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I would pay for news if I knew I could cancel easily without jumping through ridiculous hoops. I'd really like to get a NYT subscription but that'll never happe

I would pay for news if I knew I could cancel easily without jumping through ridiculous hoops. I'd really like to get a NYT subscription but that'll never happen so long as they have their Kafka inspired cancellation process in place.

Cerium 1y ago
Same! I have contemplated it many times since the content is consistently good and I canceled my local paper after they doubled the price twice in the last couple of years.
grogenaut 1y ago
very agreed, they have tons of good articles which is about as many times as I've been warned never to sign up with them because you cancel.
apical_dendrite 1y ago
You can subscribe to The NY Times through the App Store and then cancel painlessly just like any other app subscription.
mertd 1y ago
California has this and it's great. https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2863 https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab...
MrDrMcCoy 1y ago
I use privacy.com proxy cards for this. Don't even bother unsubscribing most of the time, I just cancel the card and let nature run it's course :)
- hiq 1y ago
  Legally, can't they let the subscription run and say you owe them the money?
  - Nextgrid 1y ago
    I can say you owe me money too. The hard part is collecting said money. The overheads of collecting from a non-cooperative customer would not make it worthwhile.
    - tim333 1y ago
      But what if they pass it to a debt agency? I think it's a risky strategy.
      - Nextgrid 1y ago
        Ignore it? Even a debt agency has profit margins to hit and wouldn't take on unprofitable clients.
      - eastabrooka 1y ago
        Depends if they allow signup from a prepaid visa. There's no one to chase, its a prepaid.
lynx97 1y ago
Dark patterns around subscription cancellation have led me to only use subscriptions I can do via Apple. Having a single menu in the Settings app to manage all your subs is such a comfy feeling.
- jbverschoor 1y ago
  Exactly. I wish all the Apple bashers good luck. Well worth the 15-30%
rurp 1y ago
Same for the Economist. I was on their signup page about to start a subscription when I figured I'd better check how cancellations work. Sure enough there's no simple online cancellation option like there is for signing up. There are a whole bunch of stories out there of people being given the run around and wasting a stupid about of time cancelling their account. I even double checked with their support to see if it had been changed and got a ridiculous gaslighting response about this being better for customers. I generally think pretty highly of their journalism but these sleazy tactics definitely lowered my opinion of the company and prevented me from giving them my business.
mrguyorama 1y ago
The FTC was looking to do this stuff with "Click to cancel" but it's currently in limbo "to give the companies more time to comply" for some freaking reason.
cdaringe 1y ago
That’s an interesting observation. I canceled mine last year and it was nearly one click, easy. Navigate to my account, manage subscription, cancel (or similar). Donzo. I was so not irritated by it at all that I was actually willing to resubscribe a deep discount. I wonder if changes were made this year, because I’m generally pretty sensitive to that malarkey too

Cerium 1y ago

Same! I have contemplated it many times since the content is consistently good and I canceled my local paper after they doubled the price twice in the last couple of years.

grogenaut 1y ago

very agreed, they have tons of good articles which is about as many times as I've been warned never to sign up with them because you cancel.

apical_dendrite 1y ago

You can subscribe to The NY Times through the App Store and then cancel painlessly just like any other app subscription.

mertd 1y ago

California has this and it's great. https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2863 https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab...

MrDrMcCoy 1y ago

I use privacy.com proxy cards for this. Don't even bother unsubscribing most of the time, I just cancel the card and let nature run it's course :)

hiq 1y ago
Legally, can't they let the subscription run and say you owe them the money?
- Nextgrid 1y ago
  I can say you owe me money too. The hard part is collecting said money. The overheads of collecting from a non-cooperative customer would not make it worthwhile.
  - tim333 1y ago
    But what if they pass it to a debt agency? I think it's a risky strategy.
    - Nextgrid 1y ago
      Ignore it? Even a debt agency has profit margins to hit and wouldn't take on unprofitable clients.
    - eastabrooka 1y ago
      Depends if they allow signup from a prepaid visa. There's no one to chase, its a prepaid.

lynx97 1y ago

Dark patterns around subscription cancellation have led me to only use subscriptions I can do via Apple. Having a single menu in the Settings app to manage all your subs is such a comfy feeling.

jbverschoor 1y ago
Exactly. I wish all the Apple bashers good luck. Well worth the 15-30%

rurp 1y ago

Same for the Economist. I was on their signup page about to start a subscription when I figured I'd better check how cancellations work. Sure enough there's no simple online cancellation option like there is for signing up. There are a whole bunch of stories out there of people being given the run around and wasting a stupid about of time cancelling their account. I even double checked with their support to see if it had been changed and got a ridiculous gaslighting response about this being better for customers. I generally think pretty highly of their journalism but these sleazy tactics definitely lowered my opinion of the company and prevented me from giving them my business.

mrguyorama 1y ago

The FTC was looking to do this stuff with "Click to cancel" but it's currently in limbo "to give the companies more time to comply" for some freaking reason.

cdaringe 1y ago

That’s an interesting observation. I canceled mine last year and it was nearly one click, easy. Navigate to my account, manage subscription, cancel (or similar). Donzo. I was so not irritated by it at all that I was actually willing to resubscribe a deep discount. I wonder if changes were made this year, because I’m generally pretty sensitive to that malarkey too