4 ms·

Considering how many people on the internet talk about using these cards for evading contractual obligations (e.g. cancelling the card instead of going through

Considering how many people on the internet talk about using these cards for evading contractual obligations (e.g. cancelling the card instead of going through the contract cancellation process and paying the termination fee, if any), it's surprising their acceptance has lasted as long as it has.

kadoban 5y ago
Cancellation fees are ridiculous nonsense in 99% of cases anyway. I have no sympathy.
- smnrchrds 5y ago
  They are ridiculous. Nonetheless, they are legal obligations.
  - dataflow 5y ago
    I would be with you if so many corporations didn't already exploit customers with the whole "yeah, tough luck, whatcha gonna do about it? have fun suing us" attitude. You can't blame customers for taking the same approach when that's already corporate America's MO. And don't forget that on top of exploitative practices, corporations frequently game the legal process too... like forcing customers to sign away their rights to sue in court, and all that.
  - mastazi 5y ago
    They are usually not, illegal clauses are still illegal even if you clicked an "accept" button. Edit: one of many examples https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/02/automatic-renewals-ftc-subscriptions/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/02/automatic...
  - stainforth 5y ago
    Nonetheless, a prepaid card is legal tender.
    - forty 5y ago
      Are you just saying that randomly or do you have any good reason to think it's true? :)
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Nonetheless, a prepaid card is legal tender. No, it's not, an even if it was, that would create no obligation of a vendor to let you use it to establish an account. The effect of legal tender comes when making an attempt to pay an existing debt, not when trying to establish a relationship in which charges might be incurred in the future.
  - amtamt 5y ago
    It's almost tragic that how many times things that are "legal", are neither right nor good. In ideal world, atleast, those qualities should have been mandated to make something a law. Either laws are way too old for the current times or were made worse by lobbying groups in favour those with might. Things don't seem to be getting better (cookie annoyance being one example) unfortunately.
  - kadoban 5y ago
    Immoral obligations aren't obligations.
mastazi 5y ago
> evading contractual obligations If by contractual obligations you mean "clauses that are most probably illegal but the average person will usually just shut up and pay rather that lawyer-up against a multibillion corporation", then yes I can see how many, me included, just opt for one of those cards whenever possible.
- remus 5y ago
  It goes both ways. Im sure there are scummy customers out there using it as a tool to not pay businesses money that is legitimately owed.
grapeskin 5y ago
Cancelling is oftentimes borderline impossible. Especially for people who can’t spend all day on a phone getting shifted around countless times or waiting forever for online support to respond (and sometimes never follow up). Maybe if companies didn’t make cancellation processes so actively hostile to users or throw in mysterious charges that continue accruing for all eternity, people wouldn’t be so uncomfortable using their normal card?
igetspam 5y ago
I use them all the time to ensure I don't get auto enrolled for garbage services. Like when you buy something from Nordic track and there's no way to opt out of auto enrolling for iFit. It's predatory and feel no shame in my tactics. I've also caught a number of breeches and just plain old scummy businesses (three times I got pings on one time use Amazon cards).

kadoban 5y ago

Cancellation fees are ridiculous nonsense in 99% of cases anyway. I have no sympathy.

smnrchrds 5y ago
They are ridiculous. Nonetheless, they are legal obligations.
- dataflow 5y ago
  I would be with you if so many corporations didn't already exploit customers with the whole "yeah, tough luck, whatcha gonna do about it? have fun suing us" attitude. You can't blame customers for taking the same approach when that's already corporate America's MO. And don't forget that on top of exploitative practices, corporations frequently game the legal process too... like forcing customers to sign away their rights to sue in court, and all that.
- mastazi 5y ago
  They are usually not, illegal clauses are still illegal even if you clicked an "accept" button. Edit: one of many examples https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/02/automatic-renewals-ftc-subscriptions/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/02/automatic...
- stainforth 5y ago
  Nonetheless, a prepaid card is legal tender.
  - forty 5y ago
    Are you just saying that randomly or do you have any good reason to think it's true? :)
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Nonetheless, a prepaid card is legal tender. No, it's not, an even if it was, that would create no obligation of a vendor to let you use it to establish an account. The effect of legal tender comes when making an attempt to pay an existing debt, not when trying to establish a relationship in which charges might be incurred in the future.
- amtamt 5y ago
  It's almost tragic that how many times things that are "legal", are neither right nor good. In ideal world, atleast, those qualities should have been mandated to make something a law. Either laws are way too old for the current times or were made worse by lobbying groups in favour those with might. Things don't seem to be getting better (cookie annoyance being one example) unfortunately.
- kadoban 5y ago
  Immoral obligations aren't obligations.

mastazi 5y ago

> evading contractual obligations If by contractual obligations you mean "clauses that are most probably illegal but the average person will usually just shut up and pay rather that lawyer-up against a multibillion corporation", then yes I can see how many, me included, just opt for one of those cards whenever possible.

remus 5y ago
It goes both ways. Im sure there are scummy customers out there using it as a tool to not pay businesses money that is legitimately owed.

grapeskin 5y ago

Cancelling is oftentimes borderline impossible. Especially for people who can’t spend all day on a phone getting shifted around countless times or waiting forever for online support to respond (and sometimes never follow up). Maybe if companies didn’t make cancellation processes so actively hostile to users or throw in mysterious charges that continue accruing for all eternity, people wouldn’t be so uncomfortable using their normal card?

igetspam 5y ago

I use them all the time to ensure I don't get auto enrolled for garbage services. Like when you buy something from Nordic track and there's no way to opt out of auto enrolling for iFit. It's predatory and feel no shame in my tactics. I've also caught a number of breeches and just plain old scummy businesses (three times I got pings on one time use Amazon cards).