Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it • Hacker News Board

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#121

Post by koala_man » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:12 AM UTC

perryizgr8 wrote: post #30

I always hate it when a customer service person asks me why I'm canceling their subscription. I called my mobile phone carrier to cancel and they asked me why. I said "I don't like your TV advertisements". That put a quick end to that line of enquiry.

You don't owe them a justification just because they ask for one. You can simply say "decline to state".

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#122

Post by SMAAART » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:13 AM UTC

17 minutes of OP that they will never get back.

Poor Antonio too, stuck in the middle between a money-machine and disgruntled users.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#123

Post by meowster » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

buck4roo wrote: post #67

Same: SiriusXM

I bought a new vehicle that came with a free year of SiriusXM, but I never activated it because I've heard how scummy the company is about canceling.

Once a month they mailed me a postcard to sign up, I called them to ask them to stop mailing me a post card, after a few back-and-forths, the person said, okay, we won't mail you anything for two years. I said don't mail me ever, I will never ever use them. The person said okay, they've taken me off their list. We shall see...

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#124

Post by flowerlad » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

If you're in California NYT is violating state law: https://www.cnet.com/news/companies-must-let-customers-cance...

The law applies to all companies and publishers with paying customers in the state.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#125

Post by e-clinton » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:15 AM UTC

hda2 wrote: post #112

samcheng wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix is notoriously generous here. They allegedly auto-cancel accounts that don't use the service for too long! https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/net...

I wouldn't call this generosity. This is the normal conduct of normal honest businesses.

Normal? What other business does that? I can’t think of one.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#126

Post by meowster » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:16 AM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #11

When they ask why you are cancelling say "No reason". There is literally nothing they can say to prolong the whole experience. Don't volunteer any information. Don't tell them what is wrong with their website. Don't tell them anything. You will make the whole process go longer.

I just say, "Cancel my subscription." Don't play their game, don't give them an inch, if they ask why, just repeat "Cancel my subscription". If they say something else, just say "cancel" and nothing else. They will cave.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#127

Post by msujaws » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:18 AM UTC

flowerlad wrote: post #124

If you're in California NYT is violating state law: https://www.cnet.com/news/companies-must-let-customers-cance... The law applies to all companies and publishers with paying customers in the state.

This conversation happened online, so I'm not sure this is technically against the law.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#128

Post by meowster » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:18 AM UTC

crazydoggers wrote: post #90

They do the same stuff with the paper end. Back in the day used to get it delivered... excruciating time canceling it... for a couple weeks it would keep showing up on the doorstep, and they couldn’t tell me why the cancel didn’t go through. The process was so abysmal I vowed never to do business with them. It’s a shame. I dealt with a lot of print companies for some of my business back in the day. The business peopl…

I don't remember where I read it, but apparently one person was successful with stopping a free weekly paper from being delivered by reporting littering to the police (they tried telling the newspaper first, but they didn't stop).

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#129

Post by astura » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #118

I didn't have to speak to anyone to cancel mine through the web interface. Did that just last week so this info is not out of date. I'm not sure how you got to speaking to an agent in the first place.

Do you live in California? Because apparently some services have a California-only web interface to unsubscribe. If your billing address isn't in California then you can't access that page.

Because of a California law that says they must.

https://www.cnet.com/news/companies-must-let-customers-cance...

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#130

Post by barbacoa » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

aerovistae wrote: post #71

offby37years wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYT has been a net negative on society since 2016, rapidly so since 2019.

Elaborate??

NYT was once known as the paper of record decades ago. In the past recent years they have starting slipping on their journalist standards and reliability. They were pivotal in pushing the WMDs in iraq for example as well as russian collusion.