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> The guardian newspaper opens my account online but to cancel I need to call between 9 and 5. That's kind of run of the mill dark pattern. That's not a dark p

by KomoD 4y ago

> The guardian newspaper opens my account online but to cancel I need to call between 9 and 5. That's kind of run of the mill dark pattern. That's not a dark pattern? > A dark pattern is "a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying overpriced insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills". . > Am I being paranoid - or are all the subscription services now simply outright lying to keep the taps turned on for a few more months? Just because of your experience with a few, does not mean all of them are like that.

PaulHoule 4y ago
The New York Times notoriously did something like that a few years ago. They'd have a teaser offer for a few weeks that you "couldn't refuse" but then when you wanted to cancel you'd have to talk to a customer retention agent who would give you a hard sell ("if you stop reading the New York Times you'd be uninformed and you might vote Republican or something...") and try to get you to take the teaser offer again for a few weeks, figuring sooner or later you'd just give up and let the subscription revert to full price.
zhte415 4y ago
> the substantial effect of subverting or impairing a consumer's choice to opt-out > In October 2021, the Federal Trade Commission issued an enforcement policy statement, announcing a crackdown on businesses using dark patterns that "trick or trap consumers into subscription services." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern And - Roach motel > You get into a situation very easily, but then you find it is hard to get out of it (e.g. a premium subscription). https://www.deceptive.design/types https://www.deceptive.design/types