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

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

#551

Post by PoignardAzur »

spuz wrote: post #456
neop1x wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I cancelled Netflix account 7 months ago and haven't used it since. A few days ago I received "Action needed: Reset your password" due to allegedly "suspicious sign-in". After changing the password and looking into the Recent activity, I couldn't see any suspicious recent login there. So I contacted the support and they said cancelled accounts are deleted after 10 months since cancellation. So now, with…

It sounds like there are two departments in Netflix working against each other. One is trying to make sure that customers have a positive experience (not paying for a service they don't use) and the other trying to retain revenue by any means necessary (sending fake security warnings to artificially trigger activity on an account).

I wish you saw more absurd situations like this in cyberpunk stories.

This mixture of trying to help the consumer to boost your image and sabotaging your own consumer-friendly process to drive up revenue is what late-stage capitalism is all about.

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

#552

Post by nojvek »

Oh yeah. I made the mistake of getting NYT subscription. Absolutely hated the cancellation process. If NYT goes out of business, that’s on them for their shitty business practices. NYT is one company I wouldn’t ever do business with, nor ever recommend anyone else.

It’s also funny how other publications are jumping on the bandwagon seeing NYT’s model. It’s like they are digging their own grave for long term retention.

Or may be the shitty business tactics work and that’s the future. Just like how expedia pulls off every dark pattern to manipulate you into buying.

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

#553

Post by PoignardAzur »

matkoniecz wrote: post #350
e-clinton wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Beeminder https://help.beeminder.com/article/25-how-do-auto-canceling-... https://blog.beeminder.com/autocancel/

I mean, they can afford it.

Their entire business model boils down to "exploit people's unrealistic expectations of themselves to make money". They obviously feel awkward about it, and they soften the blow a lot, which is to their credit, but at the end of the day this is where their money comes from.

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

#554

Post by davemtl »

rogual wrote: post #536
andix wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only works if you didn't give them your name and address. At least in Europe some debt collection agencies will track you down and charge an enormous fee, and will leave you with a bad credit score.

Happened to me. Cancelled Sky Broadband, CS reps wouldn't acknowledge it. Got sick of the back-and-forth. Sky don't just make you wait on hold for 30 mins, they play ads at you while you wait. Fuck that. Stopped the direct debit. Debt collectors got in touch years later asking for £50. I said, "fine, send me a copy of whatever bill I supposedly didn't pay." They didn't have it. "We don't have any documentation, just…

When I left the UK 11+ years ago, I cancelled Sky, or so I thought. 6 months go by in another country, all my mail was redirected to my parents address in case I missed something. My parents got angry letters from Sky demanding payment, but I had already settled this before I left the country. Well, turns out they cancelled my TV subscription but was still charging me for Sky+ (ability to record). I'm not sure why it wasn't cancelled at the same time, surely when I told them I was moving to a different country as to the reason I was cancelling, I wouldn't need the Sky+ feature.

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

#555

Post by xuki »

px43 wrote: post #302
xuki wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can subscribe through Apple/Google and cancellation will be a few clicks away.

How do you subscribe through Google? Do you need to download their app or something?

Yeah subscribe through their app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nytimes.an...

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

#556

Post by dcolkitt »

tallanvor wrote: post #438
chmod600 wrote: post #278

I just cancelled and it was relatively painless, to their credit. When they asked the reason, I said that political coverage was unfair. Left is OK, unfair is not. I don't consider myself "on the left" but I really don't mind a publication being left of center or right of center. If it's good, I will pay for it (I subscribed tp The Atlantic at least twice, and the New Yorker once, and probably others in a mix of prin…

NYT is quite right of center on many issues. They're not as conservative as WSJ, but they're definitely not a leftist publication.

I’m 100% certain that the median NYT employee is to the left of the median American for any reasonable construction of the left-right spectrum.

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

#557

Post by hugoromano »

This post was an inspiration, so I decided to cancel my subscription. It was a swift cancellation, 3 minutes, maybe because of the effect of this thread.

I typed 2 x "I want to speak with areal person". regardless of the question of the bot, then NY Times account number. After that, to the real agent I typed "I can't afford the NY Times subscription".

The "it's me not you" approach is perfect in persuasion.

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

#558

Post by string »

thinkingemote wrote: post #468
string wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Spectator is usually classified as centre-right. Amongst my peers ("creative" millennials in London) that makes it a bit of a non-starter, unfortunately. I think it's a mostly respectable magazine with a high degree of journalistic integrity (e.g. the recent High Court case). They have some fantastic contributors. Like any publication there are some that are a bit "out there" for my tastes, Delingpole comes to mi…

How about The New Statesman? Would that be centre-left?

Certainly left-leaning. I've heard Stephen Bush (their political correspondent) is quite reliable on Labour issues, but I don't read it much these days. It went right down in my estimation in terms of journalistic integrity after the Roger Scruton debacle.

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

#559

Post by bumby »

e-clinton wrote: post #125
hda2 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The fact that it’s NOT normal to act reasonably should be telling us something.

Imagine if you had to go through this exhausting process in your personal life. After half an hour since asking your spouse to help with the dishes, your spouse finally says “now that we realize using paper plates will solve your problem of dirty dishes, is there anything else I can help you with?”

We wouldn’t tolerate that in our personal life so why do we in business? After all, corporations are people...

Reminds me of the quote “Being well adjusted to a sick society is not a measure of health”

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

#560

Post by PoignardAzur »

Fuzzwah wrote: post #516
jb775 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they want to persuade me to hold a set of opinions Glad more people are realizing this. It's harder to spot/acknowledge for people on the left since the biased coverage feeds into their worldview...in my opinion it's artificially solidified their confidence on how "correct" they feel they are about political topics. The next step in this realization is nothing to do with one-sided reporting, it's the massive scale…

I'm an outsider to US politics (in that I'm Australian), but I'm really interested to know what widely held "left" views you think are "incorrect"? The topics I understand as being pushed by the left in the US just seem so centerist to me, based on the political landscape that I'm living in. Single payer health care, minimum wage increases, increases in social support nets... So many topics I'd love to hear the argum…

The minimum wage increase that Biden is pushing for is radical. He wants a 15$/hour minimum wage, which if I believe Wikipedia would be the highest minimum wage in the world right now.

Not saying that's a bad thing, but I think it would qualify as left-wing in most countries.

Agreed about social safety nets and most other policies. Sometimes it feels Americans don't realize how uniquely chaotic and inefficient their system is, compared to every other western country. The healthcare system in particular.

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