4 ms·

This "life hack", just like doing chargebacks to your gym because it's easier than calling them, isn't valid. Your complaint is an extreme example of https://ww

This "life hack", just like doing chargebacks to your gym because it's easier than calling them, isn't valid. Your complaint is an extreme example of https://www.xkcd.com/1172/ https://www.xkcd.com/1172/

jawns 6y ago
The way you describe it, switching to a new credit card is a slightly easier way to get rid of a recurring charge than going through the proper channels and calling to cancel a subscription, and people who do so are just being lazy. But in reality, many companies make it nearly impossible to cancel a subscription, even when the customer has the right to do so. I have experienced cases where the only way to cancel is to call a designated phone number, but you're put on indefinite hold by the phone system and can never actually get through to the person who can cancel. Or you need to fax a cancellation request, and somehow the system never actually processes it, despite repeated attempts. So, in these cases, cancelling an old card is an act of desperation, not an act of laziness.
- rsstack 6y ago
  It was a loophole that happened to work but that's not one of the design objectives of the credit card system. It isn't Postmates', or Stripe's, or Visa's fault that some companies refuse to let you cancel (ahm... Shipt...). They don't need to make the card replacement process _worst_ for everyone just because of those few bad companies, when they have a different process for dealing with non-cancelling subscriptions (dispute with your bank and show you attempted to cancel - ahm... Shipt...).
  - staunch 6y ago
    The practice of charging a replacement card is relatively new and not how credit cards worked for decades. Why wasn't customer consent part of the process? Because that would lead to a huge number of denials and account cancellations for unwanted services.

4 ms·

This "life hack", just like doing chargebacks to your gym because it's easier than calling them, isn't valid. Your complaint is an extreme example of https://ww

by rsstack 6y ago

jawns 6y ago
The way you describe it, switching to a new credit card is a slightly easier way to get rid of a recurring charge than going through the proper channels and calling to cancel a subscription, and people who do so are just being lazy. But in reality, many companies make it nearly impossible to cancel a subscription, even when the customer has the right to do so. I have experienced cases where the only way to cancel is to call a designated phone number, but you're put on indefinite hold by the phone system and can never actually get through to the person who can cancel. Or you need to fax a cancellation request, and somehow the system never actually processes it, despite repeated attempts. So, in these cases, cancelling an old card is an act of desperation, not an act of laziness.
- rsstack 6y ago
  It was a loophole that happened to work but that's not one of the design objectives of the credit card system. It isn't Postmates', or Stripe's, or Visa's fault that some companies refuse to let you cancel (ahm... Shipt...). They don't need to make the card replacement process _worst_ for everyone just because of those few bad companies, when they have a different process for dealing with non-cancelling subscriptions (dispute with your bank and show you attempted to cancel - ahm... Shipt...).
  - staunch 6y ago
    The practice of charging a replacement card is relatively new and not how credit cards worked for decades. Why wasn't customer consent part of the process? Because that would lead to a huge number of denials and account cancellations for unwanted services.