Why is canceling a subscription so hard?

[Nolaeer]

I only have one credit card--a Visa. No PayPal or anything else. And I destroy my card and get a new number every two years. It is good to switch things up bc info gets stolen.

 

[burn587]

I was with XM/Sirius a short time years ago. Had to call on some matter and got the usual rep who didn't know anything and wouldn't/couldn't respond to anything that wasn't in her script. It was so bad I canceled and have since resisted joining again, even though I know they have some good content.

I just canceled after a decade of having it. Honestly it’s gone way downhill and other than a handful the DJ’s are the worst. Some seem to be on there just to piss off their listeners (Madison especially) and with Spotify I’m not sure how they stay in business.

 

[Farnsworth]

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

I haven't

XM Radio was always the worst that I dealt with.

I havent had XM/Sirius about 10 years. They must get worse since then. I used to love and haggle those clowns to so cheap, and call each subscription each year.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

Call your Attorney General’s office and complain.

 

[Clonehomer]

I just canceled after a decade of having it. Honestly it’s gone way downhill and other than a handful the DJ’s are the worst. Some seem to be on there just to piss off their listeners (Madison especially) and with Spotify I’m not sure how they stay in business.

I keep it for sports. Love to fall asleep to the late football games. But, it’s not worth it for anything more than the promo price. Not sure who pays $20 / month for that. Just locked in a $3 / month for 3 year deal.

 

[mkadl]

Never mind, I know why it's so hard -- so you give up in frustration and keep paying in perpetuity. I went to cancel my 247 subscription as the promotional period was about to end and followed the instructions to a T. I was told to go to my settings on the 247 site, then under the subscriptions column, click on "cancel my subscription." Only problem is, there is no such set of words to click on anywhere on the page.

It also gave me the option of calling to cancel or emailing. I chose calling when canceling online failed to work. I got the robo answering machine, went through all the prompts and after the final prompt, the phone rang and then nothing. No music, just dead silence. I had a sneaking suspicion they hung up on me. Turns out, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes that that is exactly what happened as the call just ended. So I called back.

If they expected me to give up at this point, they don't know who they're dealing with. I called back and finally got to talk to a live person, but they made me jump through hoops before they agreed to cancel the subscription. It shouldn't be this hard, but more importantly, it shouldn't be this deceitful. If you say there is a button where you can cancel your subscription, you ought to, by god, have a button where you can cancel your subscription.

I put all my subscriptions on one credit card. Last winter my espn+ subscription was through ROKU. It wouldnt cancel so I turned my credit card in as lost/stolen and got a new card. Subscription did not renew of course.

 

[Clonehomer]

I put all my subscriptions on one credit card. Last winter my espn+ subscription was through ROKU. It wouldnt cancel so I turned my credit card in as lost/stolen and got a new card. Subscription did not renew of course.

On all my streaming services I try to use my Apple account for those so it’s super simple to cancel. YTTV is still one that has to go through their site. But they won’t let you manage your account through the app. Has to be on the website. But it’s super difficult to get to the account page because it’ll take you to a signup page or automatically jump from the browser to the app depending on whether you’re signed in. Gonna be so happy when I don’t have to start that back up in the fall with ESPN doing their own thing now.

 

[CycloneEggie]

I just canceled after a decade of having it. Honestly it’s gone way downhill and other than a handful the DJ’s are the worst. Some seem to be on there just to piss off their listeners (Madison especially) and with Spotify I’m not sure how they stay in business.

Madison is the worst

 

[wxman1]

I haven't


I havent had XM/Sirius about 10 years. They must get worse since then. I used to love and haggle those clowns to so cheap, and call each subscription each year.

Well not all of us want to call and haggle and jump through hoops. Either give me your best offer or get out of my way and let me cancel, not have to call to cancel to begin with and then go through several different offers just to do what I want.

 

[JimDogRock]

"media" companies need subscriber numbers to show to their advertisers and shareholders. of course, it has ended in tears. newspapers, especially, played this all wrong.

This jives with my most difficult subscription cancellation which was The Courier out of Waterloo.
I had signed up for some sort of Christmas promo pricing or whatnot and did not want to pay the regular price.
They would only let you cancel if you called in, sat on hold, listened to them give spiel after spiel of ever lowering price offers, and (I think) having to hold again for the manager to be put on the line because the first tier is not authorized to cancel an account.
What a dumb gimmick to try to retain subscribers.

 

[CYphyllis]

I've had the exact opposite experience with 247. My account is an old holdover from when they were Scout that was signed up on some ridiculously low promotion (it's like 3 or 4 bucks per month), so they have attempted to cancel my account for me multiple times.

 

[VeloClone]

This jives with my most difficult subscription cancellation which was The Courier out of Waterloo.
I had signed up for some sort of Christmas promo pricing or whatnot and did not want to pay the regular price.
They would only let you cancel if you called in, sat on hold, listened to them give spiel after spiel of ever lowering price offers, and (I think) having to hold again for the manager to be put on the line because the first tier is not authorized to cancel an account.
What a dumb gimmick to try to retain subscribers.

Seems like a pretty good way to make sure you never subscribe again...

 

[Gorm]

I keep it for sports. Love to fall asleep to the late football games. But, it’s not worth it for anything more than the promo price. Not sure who pays $20 / month for that. Just locked in a $3 / month for 3 year deal.

My cousin uses the Varsity app for that very purpose during football season.

 

[Clonehomer]

My cousin uses the Varsity app for that very purpose during football season.

Want the NFL too. And there’s a lot of kids soccer games on Sundays that this helps out on.