4 ms·

> Unpay for it. This is the utility of credit cards. That's a facile answer. You're extremely well educated on this matter and know full well the downsides of

> Unpay for it. This is the utility of credit cards. That's a facile answer. You're extremely well educated on this matter and know full well the downsides of "unpaying". EDIT: see sibling comment from "notaustinpowers" for an explanation of the downsides (thanks!). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260

boredtofears 3y ago
What are the downsides of disputing a charge?
- HumblyTossed 3y ago
  If you unpay for, say, YouTube, I'm pretty sure Google will straight up delete you.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  "Most places have segments in their contract that state if you do a chargeback or block a payment, they will terminate your account, and payment providers can block that card from being used on their service in the future." Also, depending on the agreement, you can be sent to collections (gym memberships are notorious for this). The chargeback doesn't supersede the vendor's control of access to the service or potential legal/debt obligations. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260
  - jjav 3y ago
    > Most places have segments in their contract that state if you do a chargeback or block a payment, they will terminate your account, When terminating my account is exactly what I want, that's totally fine. This does highlight yet another problem with consolidating to huge companies. You'll never be able to charge back to a behemot like amazon or google, they'll just erase you off large parts of the internet which would be problematic. But with smaller vendors that you are trying to get rid of and never want anything to do with them again, it works wonderfully.
idopmstuff 3y ago
Use a temporary credit card number that's only authorized for one payment. When it doesn't work the second year, they'll let you know you need to pay. Sign up and immediately cancel/turn off billing, so you aren't charged again next year (again, they'll send you a bunch of notices ahead of the end of your service). Put a calendar reminder in for 11.5 months out from when you sign up. In Slack, /remind me in 11.5 months to cancel X service.
- rectang 3y ago
  My tech-hating mom is currently spending hours, maybe even days setting up billpay through her bank so she doesn't have to give companies her credit card info for subscriptions. She's been burned too many times trying and failing to cancel subscriptions. But reading suggestions like yours, apparently it's all on people like my poor mom to outwit corporations with multi-million-dollar budgets dedicated to screwing her over. (And yes I'm helping, but precious few tech-noob elders have an engineer in the family.)
  - jjav 3y ago
    > My tech-hating mom is currently spending hours, maybe even days setting up billpay through her bank so she doesn't have to give companies her credit card info for subscriptions. She's been burned too many times trying and failing to cancel subscriptions. Why? That's much worse. If anything is going to do a recurring charge to me, I want it to go through a credit card which offers a layer of indirection. I never authorize automatic billing directly to a bank account, then the money is truly gone. With a credit card I can always protest the charge and have had to do this with particularly difficult businesses a few times.
    - rectang 3y ago
      > Why? That's much worse. Congratulations, HNer — you're more tech savvy than my mom. Perhaps you're volunteering to help vulnerable seniors like her navigate the Hobbesian nightmare of subscriptions? I applaud your initiative, but if you're new to this, let me caution you: they don't always understand or follow the advice you give them precisely. Even if they are trying their best.

boredtofears 3y ago

What are the downsides of disputing a charge?

HumblyTossed 3y ago
If you unpay for, say, YouTube, I'm pretty sure Google will straight up delete you.
toomuchtodo 3y ago
"Most places have segments in their contract that state if you do a chargeback or block a payment, they will terminate your account, and payment providers can block that card from being used on their service in the future." Also, depending on the agreement, you can be sent to collections (gym memberships are notorious for this). The chargeback doesn't supersede the vendor's control of access to the service or potential legal/debt obligations. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39060260
- jjav 3y ago
  > Most places have segments in their contract that state if you do a chargeback or block a payment, they will terminate your account, When terminating my account is exactly what I want, that's totally fine. This does highlight yet another problem with consolidating to huge companies. You'll never be able to charge back to a behemot like amazon or google, they'll just erase you off large parts of the internet which would be problematic. But with smaller vendors that you are trying to get rid of and never want anything to do with them again, it works wonderfully.

idopmstuff 3y ago

Use a temporary credit card number that's only authorized for one payment. When it doesn't work the second year, they'll let you know you need to pay. Sign up and immediately cancel/turn off billing, so you aren't charged again next year (again, they'll send you a bunch of notices ahead of the end of your service). Put a calendar reminder in for 11.5 months out from when you sign up. In Slack, /remind me in 11.5 months to cancel X service.

rectang 3y ago
My tech-hating mom is currently spending hours, maybe even days setting up billpay through her bank so she doesn't have to give companies her credit card info for subscriptions. She's been burned too many times trying and failing to cancel subscriptions. But reading suggestions like yours, apparently it's all on people like my poor mom to outwit corporations with multi-million-dollar budgets dedicated to screwing her over. (And yes I'm helping, but precious few tech-noob elders have an engineer in the family.)
- jjav 3y ago
  > My tech-hating mom is currently spending hours, maybe even days setting up billpay through her bank so she doesn't have to give companies her credit card info for subscriptions. She's been burned too many times trying and failing to cancel subscriptions. Why? That's much worse. If anything is going to do a recurring charge to me, I want it to go through a credit card which offers a layer of indirection. I never authorize automatic billing directly to a bank account, then the money is truly gone. With a credit card I can always protest the charge and have had to do this with particularly difficult businesses a few times.
  - rectang 3y ago
    > Why? That's much worse. Congratulations, HNer — you're more tech savvy than my mom. Perhaps you're volunteering to help vulnerable seniors like her navigate the Hobbesian nightmare of subscriptions? I applaud your initiative, but if you're new to this, let me caution you: they don't always understand or follow the advice you give them precisely. Even if they are trying their best.