I mean, the code is unappreciated because the fundamental premise was broken. Locking users out of their paid accounts if they don't respond within some X deadl

I mean, the code is unappreciated because the fundamental premise was broken. Locking users out of their paid accounts if they don't respond within some X deadline (no matter how long X is), without a refund, is a completely unacceptable "solution" to technical debt. The fact that you tried your best to give users a good experience doesn't matter if it's serving a fundamentally broken goal.