprise, the MBAs don’t like options where the user doesn’t give away money by accident. Auto renew is one of those things that should be illegal to default users into.

I'm seeing more companies terminate accounts immediately upon cancellation, especially for free trials. This makes people back out of cancellation while it's on their mind, and then they forget to cancel before the deadline. It's a dark pattern I really wish the industry would stop pushing.

Got names? Useful to know and to avoid.
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