Subscriptions have become such a massive consumer pox over the past few years. It's the new de facto way to scam people out of far more value than you provide.
Also whenever I have the option to do so, I sign up for subscriptions with PayPal. It's super easy to cancel recurring subscriptions on PayPal.
[1] https://www.consumerprotectionreview.com/2021/11/california-....
Is this like with expiring credit cards, where you just let it lapse (which it's my understanding does not automatically get you off the hook—you just hope it's not worth the company's time to pursue you), or is there actually a mechanism automatically provided through PayPal to cancel subscriptions?
There are also some services that provide these virtual cards tied to debit cards or bank accounts. I haven't tried these types of services since I prefer the protection of credit cards, which often offer significant points or cash back rewards.
Yes, this is what I was referring to by expiring credit cards (I was very unclear, sorry). But does this method actually work? I thought you were still liable for the charges, just very unlikely actually to be hounded for them.
I usually use these virtual numbers if I had concern that there could be a database leak from the company, or if I felt that there was a chance that they would not follow my cancellation instructions.
I suspect that, to the extent it happens, it's less the banks keeping track of it in advance, and more that the bank sees a new recurring charge coming in to the old account and decides to roll it over to the new one.
I would love a central 3rd party service that could manage subscriptions across the web - ping me if you want to build it with me.
For news of for software it's more like paying a subscription and I have no idea if they will keep on giving me reliable useful news and improving their software or not. It used to be that I payed for the software if I liked it, and when they make a new release they have to get me to pay for it again if I want the bug fixes or new features. With news it used to be that I could just stop buying or reading whenever I wanted and I didn't have to navigate anti-patterns to save my money.
As a consumer I'm happy paying for streaming services but I feel I'm being held captive by software that makes me pay for a subscription. I'm constantly looking for an alternative to the latter and when I find it I cancel immediately.
I think in the end the user probably gets a better deal as well since the software ends up being much better and they always have the latest features.
When you are a power user the value is undeniable. Things like Github/Gitlab, Office, Photoshop, etc provide way more value than their subscription cost. Where I think its at its worst is for things you hardly use. I don't want to pay a subscription fee for an app I use once a month.
This is a good thing. It forces businesses to earn their revenue, not just rent seek.
> I think in the end the user probably gets a better deal as well since the software ends up being much better and they always have the latest features.
Completely disagree. Rent-seekers have no reason to improve their products because their users have to pay even if they do nothing.
What subscriptions mean is more money spent on development and customer support, less money spent on advertising and sales teams. Because the real money is in continually making the customer feel they are getting good value.