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Can't recommend privacy.com enough for literally this use case. If I have to spend more than five minutes trying to figure out how to cancel - I'm just turning

by jwally 2y ago

Can't recommend privacy.com enough for literally this use case. If I have to spend more than five minutes trying to figure out how to cancel - I'm just turning off my card...

criddell 2y ago
I think most of the times that works and companies don't pursue the small amounts, but turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company. It could end up on your credit report.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company I know of two hedge funds who buy these claims at a discount and pursue them. If you aren’t concerned with your credit score it probably isn’t a problem; I doubt either sues.
  - ta988 2y ago
    Can you detail a bit more? What funds? what do they do exactly?
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > what do they do exactly? Businesses have customers whose cards have been declining, e.g. someone who used Privacy.com to rotate the card number but never actually cancelled their contract. The fund buys those claims for unpaid bills for pennies on the dollar. They then send collection notices to collect those bills. If you don’t pay, it goes to collections, which is reportable to the credit reporting agencies. Came up in a personal discussion where I admitted I sometimes do this with my Apple Card.
      - ethbr1 2y ago
        Makes (insane) financial sense. Essentially the same business model as medical junk debt and patent trolling.
- jwally 2y ago
  Not a silver bullet solution for sure. Gyms especially. But for SAAS services, tv type subscriptions, etc - it works well. Ymmv.
- reginald78 2y ago
  I haven't used privacy.com but I recall some one saying you can put whatever name you want on the service, which sounded implausible to me. On the other hand, a prepaid debit card can do the same thing so maybe it was true. Obviously this wouldn't work for all services though.
dynm 2y ago
For what it's worth, I've had terrible experiences with privacy.com. Lots of dark patterns, and suddenly demanded a picture with photo ID while holding the account hostage. Strongly suggest avoiding.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

by jwally 2y ago

Can't recommend privacy.com enough for literally this use case. If I have to spend more than five minutes trying to figure out how to cancel - I'm just turning off my card...

criddell 2y ago

I think most of the times that works and companies don't pursue the small amounts, but turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company. It could end up on your credit report.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company I know of two hedge funds who buy these claims at a discount and pursue them. If you aren’t concerned with your credit score it probably isn’t a problem; I doubt either sues.
- ta988 2y ago
  Can you detail a bit more? What funds? what do they do exactly?
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > what do they do exactly? Businesses have customers whose cards have been declining, e.g. someone who used Privacy.com to rotate the card number but never actually cancelled their contract. The fund buys those claims for unpaid bills for pennies on the dollar. They then send collection notices to collect those bills. If you don’t pay, it goes to collections, which is reportable to the credit reporting agencies. Came up in a personal discussion where I admitted I sometimes do this with my Apple Card.
    - ethbr1 2y ago
      Makes (insane) financial sense. Essentially the same business model as medical junk debt and patent trolling.
jwally 2y ago
Not a silver bullet solution for sure. Gyms especially. But for SAAS services, tv type subscriptions, etc - it works well. Ymmv.
reginald78 2y ago
I haven't used privacy.com but I recall some one saying you can put whatever name you want on the service, which sounded implausible to me. On the other hand, a prepaid debit card can do the same thing so maybe it was true. Obviously this wouldn't work for all services though.

dynm 2y ago

For what it's worth, I've had terrible experiences with privacy.com. Lots of dark patterns, and suddenly demanded a picture with photo ID while holding the account hostage. Strongly suggest avoiding.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]