When I was younger I remember buying credit cards with a set balance on them to pay for subscriptions that seemed shady.
If cancelling was anything except convenient, I’d just use up the balance on my next trip to the grocery store, then shred the fucker and forget about it. Company XYZ could then have fun trying to bleed a rock.
Only downside is that was a pain in the ass too, but at least kept the control in my hands.
Wondering if any banks have a way to set this up as a kind of partition on your account? Never looked into that approach but it seems like such an obvious solution.
Anyone got tips for this kind of thing?
Couldn’t visa gift cards work?
I used to work at an Internet provider that offers a discounted auto pay program.
No, at least not there.
Every once in a while we’d get complaints that a card wasn’t working and it was because they were trying to use a gift card, and the system recognized gift cards and declined them immediately. Needed to be a credit or debit card with your name on it. Or at least someone’s name on it. Who payed didn’t matter, but a real person would be billed every month.
Virtual card numbers usually work well. I always made sure to use them with stuff like SiriusXM and other clowns that make cancellations difficult. You can leave them active or cancel them arbitrarily. Some card companies let you set them up via their app or website.
Log in
Modify/Cancel services:
Do you wish to add, remove, or view your current services?
[Remove]
Here is a list of your current services. Check the box for each service you want to remove
[List, with a select all button, and a clear button]
[Remove selected]
You are about to remove the following services. Please confirm
[List, confirm button, take me back button]
A confirmation email of these changes has been sent to your email on file. Please allow 48 hours for changes to apply.
Cable companies: how can we make that impossible?
What consequences don’t I understand? Like not having cable?
To play devils advocate, my guess might be that consumers will have to schedule to return hardware or something. But honestly, it’s just so they can bully people when they try to cancel.
Since they don’t let you to keep the hardware in the case they unsuccessfully bully you to keep the subscription, this is a not a problem, the hardware need to go back in both cases.
Yeah, it wouldn’t be hard to just charge for the hardware if it isn’t returned.
NordVPN literally will not let me delete my account. My 3 years is over, there is no method to delete when signed in to their site. You have to fill out a form with your payment details and shit to “verify your identity” (who remembers that shit from 3 years ago).
Literally emailed from the email associated with the account, called, logged in, etc. they won’t delete it until I send my credit card info in the clear, over insecure email.
FUCK NORDVPN
Try to log in from Europe, or change the details of your account to day Europe. Because with gdpr in Europe they are obligated to let you delete it.
I just tried to delete my inactive NordVPN account from a European IP (not through a VPN, I actually live there). Spent 10 minutes searching for a delete option without luck. The only way seems to be by submitting a form (which for some reason also requires “payment info”). Sketchy as fuck.
He used the vpn to destroy the vpn
What prevents you from revoking your payment mandate at your bank?
In Europe at least, your bank must honor this request and there’s nothing your debtor can do about except spending 1000’s to recover at most 3 months of payments with the current legal apparatus in Europe.
My credit card got stolen a few months back and it’s been great for my finances. All this shit chrging me 10 dollars here and there without me noticing that I haven’t been using.
I’ve only reactivated a few things.
Lol they won’t let me change my email address.
The email account has been closed for 6 months now and the bank account/debit card they want me to verify my payment with has been closed for years
By law, anything should be a one click to cancel service, instead of the maze they send you through.
Xbox live, gyms, etc.
German consumer protection FTW
The Fair Consumer Contracts Act will in future introduce a mandatory 2-step termination process […]. Wherever the consumer can conclude a subscription contract against payment, the provider should also give the consumer the opportunity to terminate at the same point. […A] cancellation button should be included on such registration pages for memberships at the first stage (with the wording “Cancel contracts here”). This “first” cancellation button should then lead to a confirmation page on the second level, where the respective user is identified and the consumer can effectively send the cancellation (i.e. with the wording “Cancel now”).
The law (German): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__312k.html
Pretty sure this law applies to the whole EU though
Yeah, these services don’t have to add much friction to trap vulnerable folks like the elderly. Obscure the cancel button under a couple menu levels and dark patterns and they have people trapped for life. It can be very insidious
there should be a button on the remote control dedicated to ending your service
This is a repost. https://lemmy.world/post/10852530
Neat, I never saw your linked one though - I saw this one.
That one was posted by a spambot, which a lot of people have blocked.
How do you know a lot have blocked it? The 50+ responses show it can’t be that many.
Sigh, I wish there was a better repost notification. Maybe the third party app I use is the issue
Yea it’s a bit odd, I can see ten similar articles about Putin posted in the past couple of hours too.
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“Cable firms to FTC: We shouldn’t have to let users cancel service with a click — Customers may “misunderstand the consequences of canceling,” say lobbyists”
“Cable Firms to FTC: We Shouldn’t Have to Let Users Cancel Service With a Click”
Yes, so so different. Oh wait no, it’s the same thing with the subheading in the title instead. Are you taking the mick or just busting for an argument? They are posts about exactly the same thing.
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You don’t know what literally means. Stop talking, it’s embarrassing.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen cable companies cry so much.
Oh hey look at the rich bastards whine about having to not be jerks about one single thing.
