4 ms·

This is a good law, but I'm genuinely curious...is this really such an issue? Personally, I can't remember the last time (maybe ever?) having this issue. Mayb

This is a good law, but I'm genuinely curious...is this really such an issue? Personally, I can't remember the last time (maybe ever?) having this issue. Maybe I don't have a lot of subscriptions. Maybe I don't cancel often. Maybe I come off on the phone as not budging an inch. The last time I recall having even the slightest bit of an issue was cancelling my AOL service ~18 years ago and even that wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Are the individual experiences shared in the article (and here in the comments) exceptions or the norm? Even cancelling my last gym membership was a breeze.

Glyptodon 8y ago
At a previous employer that provides a subscription-based online digital service one task I was given was removing the ability to cancel said subscriptions via the website and replacing everything with calls to customer service. (Apparently it had a quite measurable impact on retention. To quote one of the managers, the people trying to cancel didn't actually want to cancel, what they really needed were "instructional opportunities" that customer service could do over the phone. And to be fair, I do think there was an element of "I don't know how to do thing X, I'll just cancel" in some of the cancellations. But not all.) It was among a handful of similar reasons that caused me to leave for public sector work which isn't based on used car sales type manipulation and evil BS.
always_good 8y ago
I once hornily punched my credit card number into a camsite to get "200 free coins". After using them all (I gave them all to one cam girl after feeling bad for her), I tried canceling the subscription. The <form> around the <button>cancel</button> was literally commented out in the html. I forgot about it, got charged 2 weeks later, and issued a chargeback. Never got charged again.
- joering2 8y ago
  Watch out your credit score for a few months now. Some online merchants in CNP environment have power to put a negative remark on your credit if your credit card processor (Visa/MC/etc) deems they have higher trustworth score than you do. I seen it happening to people. Your score will not go down,; however there will be derogatory flag that could make it harder for you to get new credit card, etc. I seen those on peoples files for up to 18 months, and then gone. Edit: here is the phrase that may show up on your credit report: "Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements"

Glyptodon 8y ago

At a previous employer that provides a subscription-based online digital service one task I was given was removing the ability to cancel said subscriptions via the website and replacing everything with calls to customer service. (Apparently it had a quite measurable impact on retention. To quote one of the managers, the people trying to cancel didn't actually want to cancel, what they really needed were "instructional opportunities" that customer service could do over the phone. And to be fair, I do think there was an element of "I don't know how to do thing X, I'll just cancel" in some of the cancellations. But not all.) It was among a handful of similar reasons that caused me to leave for public sector work which isn't based on used car sales type manipulation and evil BS.

always_good 8y ago

I once hornily punched my credit card number into a camsite to get "200 free coins". After using them all (I gave them all to one cam girl after feeling bad for her), I tried canceling the subscription. The <form> around the <button>cancel</button> was literally commented out in the html. I forgot about it, got charged 2 weeks later, and issued a chargeback. Never got charged again.

joering2 8y ago
Watch out your credit score for a few months now. Some online merchants in CNP environment have power to put a negative remark on your credit if your credit card processor (Visa/MC/etc) deems they have higher trustworth score than you do. I seen it happening to people. Your score will not go down,; however there will be derogatory flag that could make it harder for you to get new credit card, etc. I seen those on peoples files for up to 18 months, and then gone. Edit: here is the phrase that may show up on your credit report: "Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements"