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submitted 5 months ago by cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world

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[image// text reading "End your free trial You still have 29 remaining days in your free trial. Once you cancel, you will lose access to the apps in your free trial." with a button that says cancel trial]

did i say mildly infuriating? i meant rage inducing. companies that don't let you cancel recurring billing at the end of the trial who hurt you? stop making me remember to go in at the 28th day to cancel...

yes, it is adobe. shocker.

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[-] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 66 points 5 months ago

Well, the point of this is a lot of suckers forget about cancelling and it makes Adobe a lot of money.

I don't know where, but I read that subscription services make a lot of money from people that are paying for it but not using it, or barely using it. I guess the "free trial" is the tasty carrot dangling at the end of the stick to attract new "customers" to this fair and honorable practice of "product as a service".

[-] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Story time:

I worked for an insurance company a long time ago. We sold insurance for 1, 2 or 3 years, and each year we would prompt the user to extend.

At some point we changed to a yearly subscription that you could cancel at any time and even get a prorated refund. This made us substantially more money because far more people would forget to cancel their subscription than there were people committing or extending to 3 year insurance. So the number of users reaching the max of 3 years increased.

[-] peanuts4life@lemmy.blahaj.zone 64 points 5 months ago

I use virtual credit cards from privacy.com. for trials I set a $1 limit and forget about it. It's pretty useful for legitimate subscriptions too, since I can pause or end them just by pausing the card.

[-] Winter8593@lemmy.world 30 points 5 months ago

A great idea for gyms too with their frustrating cancellation policies.

[-] rosa666parks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 5 months ago

Tried doing that with my gym and they kept charging me, then threatened to take it to collections if I didn’t pay up. They also called me twice a day asking for money, and if I answered and then hang up right after it will call you back immediately. They also used a different number each time so you can’t really block it.

[-] skyspydude1@lemmy.world 28 points 5 months ago

Definitely should share what gym so people can avoid it at all costs

[-] rosa666parks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Don’t want to say the exact gym because it’s a local chain but they used a software suite called “ABC Fitness”

Quote from their website

Imagine running a fitness club where cash flow grows, collection rates are high, and administrative tasks are minimal. This doesn’t have to be a dream—it’s achievable with intelligent billing

“Intelligent”

[-] nogooduser@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I guess that you had an agreement that specified how you were to cancel the contract.

It’s not really a good idea to just stop paying companies that you have an agreement with because you could get reported as a non-payer which could affect your credit rating.

Edit: I’m not defending shitty practices that make it difficult to cancel or the shitty way that they handled this.

[-] rosa666parks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago

I was on a money save spree so I disabled some cards not knowing it was tied to the gym.

[-] fury@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago

Yes. I literally had to close a bank account to get Planet Fitness to stop charging me.

[-] randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 7 points 5 months ago

sigh another US-only service. it seemed like such a great deal.

[-] SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 months ago

It does, and I get disappointed every time I read about it

[-] Mwa@thelemmy.club 1 points 4 months ago

Usa Only :(

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 37 points 5 months ago

As a person with ADHD I cannot help but see things like this as designed to take advantage of my poor executive function to “simulate” my consent on things.

Same with government programs that require a lot of paperwork to access benefits.

[-] Mereo@lemmy.ca 31 points 5 months ago

Unfortunately, a lot of companies do this now, including Apple. I made it a habit to create a reminder to cancel before the end date.

[-] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 5 months ago

that's what i do too. i make a due date in microsoft todo and set the reminder two days before :)

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Microsoft executive reading this thread, "note to self: charge monthly subscription for Microsoft To Do with one month free trial."

[-] CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago

Really? I’ve found that the really nice thing about the Apple App Store is that I can always cancel subscriptions in the same place and the subscription still works until the end of the designated period. Has this changed, or have I just been lucky in the apps I’ve subscribed to?

[-] Mereo@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 months ago

My experience was with Apple News. When I wanted To cancel before the end date, it told me I would lose access to the trial.

[-] CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Well if thats true then it’s pretty annoying.

[-] LodeMike@lemmy.today 4 points 5 months ago

He's talking about apple services. I'd belive it if they only allow that practice for themselves.

[-] Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world 25 points 5 months ago

I remember living in a world where i was shocked when companies started asking for credit card details when activating a free trial.

I'm signing up for a free trial. I shouldn't need to even give you my name. Just put a 30-day limit on the key i activate the software with. If i want to buy it, then i can decide that during the trial.

The fact that we are at a point where the anger is directed to the part AFTER i have given all my details and credit card info is so painful to see.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago

I remember being shocked when I saw for the first time a default subscription method was "recurring unless cancelled". It seemed mad at the time lol...

[-] Winter8593@lemmy.world 15 points 5 months ago

FOSS Adobe Alternatives chart

[-] Bruhh@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago

Do they not honor the rest of free trial? I normally cancel immediately after signing up and they still give me the remaining free trial. Never had a service not do this for me. This is in the US by the way.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

it is not a free trial if you dont risk getting billed for the first month

[-] Audacious@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 months ago

Also not a free trial if you have to give them your credit information beforehand. That's the red flag that prevents me from proceeding with free trials.

[-] missphant@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 5 months ago

Every time so far in a case like this I've had the trial still run for the remaining time after cancelling. I think it's just a dark pattern to scare you out of cancelling early.

[-] Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 9 points 5 months ago

I suspect there's a law requiring it, because I don't think corporations would choose to be that nice.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 6 points 5 months ago

Me reading that: cancels immediately, never returns.

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 months ago

if it's free trial, i just assume the company tries to scam me and never do business with them as long as i can remember.

[-] Mwa@thelemmy.club 1 points 4 months ago

I remember a coding learning website did smth like that and once you cancel you lose access to premium

this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2024

264 points (92.9% liked)

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