I like the term "(micro-)grifts". Because none of these behaviors are a scam, all here is legal and spelled out in the legalese. And it is all possible because

I like the term "(micro-)grifts". Because none of these behaviors are a scam, all here is legal and spelled out in the legalese. And it is all possible because you have authorized _them_ to debit your account, whereas you did not get any way of debiting _their_ account. As such the "onus of work" is always on you. This is why the "decline by default" to any claim is so powerful - it's marginally free for them, but it's a lot of work for you. And it's even better with those call centers: have a number to call but no human to answer - how is anyone going to prove that there are no humans vs "you haven't waited long enough"? (...not even a rhetorical question, how could you?) I have no good ideas how to solve it properly, because this is a balance thing and it's way too easy to reverse the positions instead of balancing them. As a natural person (vs a legal entity) I do always try to opt for post-paid wherever possible. And I have heard and read about "escrow" but never seen it in practice... Though that idea would be my starting point. <rant> I order about 300 packages per year, and usually only get ~3/yr that go this way: Thanks for buying this very specific item of which we have 17 listed as available for the next day delivery! Unfortunately we actually have none of them. As you have already paid us we may [be bothered to try] obtain one for you, but it will take a month or more. Or you can try to select other items from our offer [which we may have or not have]. And finally we are legally obliged to return your money if you wish so, for that you'll need to fill the specific forms and we have 7 days to process, but we guarantee you'll get your money back eventually! And at this point my thought is: Fine, just gimme the option to pay somewhere between 0 days and 3 months after I got the product/service. Oh and also given "next day delivery" is actually "next day to 3+ months later", I'd like the option to maybe-pay the listed price or perhaps 16% of it. After all details don't matter!... </rant>