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Dark patterns aren't just for cancellations. A couple years back, a friend bought me a one year gift subscription for Britbox[0]. When I tried to activate the

Dark patterns aren't just for cancellations. A couple years back, a friend bought me a one year gift subscription for Britbox[0]. When I tried to activate the gift subscription, the site refused to allow me to do so unless I provided them with a credit card number. Which, from a practical standpoint, makes no sense as it was a gift. I wasn't going to provide these wankers with my credit card number[0], so I then had to have an awkward conversation with my friend as I didn't want her to pay for something I couldn't use. To their (very minor) credit, Britbox did refund the cost to my friend. [0] AFAICT, much of the subscription industry relies on having your credit card details so they can continue to bill you. Especially with annual subscriptions, as most folks will forget about it until they see the charge on their credit card statement. Then the subscription service has another year for you to forget about it again. Rinse and repeat.

dehrmann 5y ago
One or two of my credit cards offers an unmaintained way to get virtual card numbers with dollar and month limits. I'd just use that. Save the awkwardness with the friend.
edge17 5y ago
This seems to be a common design pattern on iOS App Store as well. Download a 'free' app and don't let the user use the app in trial mode unless they click a button that gets them to sign up, subscribe, or buy some in app purchase.
- baby 5y ago
  I really really hate this pattern on iOS. This and the app that is completely filled with ads.
  - handrous 5y ago
    Apple-mediated subscriptions are at least easy to list & cancel. I do wish they'd 1) allow explicit demo versions of apps—using IAP to have a de-facto demo that requires IAP to upgrade just isn't as good, IMO, because I want to be able to distinguish demo-to-paid from nickel-and-diming IAP garbage, and 2) have an actually-free filter for apps that don't have ads, IAP, a paid upgrade, or heavy reliance on a paid account of some kind.
    - ratww 5y ago
      I agree. The lack of distinction between Demo and IAP apps manages to hurt apps with demos, free apps and users. I really fail to see Apple's angle on this. Maybe they're trying to educate customers to accept IAPs.
      - ghaff 5y ago
        If anything, I'd expect Apple to favor "fairly priced" apps you pay for upfront as was mostly the norm at the beginning. The situation is probably more that free-to-play in various degrees of obnoxiousness that don't require an initial purchase to use the app--possibly with a separate demo version--is mostly what consumers expect these days.
        baby 5y ago
        Or that money is where subscriptions are at, not single-time payments.
- iscrewyou 5y ago
  I’m here to vent/rant about this. I bought vsco filters packs ages ago. I haven’t used vsco in a while and I downloaded it again recently. Turns out they’ve moved to subscription based method. Fine, I’m sure I can still restore my old purchases…false. To even use the app to get to the restore button to check this, they made me sign up for an account. After much hesitation I finally did only to realize my old purchases aren’t available anymore. To top it all off, I tried to delete my account…the app won’t let you!! You have to go to their website and delete it. But wait! First you have to verify your email before deletion. No, not verify email before accessing the account, verify before deletion. What a trash of a company. Please don’t do this developers.
joelbluminator 5y ago
I am sometimes uncomfortable developing features which I feel arent 100% kosher. For most users they understand what they are buying, but there is a certain segment (lets say 1 in 5) who dont. As the company needs to grow at all costs u can imagine they won't be quick to rectify the situation. Kinda sucks that this is prevalent in our industry.
slipheen 5y ago
That is unacceptable behavior, and I entirely understand you not wanting to condone it. For people who find themselves in that situation, one practical workaround I've found is using a service like Privacy.com which lets you generate dedicated Visa cards that you can pause or limit charges on
- b3morales 5y ago
  Unfortunately Privacy.com requires the generated cards to be paid by a bank account (rather than a credit card). So you have to be okay with them having your banking info.
  - barbazoo 5y ago
    I got very interested in that service but it's ridiculously difficult to figure out how one's account get funded. I did find it at the very bottom of [0]. Also restricted to US customers only. They're not that much better when it comes to dark patterns if the "How it works" section completely neglects the part where and how you pay THEM. [0] https://privacy.com/virtual-card https://privacy.com/virtual-card
  - mikeiz404 5y ago
    If you complain to them about that they will allow you to use an ACH number instead of account credentials.
- smoe 5y ago
  I would love to use privacy.com but I couldn't find any alternatives outside the US. Any suggestions?
danlugo92 5y ago
www.privacy.com www.revolut.com
derbOac 5y ago
This is one reason I miss one-time credit card numbers. My main credit card used to allow you to generate one-time numbers. You could control the limit on the numbers, how long they would last, you could edit this, and so forth and so on. I loved it because you could give a different unique card number to each site, that would self-destruct after a specified amount of time. It was great for stuff like this because if they pulled this kind of nonsense, you could just walk away and they were left with a unique card number that didn't matter worth anything. Most of the time, you might only have the number active for a few weeks, so if they tried to charge that number say, a year later, it was obvious they were trying to use a number you had intentionally made limited in time. This service was discontinued and I really miss it a lot. I still don't know that I'd go into a contract with any company that behaves this way (newspapers included) but it provided a layer of insurance in case you missed something.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  > This is one reason I miss one-time credit card numbers. I don't remember those. It sounds awesome.
- blacksmith_tb 5y ago
  My bank also had (and then killed off) this feature, which I used a lot for exactly the same reason (or ordering stuff from Aliexpress etc.) I have been looking at privacy.com which seems like it may be an acceptable replacement, though it has some strange sign-up hoops of its own.
- llIIllIIllIIl 5y ago
  privacy.com
  - DangitBobby 5y ago
    I was about to make this same recommendation. Burner (one-time use) cards, Merchant locked cards, total/lifetime/transaction spending limits. It's a great way to make sure subscription services can't just keep stealing from you.
- 5y ago

dehrmann 5y ago

One or two of my credit cards offers an unmaintained way to get virtual card numbers with dollar and month limits. I'd just use that. Save the awkwardness with the friend.

