Talk:Negative option billing/Archives/2013

Neutrality

"Negative option billing is not inherently unethical" Really? Perhaps this should include a link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.0.180.101 (talk) 20:15, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

A company can't just arbitrarily surprise you with this stuff; it's right in the contract that you sign to consent to the service in the first place. Admittedly not everybody actually reads the contract, but that's not necessarily the company's problem. Bearcat (talk) 07:01, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

A good point, Bearcat, but it plays into that mentality that "people get what they deserve" for not being astute. Which makes sense until you are the one who dropped their guard for even a moment, in the marketplace. What happens when you get older and lose your faculties?

The other aspect, as I noted below, is that some online companies are alleged to have intentionally ignored requests to cancel online services, and continue to bill customers (via credit cards on file) despite numerous cancellation requests. Yes, that is unethical.

Another issue is the so-called "cancellation specialist". When a customer calls to cancel, they are transferred to a "cancellation specialist" who then browbeats the customer into continuing service. They use of the specialist also makes it harder to cancel, as the customer, after having waiting on hold for 15 minutes to see the original customer rep, may be placed on hold yet again (for an even longer period) to talk to the "cancellation specialist" - with the idea that many customers will get frustrated and merely hang up.

So, it is not a matter of "just reading the contract" - when you have one party to the contract (the merchant) who is unwilling to perform their end of the bargain.

Joe Patent (talk) 14:58, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Good page, but... misses the point.

One of the problems with "negative billing" is that when you try to cancel, the procedures are so arcane that the merchant can claim never to have received a proper cancellation notice. Or they just ignore your cancellation notice, and claim never to have received it.

For example, you call up to cancel your membership (or whatever) and they say, "fine, thanks!" and you think it is done.

The next month, you get another charge to your credit card.

You call up, and they say, "We never received notice of cancellation" or whatever.

Companies like AOL were notorious for this sort of tactic, and there were many complaints about such practices.

If you Google "Angies List Sucks" you will hear the same complaints.

I am suggesting that it might be worthwhile to add something regarding how difficult it can be to cancel "negative option" payment agreements, particularly with online companies who claim never to receive your cancellation notices - sometimes several times.

Joe Patent (talk) 14:53, 20 December 2013 (UTC)