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Comment by coconut08 | Hacker News Reader

Alternatively and potentially easier so that you don't need to jump through all of the hoops of finding where they hid the unsubscribe button and futzing around with the app:

use one of those credit card privacy generating services and cancel the card or set limits on the cards use after you create it. it offers super granular control over who has access to how much of your money, how often and for how long.

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Be careful. I would think that you are still on the hook for the subscription cost until you cancel, even if you use a virtual card.

You pay the first month, but after that it just gets denied. Every subscription I've seen handles it. Don't use it for a service that charges after usage.

They might "handle it" by deciding that you aren't worth pursuing for the small charge, but that doesn't mean you aren't technically liable for it.

Maybe with Apple they disable your Apple account but otherwise no

Why would you think you don’t have to be on the hook for something you agreed to pay for and didn’t. If you don’t tell them you’re done, they assume you’re not? It seems pretty standard. You wouldn’t open a bar tab, pay $20 and at the $30 of drinks point tell the bartender you only wanted to buy for $20 (and get away with it).

I don’t think they’ll take you to collections but I wouldn’t be surprised if they bill you should you ever re-subscribe.

Whether or not they come after you for what you owe, you still owe it.

Capital One credit cards have the virtual card feature built-in. You can use the Eno extension to use them. It even allows for scheduled lock outs of the specific virtual cards. I use it for every subscription service I use.

Do you know by any chance - Is this feature available only in US, or for the Canadian customers too?

You can do this with privacy too. That’s free for 12 debit cards a month

I don't understand your answer, sorry...

just signed up!

Is there a way to use the feature without their browser extension?

Yes, the website (where you manage your card, check spending, etc) can create and manage all your virtual cards. In fact it gives you a lot more customization over the virtual cards than the browser extension. But the extension is more convenient, it automatically offers to generate a virtual card on shopping cart pages for you. But I use a combination of both.

This is how I manage subscriptions too. I give every subscription a unique virtual card and I set it to “expire” or deactivate after 24 hours. That way the cards stays active for the initial charge/verification, but then it will not work if the card gets charged at the end of the trial. If I decide to keep the subscription then I just log into the capital one site and reactivate the card (it’s just a simple little iOS style toggle switch) before the trial ends so that it continues.

I have this card, and never used the extension, because I don't want to use a one time use extension.

Now they have added some of the features, in app. You can generate exactly one virtual credit card in app, can lock it from future use, and can delete this card (& thus can get a new one). Can't set the spending limit, can't get more than one virtual card in app, can't limit it to one seller.

The only thing it is good for is, your actual credit card number will never be with seller.

I use it without extension, it’s just more effort. You can use either browser or mobile app to create them.

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