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That’s awesome. I wonder how easy would it be to code an easy service that generates a different card for every subscriptions. No more hassle to cancel this gym

That’s awesome. I wonder how easy would it be to code an easy service that generates a different card for every subscriptions. No more hassle to cancel this gym membership!

ceejayoz 8y ago
Be careful of the "cancel this gym membership" approach. Gyms in particular have a reputation for sending you to collections if you try to end your contract that way, as the contracts generally specify a specific way you have to end the plan.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  No merchant agreement prohibits the merchant from pursuing the purchaser through collections or small claims court if a chargeback occurs or the charge is declined (in the case of a recurring subscription). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17468176 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17468176
anfedorov 8y ago
That may be a bad idea — you have entered into a contract, one that likely doesn't account for that sort of "cancellation" and so gyms could legally keep charging you, consider the account delinquent for awhile, then close it and sell that debt to a collection agency. On the other hand 24h fitness auto-canceled my membership when I didn't go for a little while, so at least some have some kind of incentive to not have people hate them.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  you have entered into a contract, one that likely doesn't account for that sort of "cancellation" and so gyms could legally keep charging you, consider the account delinquent for awhile, then close it and sell that debt to a collection agency. This happens. A LOT.
  - pc86 8y ago
    My wife and I own two gyms, and no matter how easy we try to make it for people to cancel - you can literally email us at 9pm the day before you get charged and if we see it we'll cancel it - people still treat the charge back functionality like an "oops didn't mean it lol" thing. Huge gyms like Gold's or PF have these oppressive terms because they have to, otherwise at their scale they'd be getting hit with multiple charge backs every day at every location. We have less than 300 members between our two facilities and still see one every month or two, mostly from people who don't understand what they're actually for - fraud, subpar delivery of whatever you purchased, or not receiving whatever you purchased - not as an easy refund button so you don't need to take 10 seconds to write an email. The most we can hope to get out of fighting a charge back is the money back (less the additional charge back review fee which is $15-30 depending on merchant) and a very high likelihood of a 1-star Google and/or Facebook review. And that's best case scenario when the merchant is willing to side with us instead of the customer, which is why we're forced to now have contracts detailing cancellation policies. It will never happen, but I really wish consumers had to pay the charge back fees when they use the feature fraudulently like many do.
    - chatmasta 8y ago
      Why don’t you build a website with a cancel button?
      - pc86 8y ago
        Because we use third party services for everything and none of them have APIs.
morcutt 8y ago
Look at https://privacy.com/ https://privacy.com/
- _eht 8y ago
  Just got API access with privacy.com. This space is ready for lift off IMO. Long in the works and long overdue. Good luck to everyone involved in creating, and god speed to those integrating.
- helper 8y ago
  Can you use privacy.com without installing the chrome extension?
  - mnehring 8y ago
    Sign up for Privacy.com seems to be only in the app or with the extension, but after you sign up, you can sign in just in the browser and view your virtual cards. (I hope this comment will soon be outdated - a fix for that would be nice.)
- anonytrary 8y ago
  It's ironic that they are called "privacy", when they are really just monopolizing your service usage information. Instead of Visa knowing exactly what services I use, now "privacy" does.
orf 8y ago
Check out Revolut: https://www.revolut.com/?lang=en https://www.revolut.com/?lang=en They have virtual cards as well as a disposable one that changes number every time you use it online.
peterlk 8y ago
I think there's an additional security aspect to this. A big company has their credit card processing system breached? Cancel the card for that vendor, and you don't have to worry about updating all your bills/autodebit.
briandear 8y ago
Except a declined payment doesn’t take you off the hook for paying what is owed, so you could still find yourself in collections.

That’s awesome. I wonder how easy would it be to code an easy service that generates a different card for every subscriptions. No more hassle to cancel this gym membership!

ceejayoz 8y ago

Be careful of the "cancel this gym membership" approach. Gyms in particular have a reputation for sending you to collections if you try to end your contract that way, as the contracts generally specify a specific way you have to end the plan.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
No merchant agreement prohibits the merchant from pursuing the purchaser through collections or small claims court if a chargeback occurs or the charge is declined (in the case of a recurring subscription). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17468176 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17468176

anfedorov 8y ago

That may be a bad idea — you have entered into a contract, one that likely doesn't account for that sort of "cancellation" and so gyms could legally keep charging you, consider the account delinquent for awhile, then close it and sell that debt to a collection agency. On the other hand 24h fitness auto-canceled my membership when I didn't go for a little while, so at least some have some kind of incentive to not have people hate them.

reaperducer 8y ago
you have entered into a contract, one that likely doesn't account for that sort of "cancellation" and so gyms could legally keep charging you, consider the account delinquent for awhile, then close it and sell that debt to a collection agency. This happens. A LOT.
- pc86 8y ago
  My wife and I own two gyms, and no matter how easy we try to make it for people to cancel - you can literally email us at 9pm the day before you get charged and if we see it we'll cancel it - people still treat the charge back functionality like an "oops didn't mean it lol" thing. Huge gyms like Gold's or PF have these oppressive terms because they have to, otherwise at their scale they'd be getting hit with multiple charge backs every day at every location. We have less than 300 members between our two facilities and still see one every month or two, mostly from people who don't understand what they're actually for - fraud, subpar delivery of whatever you purchased, or not receiving whatever you purchased - not as an easy refund button so you don't need to take 10 seconds to write an email. The most we can hope to get out of fighting a charge back is the money back (less the additional charge back review fee which is $15-30 depending on merchant) and a very high likelihood of a 1-star Google and/or Facebook review. And that's best case scenario when the merchant is willing to side with us instead of the customer, which is why we're forced to now have contracts detailing cancellation policies. It will never happen, but I really wish consumers had to pay the charge back fees when they use the feature fraudulently like many do.
  - chatmasta 8y ago
    Why don’t you build a website with a cancel button?
    - pc86 8y ago
      Because we use third party services for everything and none of them have APIs.

morcutt 8y ago

Look at https://privacy.com/ https://privacy.com/

_eht 8y ago
Just got API access with privacy.com. This space is ready for lift off IMO. Long in the works and long overdue. Good luck to everyone involved in creating, and god speed to those integrating.
helper 8y ago
Can you use privacy.com without installing the chrome extension?
- mnehring 8y ago
  Sign up for Privacy.com seems to be only in the app or with the extension, but after you sign up, you can sign in just in the browser and view your virtual cards. (I hope this comment will soon be outdated - a fix for that would be nice.)
anonytrary 8y ago
It's ironic that they are called "privacy", when they are really just monopolizing your service usage information. Instead of Visa knowing exactly what services I use, now "privacy" does.

orf 8y ago

Check out Revolut: https://www.revolut.com/?lang=en https://www.revolut.com/?lang=en They have virtual cards as well as a disposable one that changes number every time you use it online.

peterlk 8y ago

I think there's an additional security aspect to this. A big company has their credit card processing system breached? Cancel the card for that vendor, and you don't have to worry about updating all your bills/autodebit.

briandear 8y ago

Except a declined payment doesn’t take you off the hook for paying what is owed, so you could still find yourself in collections.