There was another "incident" at our place, today.
Once again, Mrs. Denmarkguy got in a "fight" with the company responsible for a particular fitness app, concerning their deceptive subscription and billing practices.
It was the usual scenario of "try our fitness app for just $9.95 for the first month..." and then they suddenly nab $117.00 out of your account, after the trial subscription has been canceled.
In turn, Mrs. Denmarkguy tries to get her money back and that turns out to be a death march, leading to a 1-star review on Trustpilot, a claim filed with PayPal and a corresponding claim filed with our local bank.
It didn't take long to discover that there were many recent 1-star reviews, seemingly all related to people being shocked that the company suddenly yanks seemingly arbitrary amounts out of bank accounts and credit cards. A bit of math juggling later, it would appear there are lots of introductory offers out there, at different prices, after which the company suddenly takes PRE-payment of 3, 6 or 12 months of what is a monthly subscription, in USD, GBP or EUR.
Over lunch, we ended up philosophizing a good bit about the current (seeming) reality of life that commerce seems to have moved a very long way from being the voluntary exchange between a willing buyer and a willing seller, to something that looks like a perpetual and distrustful standoff in which sellers use every deceptive trick on the book to manipulate buyers, and buyers have to be on high alert with every single thing they do in expectation that a transaction is actually an attempt at ripping them off.
Although $117.00 isn't exactly a small amount, remember recently watching a YouTube video in which someone was exploring how "small subscription fees for apps" is slowly bleeding a lot of people to death (financially), often without them even noticing.
I can't help but think that a lot of it is "by design."
In most cases, we don't really think much about a $3.99 recurring charge for something... so we don't rush to cancel. Meanwhile, we live in this electronic age where actual paper bank statements have become largely obsolete... as a result of which few people actually get to sit there and see their ongoing expenditures in black-and-white.
The person who had made the video pointed out that it is not at all unusual for people to run up $300-$500 a month in "random smaller charges" over a period of 2-3 years. Subscribe to this newsletter, get that daily inspirational quote, a yoga app, a meditation app, a weather update... and before you know it, you're out a small fortune.
And just to reiterate: You tend to not notice it because any one charge is likely "just $3.99" so why sweat it? It's less than one of those fancy coffees people so happily get from Starbucks or their local espresso stand.
In some ways, I feel almost blessed to be somewhat of a luddite... in the sense that I "click on by" pretty much anything that starts asking for a method of payment. I'm mad enough that I can't get get a payment plan with auto or homeowner's insurance without agreeing to be on autopay!
Mitts off my money!
When I was a kid, one of the lifelessons I was repeatedly taught was "buyer beware." However, this "new business world" strikes me as being well beyond that, and get's into the territory of organized thievery.
As such, we renewed our resolve to get rid of pretty much anything auto-subscription related, even if it means foregoing a few things that might make life easier. The whole app world has proven itself to be more of a straight cash grab than something with any utility.
Of course, that's just my (and her) OPINION, and your mileage may vary!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!
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Created at 2024.11.14 16:20 PST
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