5 ms·

Yea, good point. We live in an age when a whole set of duplicitous practices are now just referred to as "growth hacking"

busterarm 10y ago
Ugh, the number of dark patterns trying to cost me money just to purchase a damned ticket on Ticketbastards today. Seriously by not clicking the right boxes I could have agreed to pay an extra $42 in add-ons/services for a $15 ticket that had its own $6 in fees added.
- kbenson 10y ago
  For Ticketmaster? That's odd, I deal with them quite a bit, and while they've definitely got a racket going on, usually they aren't opting you in for extra stuff (because you'll juts call to complain to their support and get it changed). I have seen them accidentally auto-select certain additions before, but that was a non-standard option on that event, and it was definitely a mistake.
  - busterarm 10y ago
    They like to do things where they offer you something with a yes/no option but don't explain that it's an offer (no call to action or question) and put the price of the service in the smallest text possible.
    - kbenson 10y ago
      Oh, I would believe that. They'll make it easy for you to add charges on, and make it confusing as to whether it charges you (if you aren't familiar with the page), they just don't generally have them defaulted to on in my experience (and I buy a lot of tickets from them). They're very good at being just annoying enough to use that you don't like them, but generally not so annoying that you'll refuse to use them, which combined with their existing market dominance keeps them on top.
  - compiler-guy 10y ago
    It would be much easier to believe it was a mistake if the balance of "mistakes in the company's favor" vs "mistakes in the customer's favor" were even. If all the mistakes go the company's way, then, at best, the company is working much harder at avoiding mistakes that hurt themselves than they are at getting it right. This goes for credit card companies and many other firms.
  - collyw 10y ago
    I paid for extra insurance without meaning to last time I visited their site. Pretty sure the "opt in" button was checked by default.
    - kbenson 10y ago
      That's interesting. I wonder if it's saved per account, and defaults to what was last set. It's definitely not defaulted on with my orders.
- eanzenberg 10y ago
  A fool and their money are soon parted.
- danudey 10y ago
  Not to mention paying an extra $8 to print your own ticket.
- nfriedly 10y ago
  Agreed 100%. I usually call the venue and ask if I can purchase tickets directly from them instead of going through Ticketmaster. They don't always say yes, but it's usually cheaper and more pleasant when they do.
wmeredith 10y ago
The other side of the growth hacking coin is retention, which is also fraught with systematic duplicity and dark patterns. Each of us needs to exercise our judgement about how we put food on the table. And if you don't know how the company that signs your checks gets the money to do so, you need to find out.

busterarm 10y ago

Ugh, the number of dark patterns trying to cost me money just to purchase a damned ticket on Ticketbastards today. Seriously by not clicking the right boxes I could have agreed to pay an extra $42 in add-ons/services for a $15 ticket that had its own $6 in fees added.

kbenson 10y ago
For Ticketmaster? That's odd, I deal with them quite a bit, and while they've definitely got a racket going on, usually they aren't opting you in for extra stuff (because you'll juts call to complain to their support and get it changed). I have seen them accidentally auto-select certain additions before, but that was a non-standard option on that event, and it was definitely a mistake.
- busterarm 10y ago
  They like to do things where they offer you something with a yes/no option but don't explain that it's an offer (no call to action or question) and put the price of the service in the smallest text possible.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    Oh, I would believe that. They'll make it easy for you to add charges on, and make it confusing as to whether it charges you (if you aren't familiar with the page), they just don't generally have them defaulted to on in my experience (and I buy a lot of tickets from them). They're very good at being just annoying enough to use that you don't like them, but generally not so annoying that you'll refuse to use them, which combined with their existing market dominance keeps them on top.
- compiler-guy 10y ago
  It would be much easier to believe it was a mistake if the balance of "mistakes in the company's favor" vs "mistakes in the customer's favor" were even. If all the mistakes go the company's way, then, at best, the company is working much harder at avoiding mistakes that hurt themselves than they are at getting it right. This goes for credit card companies and many other firms.
- collyw 10y ago
  I paid for extra insurance without meaning to last time I visited their site. Pretty sure the "opt in" button was checked by default.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    That's interesting. I wonder if it's saved per account, and defaults to what was last set. It's definitely not defaulted on with my orders.
eanzenberg 10y ago
A fool and their money are soon parted.
danudey 10y ago
Not to mention paying an extra $8 to print your own ticket.
nfriedly 10y ago
Agreed 100%. I usually call the venue and ask if I can purchase tickets directly from them instead of going through Ticketmaster. They don't always say yes, but it's usually cheaper and more pleasant when they do.

wmeredith 10y ago

The other side of the growth hacking coin is retention, which is also fraught with systematic duplicity and dark patterns. Each of us needs to exercise our judgement about how we put food on the table. And if you don't know how the company that signs your checks gets the money to do so, you need to find out.