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Comment by j_baker | Hacker News Reader

Personally, I think that any business model that relies on your customers forgetting to cancel your service is fundamentally flawed and consumer-unfriendly. And let's face it, that's what you're doing when you use Negative Option billing, even if you provide all the disclosure in the world up front. If I love a service, I'll sign up for it after the free trial.

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I'm pretty much OK with saying "Give us your credit card number; we'll charge you after your free trial" and then saying "Your free trial expires three days from now." People are easy to nudge into desired behaviors: they find it easier to go through with a decision they have already made than to make what seems like a separate decision at the 30 day point. I know of no moral stricture which says I should choose the sucky-to-the-business model just because it is sucky-to-the-business.

any business model that relies on your customers forgetting to cancel your service is fundamentally flawed and consumer-unfriendly

Absolutely true, and I agree 100%

that's what you're doing when you use Negative Option billing, even if you provide all the disclosure in the world up front

Here's where you go off the rails a bit. It's entirely possible that companies have tested and they know that requiring users to take two explicit actions (free-trial signup & entering payment details) instead of just getting it all done at once will result in a lower conversion rate. That's just human nature, and I'm not sure that acknowledging it is "consumer unfriendly".

The main problem I have with your logic is that it makes the very concept of subscription services "consumer unfriendly". Why rebill customers every month for anything? They should really have to come back to your site and take an explicit option that they want to keep paying for and using the service in question.

37signals does this, iirc... Do you think they're consumer unfriendly and, dare I say it, evil?

That they do this is consumer unfriendly. As far as the evil of the overall organization, I'm not really qualified to say. I've never done business with them.

so does "Don't be Evil" company (for Apps for Business product at least)...

so does Apple (for Me.com)...

etc. etc.

37signals offers a 30-day free trial for paid plans, but clearly states: "If you cancel a paying plan within 30 days of signing up you won't be charged a thing. We'll send you an email 5 days before your first charge to remind you."

In addition they also offer FREE plans for their services - which require no CC at sign-up and allow you to upgrade at any time.

Edit: Any comments on the downvotes would be helpful as I was just trying to supply more detailed information on the actual process being discussed.

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