edge17 5y ago

This seems to be a common design pattern on iOS App Store as well. Download a 'free' app and don't let the user use the app in trial mode unless they click a button that gets them to sign up, subscribe, or buy some in app purchase.

baby 5y ago
I really really hate this pattern on iOS. This and the app that is completely filled with ads.
- handrous 5y ago
  Apple-mediated subscriptions are at least easy to list & cancel. I do wish they'd 1) allow explicit demo versions of apps—using IAP to have a de-facto demo that requires IAP to upgrade just isn't as good, IMO, because I want to be able to distinguish demo-to-paid from nickel-and-diming IAP garbage, and 2) have an actually-free filter for apps that don't have ads, IAP, a paid upgrade, or heavy reliance on a paid account of some kind.
  - ratww 5y ago
    I agree. The lack of distinction between Demo and IAP apps manages to hurt apps with demos, free apps and users. I really fail to see Apple's angle on this. Maybe they're trying to educate customers to accept IAPs.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      If anything, I'd expect Apple to favor "fairly priced" apps you pay for upfront as was mostly the norm at the beginning. The situation is probably more that free-to-play in various degrees of obnoxiousness that don't require an initial purchase to use the app--possibly with a separate demo version--is mostly what consumers expect these days.
      - baby 5y ago
        Or that money is where subscriptions are at, not single-time payments.
iscrewyou 5y ago
I’m here to vent/rant about this. I bought vsco filters packs ages ago. I haven’t used vsco in a while and I downloaded it again recently. Turns out they’ve moved to subscription based method. Fine, I’m sure I can still restore my old purchases…false. To even use the app to get to the restore button to check this, they made me sign up for an account. After much hesitation I finally did only to realize my old purchases aren’t available anymore. To top it all off, I tried to delete my account…the app won’t let you!! You have to go to their website and delete it. But wait! First you have to verify your email before deletion. No, not verify email before accessing the account, verify before deletion. What a trash of a company. Please don’t do this developers.

joelbluminator 5y ago

I am sometimes uncomfortable developing features which I feel arent 100% kosher. For most users they understand what they are buying, but there is a certain segment (lets say 1 in 5) who dont. As the company needs to grow at all costs u can imagine they won't be quick to rectify the situation. Kinda sucks that this is prevalent in our industry.

slipheen 5y ago

That is unacceptable behavior, and I entirely understand you not wanting to condone it. For people who find themselves in that situation, one practical workaround I've found is using a service like Privacy.com which lets you generate dedicated Visa cards that you can pause or limit charges on

b3morales 5y ago
Unfortunately Privacy.com requires the generated cards to be paid by a bank account (rather than a credit card). So you have to be okay with them having your banking info.
- barbazoo 5y ago
  I got very interested in that service but it's ridiculously difficult to figure out how one's account get funded. I did find it at the very bottom of [0]. Also restricted to US customers only. They're not that much better when it comes to dark patterns if the "How it works" section completely neglects the part where and how you pay THEM. [0] https://privacy.com/virtual-card https://privacy.com/virtual-card
- mikeiz404 5y ago
  If you complain to them about that they will allow you to use an ACH number instead of account credentials.
smoe 5y ago
I would love to use privacy.com but I couldn't find any alternatives outside the US. Any suggestions?

danlugo92 5y ago

www.privacy.com www.revolut.com

derbOac 5y ago

This is one reason I miss one-time credit card numbers. My main credit card used to allow you to generate one-time numbers. You could control the limit on the numbers, how long they would last, you could edit this, and so forth and so on. I loved it because you could give a different unique card number to each site, that would self-destruct after a specified amount of time. It was great for stuff like this because if they pulled this kind of nonsense, you could just walk away and they were left with a unique card number that didn't matter worth anything. Most of the time, you might only have the number active for a few weeks, so if they tried to charge that number say, a year later, it was obvious they were trying to use a number you had intentionally made limited in time. This service was discontinued and I really miss it a lot. I still don't know that I'd go into a contract with any company that behaves this way (newspapers included) but it provided a layer of insurance in case you missed something.

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
> This is one reason I miss one-time credit card numbers. I don't remember those. It sounds awesome.
blacksmith_tb 5y ago
My bank also had (and then killed off) this feature, which I used a lot for exactly the same reason (or ordering stuff from Aliexpress etc.) I have been looking at privacy.com which seems like it may be an acceptable replacement, though it has some strange sign-up hoops of its own.
llIIllIIllIIl 5y ago
privacy.com
- DangitBobby 5y ago
  I was about to make this same recommendation. Burner (one-time use) cards, Merchant locked cards, total/lifetime/transaction spending limits. It's a great way to make sure subscription services can't just keep stealing from you.
5y ago