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> I frequently cancel subscriptions to services I don't use often and just re-subscribe when I want them again I do this too. One trick for this is to use a 'v

by vmoore 5y ago

> I frequently cancel subscriptions to services I don't use often and just re-subscribe when I want them again I do this too. One trick for this is to use a 'virtual card' or disposable CC for subscriptions (With Revolut you can create those). And if you don't want to be charged, just terminate the card, rather than cancel the subscription. I do this where cancelling means lots of back-and-forth with support (many services don't make it easy to cancel a subscription)

orev 5y ago
I’m so tired of seeing this type of advice given about subscriptions, and shocked to see it on HN. Cancelling the payment method is NOT an acceptable way to cancel a service. It does not absolve you of the obligation you made in the service agreement to pay them. Taking this approach WILL result in your debts being sent to collections and damaging your credit rating. People seem to get away with it for a short time, or for small services where the cost of collecting is more than the subscription cost, but you can be sure that companies will figure this out and come up with a solution to make you pay up.
- prirun 5y ago
  And for those who think, "F it, I don't plan to borrow money and don't care about my credit rating!", you may want to reconsider. I recently signed up for an Amazon / Chase credit card, hit the $500 limit the first month (I didn't realize the limit was so low), paid it off and canceled it since the limit was too low and it was going to be a hassle to raise it (have to make online accounts with Chase, talk to reps on the phone, etc.) This cause my credit rating to be dinged slightly down from 830, which caused my insurance score to go down, which caused my homeowner's and car insurance to go up - several hundred dollars. How a credit rating has any relation to the cost of insurance is something only Lexis-Nexus and an insurance company could make sense out of.
  - deanmoriarty 5y ago
    I have an incredibly hard time imagining a 10-20 point drop in credit score (which is a typical drop that closing an account on an otherwise healthy creditor would cause) causing such effects. For years my credit score fluctuated between 790-820 depending on how many accounts I open/close at any given time and the outstanding balance, and nobody cared at all. Always got the best interest rates available on the market. I’m sure you are in absolutely good faith, but I just don’t believe the correlation is as you imply. Are you sure you just didn’t get hit by the inflation we are all experiencing?
    - prirun 5y ago
      My insurance broker called at renewal because my rate changed so much. This was my 2nd year with him & this insurance company (Auto Owners). He specifically told me it was because of my credit rating change, and in the AO renewal papers, they included a page about credit ratings affecting insurance rates, how I could obtain my credit score, how to file a protest with Lexus-Nexus, etc.
- willcipriano 5y ago
  Services like Netflix are prepaid, as in you pay and then get service. No pay = no service = no obligation. It's mostly seedy operations that make bills like this post pay, they also make it really hard to cancel.

by vmoore 5y ago

orev 5y ago

I’m so tired of seeing this type of advice given about subscriptions, and shocked to see it on HN. Cancelling the payment method is NOT an acceptable way to cancel a service. It does not absolve you of the obligation you made in the service agreement to pay them. Taking this approach WILL result in your debts being sent to collections and damaging your credit rating. People seem to get away with it for a short time, or for small services where the cost of collecting is more than the subscription cost, but you can be sure that companies will figure this out and come up with a solution to make you pay up.

prirun 5y ago
And for those who think, "F it, I don't plan to borrow money and don't care about my credit rating!", you may want to reconsider. I recently signed up for an Amazon / Chase credit card, hit the $500 limit the first month (I didn't realize the limit was so low), paid it off and canceled it since the limit was too low and it was going to be a hassle to raise it (have to make online accounts with Chase, talk to reps on the phone, etc.) This cause my credit rating to be dinged slightly down from 830, which caused my insurance score to go down, which caused my homeowner's and car insurance to go up - several hundred dollars. How a credit rating has any relation to the cost of insurance is something only Lexis-Nexus and an insurance company could make sense out of.
- deanmoriarty 5y ago
  I have an incredibly hard time imagining a 10-20 point drop in credit score (which is a typical drop that closing an account on an otherwise healthy creditor would cause) causing such effects. For years my credit score fluctuated between 790-820 depending on how many accounts I open/close at any given time and the outstanding balance, and nobody cared at all. Always got the best interest rates available on the market. I’m sure you are in absolutely good faith, but I just don’t believe the correlation is as you imply. Are you sure you just didn’t get hit by the inflation we are all experiencing?
  - prirun 5y ago
    My insurance broker called at renewal because my rate changed so much. This was my 2nd year with him & this insurance company (Auto Owners). He specifically told me it was because of my credit rating change, and in the AO renewal papers, they included a page about credit ratings affecting insurance rates, how I could obtain my credit score, how to file a protest with Lexus-Nexus, etc.
willcipriano 5y ago
Services like Netflix are prepaid, as in you pay and then get service. No pay = no service = no obligation. It's mostly seedy operations that make bills like this post pay, they also make it really hard to cancel.