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Linked in is the king of dark patterns and practices. I was foolish enough to sign up for a free 30 trial period (of course handing over credit card details wit

by shiv86 11y ago

Linked in is the king of dark patterns and practices. I was foolish enough to sign up for a free 30 trial period (of course handing over credit card details with the expectation they wont just automatically charging me and seek my permission before charging). I didn’t check my cc statements for a few months and there you have it ...linked in charged me every month after the trail period ended.

gknoy 11y ago
Did you ever have trial magazine subscriptions? I cannot think of any subscription-based service (other than MMO subscriptions) where the implicit assumption was not, "Keep charging unless they cancel during the trial period". This behavior being so common is one of the reasons I have a nearly gut-level aversion to services that OFFER a free trial. I much prefer a free tier of service, with a clear indication of the upsell options. For services I like (like Toggl) that have a free tier of service, I am still skittish of the trials of "pro" tiers, precisely out of the fear that it might be a hassle to cancel, rather than a "we assume you're going to cancel". Everything I recall reading about setting up a subscription service suggests that the default-to-stay-subscribed method leads to more revenue (as people forget), and as customers we're accustomed to think, "well, that WAS my fault ...". In a normal subscription scenario, even, that probably is nicer to customers. However, for a __trial__, I would prefer to see an end of the paid service, rather than to start receiving bills.
bduerst 11y ago
I get what you're saying but your trial subscription example isn't that unusual. A better example of dark patterns is how they repeatedly try to get you to sync your email contacts by sneaking it in at random points, where you may accidentally click through it. Their website has also become a minefield of upsell links, some disguised as benign engagement (e.g. "Add a new skill") while others are much more spammy (e.g. "Follow this unrelated business which promotes through us").
- deleted 11y ago
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  - bduerst 11y ago
    I'm not disagreeing that a trial period is a dark pattern. The harm a dark pattern causes is inversely proportional to the ability of the user to spot them. The prevalence of trial periods means that many people see it as common sense to not fall for them.

by shiv86 11y ago

gknoy 11y ago

Did you ever have trial magazine subscriptions? I cannot think of any subscription-based service (other than MMO subscriptions) where the implicit assumption was not, "Keep charging unless they cancel during the trial period". This behavior being so common is one of the reasons I have a nearly gut-level aversion to services that OFFER a free trial. I much prefer a free tier of service, with a clear indication of the upsell options. For services I like (like Toggl) that have a free tier of service, I am still skittish of the trials of "pro" tiers, precisely out of the fear that it might be a hassle to cancel, rather than a "we assume you're going to cancel". Everything I recall reading about setting up a subscription service suggests that the default-to-stay-subscribed method leads to more revenue (as people forget), and as customers we're accustomed to think, "well, that WAS my fault ...". In a normal subscription scenario, even, that probably is nicer to customers. However, for a __trial__, I would prefer to see an end of the paid service, rather than to start receiving bills.

bduerst 11y ago

I get what you're saying but your trial subscription example isn't that unusual. A better example of dark patterns is how they repeatedly try to get you to sync your email contacts by sneaking it in at random points, where you may accidentally click through it. Their website has also become a minefield of upsell links, some disguised as benign engagement (e.g. "Add a new skill") while others are much more spammy (e.g. "Follow this unrelated business which promotes through us").

deleted 11y ago
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- bduerst 11y ago
  I'm not disagreeing that a trial period is a dark pattern. The harm a dark pattern causes is inversely proportional to the ability of the user to spot them. The prevalence of trial periods means that many people see it as common sense to not fall for them.