Welcome to the modern "usable" internet, where mail validation "spoils the user experience" and "is bad for conversion rate". I guess Apple has a valid way to s

Welcome to the modern "usable" internet, where mail validation "spoils the user experience" and "is bad for conversion rate". I guess Apple has a valid way to subscribe without e-mail verification somewhere. Let me tell you a story, sorry if it is somewhat OTish, but I really feel related to the programmingzen guy. Back when I got my Gmail address I got a 6 char username account of the form name+surname initial. My name is Pedro, its not that common but neither is it a bizarre name. At the moment, I can count 5 different people who sometimes think they own my e-mail address, or have e-mail addresses that are similar enough to mine so that people usually mails me instead of them. About a month ago, one Pedro subscribed to Redbox. It seems Redbox has kiosks where you can instantly subscribe and order your first DVDs there, those kiosks do no mail validation. Someone used my e-mail on the kiosk, and ordered his first DVD. I got the receipt in my inbox. At first I thought he would realize he did something wrong and fix his Redbox account from his computer later. He didn't. In fact, he somehow managed to order more DVDs, so I got more receipts in my inbox. I used the password recovery feature and logged to his (or mine?) Redbox account. There was no way to delete it, neither was it possible to avoid getting receipts by e-mail. I contacted Redbox support asking them to close the account, or at least stop sending me receipts. This was their proposed solution to my problem: As long as he or she keeps using your email address, you’ll continue to get receipts. To avoid receiving them, please block the sender’s email address or mark the messages as spam. If those options don’t work, you might need to contact your email provider. So yeah, Apple is not the only one who doesn't care about people who by chance get subscribed to their services. Fortunately, after about three weeks, Redbox started mailing me and asking me for e-mail validation with big red banners and all caps subjects. I didn't reply to any of those e-mails, and it seems they finally deleted the account. Free anecdote: Once, one of the other Pedros mom died. That week my inbox was completely surreal, and sad. PD: I live in Argentina. So no, free DVDs where not an option for me.