7 ms·

Just be careful with this. Some companies will treat this as if it were a bounced check and keep your debt going.

by sqldba 8y ago

benatkin 8y ago
I wouldn't put it past they NYT to do it. They could say that for privacy reasons the billing department can't view the last time you were logged into your account, and boom, they can argue that if they didn't pursue payment, you could be getting features from your paid account for free.
- frakr 8y ago
  That sounds pretty unlikely to me.
- hakfoo 8y ago
  Most recurring billing APIs provide some sort of notification or query about the status. They could reasonably do "for each payment we got yesterday, extend the expiration date of the associated account."
  - ascar 8y ago
    Sure. They could also let you easily cancel online. But they don't want to. And if you refuse to pay for a subscription contract you entered, but didn't cancel, you owe them.
sakarisson 8y ago
From a legal perspective, would it be enough to send them an e-mail telling them that you no longer want to subscribe to the services before pulling the plug?
- mehrdadn 8y ago
  Probably depends on whether you email an appropriate address?
  - garmaine 8y ago
    It really doesn’t. You wouldn’t even need the email. If this ever went to court the NYT wouldn’t win. Judges are human beings, not computers, and they consider circumstances. All you have to do is demonstrate intent, and not use the service so they can’t argue you received benefit without making an attempt to cancel.
chrisan 8y ago
Do you have an example of this? I'd imagine this is in the Paypal terms when the company chooses to integrate with them and that 'debt' isn't enforceable
tgsovlerkhgsel 8y ago
Does PayPal allow that? If they are smart, they'd put into their ToS that in order to use PayPals subscription feature to receive money, you have to agree to let people cancel through it and honor this.
towelr34dy 8y ago
I've done it to 40-50 internet companies. My experience is internet companies don't collect debt the way you describe. It's the offline companies that do (ISPs, gyms, utilities, banks, etc) Edit: they also need to inform you before sending your debt for collections, giving you time to get it right with them before any credit score issues. Seriously, people are so worried about keeping their promises to companies that don't reciprocate that concern. Most companies just deal with the consequences of breaking the rules. Why shouldn't we apply the same to them as their users?

Just be careful with this. Some companies will treat this as if it were a bounced check and keep your debt going.

by sqldba 8y ago

Just be careful with this. Some companies will treat this as if it were a bounced check and keep your debt going.

I wouldn't put it past they NYT to do it. They could say that for privacy reasons the billing department can't view the last time you were logged into your account, and boom, they can argue that if they didn't pursue payment, you could be getting features from your paid account for free.

frakr 8y ago
That sounds pretty unlikely to me.
hakfoo 8y ago
Most recurring billing APIs provide some sort of notification or query about the status. They could reasonably do "for each payment we got yesterday, extend the expiration date of the associated account."
- ascar 8y ago
  Sure. They could also let you easily cancel online. But they don't want to. And if you refuse to pay for a subscription contract you entered, but didn't cancel, you owe them.

sakarisson 8y ago

From a legal perspective, would it be enough to send them an e-mail telling them that you no longer want to subscribe to the services before pulling the plug?

mehrdadn 8y ago
Probably depends on whether you email an appropriate address?
- garmaine 8y ago
  It really doesn’t. You wouldn’t even need the email. If this ever went to court the NYT wouldn’t win. Judges are human beings, not computers, and they consider circumstances. All you have to do is demonstrate intent, and not use the service so they can’t argue you received benefit without making an attempt to cancel.

chrisan 8y ago

Do you have an example of this? I'd imagine this is in the Paypal terms when the company chooses to integrate with them and that 'debt' isn't enforceable

tgsovlerkhgsel 8y ago

Does PayPal allow that? If they are smart, they'd put into their ToS that in order to use PayPals subscription feature to receive money, you have to agree to let people cancel through it and honor this.

towelr34dy 8y ago

I've done it to 40-50 internet companies. My experience is internet companies don't collect debt the way you describe. It's the offline companies that do (ISPs, gyms, utilities, banks, etc) Edit: they also need to inform you before sending your debt for collections, giving you time to get it right with them before any credit score issues. Seriously, people are so worried about keeping their promises to companies that don't reciprocate that concern. Most companies just deal with the consequences of breaking the rules. Why shouldn't we apply the same to them as their users?