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Run this experiment: 1) Subscribe to NYT 2) Notice they are still serving you ads 3) Try to cancel your subscription
by Reedx 7y ago
Run this experiment:
1) Subscribe to NYT
2) Notice they are still serving you ads
3) Try to cancel your subscription
- crispyambulance 7y agoI'll save people the effort: They create an "obstacle" to cancelling your subscription. The "obstacle" is you have to make phone call and talk to one of their agents who will try to keep you as a subscriber by offering a discount on the subscription. It's a good way to extend your introductory payment plan (or close to it). You can still cancel, of course, just be firm and say so. Not a big deal.
- Sebguer 7y agoYou can also cancel via live chat - or at least you could the last time I tried.
- reaperducer 7y agoYou can still cancel, of course, just be firm and say so. Not a big deal. You don't even need to be firm or argue. I've had to cancel my NYT subscription several times over the years. Sometimes I moved to a place where delivery wasn't available. Others because I was between jobs. The people on the phone are very polite and professional. They will offer you discounts, but they won't ever give you a hard sell. At least in my experience.
- bazooka_penguin 7y agoBeing in the same level as cable tv isnt great in this day and age
- crispyambulance 7y agoYeah, it's a dark user pattern, but there's a long way to go for them to match the tactics of Comcast or Verizon. I would call it unfair to characterize NYT subscriptions with Cable-TV-like tactics. Do they offer intractably complex subscriptions meant to deceive you into buy more than what you need ? No. Do they prey on old people and talk them into services they neither use nor understand? No. Do they call you on a regular basis to nag you about an upgrade to your subscription? No. Do they send you mail 1-2 times a month with one of those stupid credit-card-sized cardboard ads with a deal on them? No. Do they automatically jack-up your bill as soon as intro is over? Yes. That's about as close as they get to cable TV. It's not good, but it's not evil either. You can, AFAIK, extend a discount indefinitely by calling them up and asking for it.
- koolba 7y agoAlso replace NYT with SiriusXM for similar results.
- munk-a 7y agoDisregarding a lot of the other shade thrown at NYT in this comment section - forcing people into a phone call is definitely a dark user pattern. You're making it trivial for people to start giving you money while raising the barrier for them to stop giving you money - that's a trap that'll retain some subscriptions for no reason other than low effort and super slimy.
- clairity 7y agoas much as i appreciate their reporting, i won't (re-)subscribe to nytimes because of this dark pattern. let me cancel the same easy way i subscribed, online, or i won't ever subscribe again.
- markstos 7y agoNewspapers have had paid subscriptions with ads for a hundred years. Notice that so many newspapers are going out of business but the NYT is not.