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Over the years I've frequently signed up for streaming services for one or two months and then canceled. Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Mubi, etc. I'

by lapcat 2y ago

Over the years I've frequently signed up for streaming services for one or two months and then canceled. Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Mubi, etc. I've literally never had a problem canceling. This is a bogeyman. It's as easy direct as it is via Apple. In fact, it's easier direct, because Apple refuses to keep you logged in to your account, so you have to enter your Apple ID password over and over again. So annoying.

danaris 2y ago
[flagged]
- lapcat 2y ago
  This reply is unhinged, and it violates the HN guidelines. My point was that anything you can do via Apple, you can do direct. You can subscribe direct and immediately turn around and cancel after you sign up. That's not unique to Apple, as other comments here have also noted.
skhunted 2y ago
By signing up through Apple you are guaranteed to have an easy way to cancel. With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel. Sometimes a service you can sign up for using Apple is easy to cancel even if you sign up outside of Apple. But why take the risk if you can sign up through Apple? Sign up for SiriusXM and then try to cancel.
- lapcat 2y ago
  > With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel. You gave one example. One is not many. It's not true of Disney and Hulu, so the OP's claim "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple" was false. The bottom line is that it's not worth it to these companies for Apple to take 30% of their revenue just to be a payment processor.
  - skhunted 2y ago
    Obviously you did not understand what I wrote. I clearly stated that sometimes it is as easy to cancel a service outside of using Apple as it is with using Apple. I followed up with a rhetorical question: “Why take the risk?”
    - lapcat 2y ago
      I'm not convinced that it is a risk. You also clearly stated, "With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel", yet even your lone example has been disputed. In any case, which company you choose to pay is up to you. If you want to go with Apple, fine. I don't care either way. My dispute was with the OP's false insinuation, "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple."
      - skhunted 2y ago
        Canceling subscriptions is so difficult to do the the U.S. that a federal agency has announced new regulations designed to make it easy.
- Volundr 2y ago
  > Sign up for SiriusXM and then try to cancel. I don't recall the exact button presses, but I've had a SiriusXM subscription, and it wasn't a problem to cancel. Just the usual "Subscriptions" section under my account IIRC. Funny enough I had a hard time giving them money in the first place though, where the links for the promotion they were emailing me about refused to load.
  - skhunted 2y ago
    I don’t believe you based on my experience.
    - Volundr 2y ago
      Ok. I'm not willing to drop $10 just to retest, and it doesn't sound like you are either, so our anecdotes just have to stand on their own. FWIW here's there documentation on cancelling which says it can be done from the subscription tab: https://www.siriusxm.com/help/manage-or-cancel-service https://www.siriusxm.com/help/manage-or-cancel-service
      - skhunted 2y ago
        According to this Reddit thread you can cancel online but you must first chat with an agent. That's the Sirius XM I know. This thread is a year old. Maybe they have changed their ways but I'm skeptical. Consider me the Apostle Thomas. I doubt unless I see it with my own eyes. https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/100rb5f/sirius_xm_wont_let_you_cancel_online_unless_you/ https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/100rb5f/siri...
        Volundr 2y ago
        I can say I 100% did not talk to an agent on the phone or in a chat box. I would have remembered that bullshit and not resubscribed (I did their 3 month for $1, promo, cancelled, then resubscribed when they sent me an email for a similar deal if I resubscribed). This was early this year. Also app only (I don't have an XM radio). So maybe they've improved or maybe they are less aggressive with the nonradio plans.
fingerlocks 2y ago
> Apple refuses to keep you logged in to your account, so you have to enter your Apple ID password over and over again. Settings > Account > Subscriptions > Cancel 5 taps on my iPhone, and no prompt for Face ID or PIN. Are you using a website or something?

by lapcat 2y ago

danaris 2y ago

[flagged]

lapcat 2y ago
This reply is unhinged, and it violates the HN guidelines. My point was that anything you can do via Apple, you can do direct. You can subscribe direct and immediately turn around and cancel after you sign up. That's not unique to Apple, as other comments here have also noted.

skhunted 2y ago

By signing up through Apple you are guaranteed to have an easy way to cancel. With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel. Sometimes a service you can sign up for using Apple is easy to cancel even if you sign up outside of Apple. But why take the risk if you can sign up through Apple? Sign up for SiriusXM and then try to cancel.

lapcat 2y ago
> With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel. You gave one example. One is not many. It's not true of Disney and Hulu, so the OP's claim "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple" was false. The bottom line is that it's not worth it to these companies for Apple to take 30% of their revenue just to be a payment processor.
- skhunted 2y ago
  Obviously you did not understand what I wrote. I clearly stated that sometimes it is as easy to cancel a service outside of using Apple as it is with using Apple. I followed up with a rhetorical question: “Why take the risk?”
  - lapcat 2y ago
    I'm not convinced that it is a risk. You also clearly stated, "With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel", yet even your lone example has been disputed. In any case, which company you choose to pay is up to you. If you want to go with Apple, fine. I don't care either way. My dispute was with the OP's false insinuation, "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple."
    - skhunted 2y ago
      Canceling subscriptions is so difficult to do the the U.S. that a federal agency has announced new regulations designed to make it easy.
Volundr 2y ago
> Sign up for SiriusXM and then try to cancel. I don't recall the exact button presses, but I've had a SiriusXM subscription, and it wasn't a problem to cancel. Just the usual "Subscriptions" section under my account IIRC. Funny enough I had a hard time giving them money in the first place though, where the links for the promotion they were emailing me about refused to load.
- skhunted 2y ago
  I don’t believe you based on my experience.
  - Volundr 2y ago
    Ok. I'm not willing to drop $10 just to retest, and it doesn't sound like you are either, so our anecdotes just have to stand on their own. FWIW here's there documentation on cancelling which says it can be done from the subscription tab: https://www.siriusxm.com/help/manage-or-cancel-service https://www.siriusxm.com/help/manage-or-cancel-service
    - skhunted 2y ago
      According to this Reddit thread you can cancel online but you must first chat with an agent. That's the Sirius XM I know. This thread is a year old. Maybe they have changed their ways but I'm skeptical. Consider me the Apostle Thomas. I doubt unless I see it with my own eyes. https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/100rb5f/sirius_xm_wont_let_you_cancel_online_unless_you/ https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/100rb5f/siri...
      - Volundr 2y ago
        I can say I 100% did not talk to an agent on the phone or in a chat box. I would have remembered that bullshit and not resubscribed (I did their 3 month for $1, promo, cancelled, then resubscribed when they sent me an email for a similar deal if I resubscribed). This was early this year. Also app only (I don't have an XM radio). So maybe they've improved or maybe they are less aggressive with the nonradio plans.

fingerlocks 2y ago

> Apple refuses to keep you logged in to your account, so you have to enter your Apple ID password over and over again. Settings > Account > Subscriptions > Cancel 5 taps on my iPhone, and no prompt for Face ID or PIN. Are you using a website or something?