dhouston (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863) anything to say?
Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
251–260 of 412 posts
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can absolutely be sent to collections for not paying for a service, it happens all the time. As soon as that happens they will report it to the credit bureaus.
Why can’t I send them to some other service?
Send who, the debt collector? "Oh, no, I switched from Dropbox to backblaze. Go get the money from them." I guess you can say that, but I doubt it works.
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#253This is the reason why everyone should use privacy.com. No need to cancel anything. You just shut down the payment card that is paying for the service lol. Once they see your card getting declined they will just close the account.
Others have pointed out that services are allowed to send you to collections. You’re still a subscriber.
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well explained. Privacy.com gives the illusion of control in this regard (and I love the service) but to enable full user control like this you have to be untraceable after ghosting, which means signing up with a "fake" (I prefer "per-use") identity. --amend yes it's (close to) fraud so be careful. Lots of things were illegal before they weren't; union strikes come to mind.
That is fraud. Do not use fake identities to buy things so you can then get out of contracts by not paying.
This is true, but only in regards to actual commitments like a yearly gym membership. If your intent is to mitigate dark patterns that frustrate the cancellation of a pay-as-you-go relationship, it's better described as shielding yourself from fraud and extortion.
Still, everybody should routinely use nyms when interacting with parties that needlessly ask for them - if for nothing else than to hinder the surveillance society.
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like a great way for the vendor to send you debt to collections.
I'm not familiar, but this seems unlikely to happen for something as small as a Dropbox bill. Debt collection is a 'regular' business - it's simply uneconomical for a business to pay people to pursue your $9 Dropbox debt.
Maybe for Dropbox, but the parent was speaking of this as a general policy.
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
Happened to me too. Guy actually laughed at me when I refused a six-months-for-free-if-you-stay option. In that instant I committed to never giving the NYT another dime of my money. Another one is the ACLU. Easy to start, damn near impossible to stop without just canceling your card. All I wanted to do is change to a different card, but they ignore me. Great way to ruin your reputation.
If you'd like to donate to the ACLU in a way that lets you easily change/cancel your donations, I recommend using Sublime Fund ( https://sublimefund.org/ ). Disclaimer that I am a founder. We deduct the cost of credit card processing, but we don't charge any sort of platform fee. Donating should be easy, but canceling should be just as easy. You can do it through our website anytime without speaking to anyone.
I would never even consider donating to an organization if I have to think about using a service like yours, I only donate to organizations that I like and are trustworthy, but thanks anyways
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#257If it's harder to leave than it is to join, then I'm not using your stuff. It's mildly condescending and very transparent and so I don't want/need to deal with it. If you believed in your product, you wouldn't do it. I subscribed to the New York Times with a simple one-step "put in your credit card deets". One year later I was going to leave the country so tried to cancel it. After several steps of forms you get the…
Yup, I'm making a note of this, and will never sign up for a DropBox Pro account now.
How likely were you to sign up beforehand?
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like a great way for the vendor to send you debt to collections.
I'm not familiar, but this seems unlikely to happen for something as small as a Dropbox bill. Debt collection is a 'regular' business - it's simply uneconomical for a business to pay people to pursue your $9 Dropbox debt.
They can sell a $50 debt though.
(No idea what the low end is but I’ve had $25 debts sold when I lost track of a medical charge.)
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#259If it's harder to leave than it is to join, then I'm not using your stuff. It's mildly condescending and very transparent and so I don't want/need to deal with it. If you believed in your product, you wouldn't do it. I subscribed to the New York Times with a simple one-step "put in your credit card deets". One year later I was going to leave the country so tried to cancel it. After several steps of forms you get the…
There was one instance of a subscription that seemed impossible to cancel. I spent enough effort trying. I called the credit card company and explained the steps I had taken and told them I want any future charges to be considered fraudulent. That company got the hint really quickly.
On the flip side I subscribed to cigar afficiando for a year decade ago. Every year I get a renewal notice, every year I get new issues. I definitely have not paid for it since the first year. I don't know if it is to keep subscription stats up or they make enough on the ad revenue. But I'll receive multiple notices each year to renew and they just keep coming for free.
Re: Cancelling Dropbox Pro is hard
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why can’t I send them to some other service?
Send who, the debt collector? "Oh, no, I switched from Dropbox to backblaze. Go get the money from them." I guess you can say that, but I doubt it works.
It’s not debt if you’ve just been automatically renewed. Agreeing to pay X in Y payments is not the same as paying Z for 1 term of use.