I seem to be missing something, are the direct fines for non compliance. Refunds and keeping an item are all nice and such but still requires action on part of the consumer. Some sites may factor that in and continue the process.
Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
51–60 of 267 posts
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of extras are sold on the plane or at checkin (like 60EUR for a boarding pass) That's why I never fly with them. Too much BS to waddle through.
A lot of extras are sold on the plane or at checkin (like 60EUR for a boarding pass) That's not an extra, that a "you should have printed the PDF at home" charge.
> "you should have printed the PDF at home"
Just remember that with Ryanair, simple is not an option unless you pay and pay and pay and pay.
Example: Printing boarding passes a few days ahead: not possible. Oh, unless you pay for reserved seats. Otherwise feel free to wait until a few days ahead of departure, remember to check in, or you'll be hit with another charge at checkin.
Source: Traveled w/Ryanair this summer with my family. The whole process was so annoying that I made it a priority not to give them a single € extra, even if that meant spending more than an hour at a slow internet café somewhere to print boarding passes for our flight home.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#53I wonder why there seem to be no companies that use "not being cheating bastards" as a marketing advantage. I'd gladly pay more to buy from a shop that emphasizes transparency and fairness.
Isn't this basically what Amazon does? I've always felt very comfortable and safe when pushing the buy button on their site.
No they don't:
* Can't get shipping charges before the last step (after selecting the credit card which implies I am about to pay)
* Sneaking in Prime
* Fucked up search
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#54I wonder what effect this will have on ryanair ticket prices? As I understand it the tickets themselves are not profitable, it's the extras.
> I wonder what effect this will have on ryanair ticket prices?
Prices will go up. No question about it. Since they are making less profit elsewhere they have to make it up.
It's like how when the US passed the Credit CARD Act prices went up on credit cards, and it was harder to get low cost cards for those people who were already able to avoid the add-on fees.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
(UK) This is basically what you get from John Lewis, and the Co-Operative; both are the last vestiges of the old mutual movement. The building societies used to be a good option for non-aggressive finance, but almost all of them sold out.
The Nationwide Building Society is still a mutual.
The remuneration packages and board make-up are very corporate-banking and not 'mutual' in their outlook.
If it still thought of itself as a mutual building society Nationwide would have one of the best interest rates around for their members' savings.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#56"A failure to comply cancels the transaction. You can get your money back and keep the goods. If the sale was for a service or a digital download, the contract is cancelled and no further payments are due." I would think that, under contract law, you get your money back and you return the goods - that would be cancelling the transaction. Likewise for digital downloads or services. Can anyone explain why the provider…
As others have stated, it's to disincentivize abuse. The USPS had a similar problem with scams and fraud, where scammers would send "gifts" to people, then follow them up with a bill. This is now explicitly against the law, but also importantly, if you are sent ANYTHING unsolicited, you may keep it. I'm guessing the second part is the stronger enforcement. Probably similar in this case. See: https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/mailfraud/...
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#57I wonder what effect this will have on ryanair ticket prices? As I understand it the tickets themselves are not profitable, it's the extras.
I guess that depends where you fly. In some Eastern European countries Ryanair has pushed out local carriers and now has a monopoly with ridiculous prices.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#58Sounds like an excellent law to stop the horrid practices in so many online shops. Let's hope a form of this law spreads throughout Europe and the U.S. This caught my eye, however: "A failure to comply cancels the transaction. You can get your money back and keep the goods. If the sale was for a service or a digital download, the contract is cancelled and no further payments are due." Wow. Seems like it would make a…
> Let's hope a form of this law spreads throughout Europe Ummm... this is a EU wide law. The UK, as a member state of the EU, had to implement it into UK law (that's how EU laws work). This is already the law of the land in all EU countries. Nearly all good consumer rights laws are done at the EU level.
You misread the quote. They said "Europe" not the EU. So presumably they were hoping it would spread to non-EU European countries also.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#59Sorry, but this seems like a stupid law. Clearly fraud was already illegal, all that was needed were court cases clearly demonstrating these patterns. A law like this just encourages people to tweak their practices slightly and continue as before.
Fraud is still illegal. What this means is that people don't have to prove the practices in question are fraudulent, just that the companies used them.
Re: Some Dark Patterns Now Illegal in UK
#60A good example of beneficial government regulation, for people who refuse to believe such a thing exists. (Another good example is the Internet itself, but it's best to start small)
Yes, a good piece of regulation, but who believes in no regulation? To me, no regulation means no law, which means anarchy. And the only people who want anarchy are the same types of people who would be dead the first day it broke out. But much of the regulation in the US is regulatory capture. We need regulation for the people, not for the companies. Moving in the right direction is a challenge and we need to break…
How ironic that the only way to get rid of objectivist libertarians is to give them what they want. Still, it is probably worth it.