The New York Times just earned my undying enmity this week. I cancelled my newspaper subscription long ago, but maintained a Cooking subscription for recipes. Imagine my wrath when they signed me...
The New York Times just earned my undying enmity this week. I cancelled my newspaper subscription long ago, but maintained a Cooking subscription for recipes.
Imagine my wrath when they signed me up, without warning, to an "All Access" annual subscription for everything. They yanked the money out using the payment method I'd saved for the Cooking subscription. When I attempted to cancel online, there's literally no option. I couldn't delete my payment information, either. I had to dig through help entries which mentioned options that don't exist, and wait a day for processing after a very heated email exchange. Then I found out they'd also cancelled the already paid for Cooking subscription, and only refunded the All Access payment...
This would sound like a rant about a petty annoyance if the same thing wasn't happening everywhere, draining people's money and time. It's like there's an enshittification cabal scheming to ruin all services, sharing tips and tricks to ensure maximal frustration for maximal ROI.
Something worth looking into for NYT (and other newspapers)- your local library may offer access codes that you can redeem on your account (without a credit card attached!) for short-term access....
Something worth looking into for NYT (and other newspapers)- your local library may offer access codes that you can redeem on your account (without a credit card attached!) for short-term access. My library offers this for all-access memberships, no additional charge.
I believe many (or most) libraries get free access while on their network without an account but that requires physically being there.
I'll confess I dropped my subscription because I was increasingly dissatisfied at the quality of the journalism and the editorial content. But thank you for the advice - I'll check my local...
I'll confess I dropped my subscription because I was increasingly dissatisfied at the quality of the journalism and the editorial content. But thank you for the advice - I'll check my local library options.
The fact that good advice is to be paying a subscription service in order to maintain all your subscription services is just so bonkers. I get it, and I agree that it’s a great service, but it...
The fact that good advice is to be paying a subscription service in order to maintain all your subscription services is just so bonkers. I get it, and I agree that it’s a great service, but it just shouldn’t be necessary.
I literally did this and NYT still somehow managed to charge my privacy.com card after cancelling it. Granted, only one last time. I’m guessing they did some out of band communication to squeeze...
I literally did this and NYT still somehow managed to charge my privacy.com card after cancelling it. Granted, only one last time. I’m guessing they did some out of band communication to squeeze out those last few dollars.
What has worked better is paying through the App Store.
They are starting an inquiry to consider starting the process to make it easier to unsubscribe. I mean, I am glad there is some movement, but any results sure feel far off.
Efforts being rolled out Monday include a new Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether to impose requirements on communications companies that would make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one.
They are starting an inquiry to consider starting the process to make it easier to unsubscribe. I mean, I am glad there is some movement, but any results sure feel far off.
The fact that this wasn't already a law is baffling. It's not like it's a new problem that a lot of services are much easier to sign up for them to cancel. But this is America so why would we care...
The fact that this wasn't already a law is baffling. It's not like it's a new problem that a lot of services are much easier to sign up for them to cancel.
But this is America so why would we care about things that only meaningfully hurt lower- and middle-class people if they help giant corporations make money?
The New York Times just earned my undying enmity this week. I cancelled my newspaper subscription long ago, but maintained a Cooking subscription for recipes.
Imagine my wrath when they signed me up, without warning, to an "All Access" annual subscription for everything. They yanked the money out using the payment method I'd saved for the Cooking subscription. When I attempted to cancel online, there's literally no option. I couldn't delete my payment information, either. I had to dig through help entries which mentioned options that don't exist, and wait a day for processing after a very heated email exchange. Then I found out they'd also cancelled the already paid for Cooking subscription, and only refunded the All Access payment...
This would sound like a rant about a petty annoyance if the same thing wasn't happening everywhere, draining people's money and time. It's like there's an enshittification cabal scheming to ruin all services, sharing tips and tricks to ensure maximal frustration for maximal ROI.
Something worth looking into for NYT (and other newspapers)- your local library may offer access codes that you can redeem on your account (without a credit card attached!) for short-term access. My library offers this for all-access memberships, no additional charge.
I believe many (or most) libraries get free access while on their network without an account but that requires physically being there.
I'll confess I dropped my subscription because I was increasingly dissatisfied at the quality of the journalism and the editorial content. But thank you for the advice - I'll check my local library options.
That's what I do to access the New York Times at home. I have to renew it every three days, but I don't really mind.
Privacy.com. It's the only way. Although some others now support virtual cards also; Capital One springs to mind.
The fact that good advice is to be paying a subscription service in order to maintain all your subscription services is just so bonkers. I get it, and I agree that it’s a great service, but it just shouldn’t be necessary.
I literally did this and NYT still somehow managed to charge my privacy.com card after cancelling it. Granted, only one last time. I’m guessing they did some out of band communication to squeeze out those last few dollars.
What has worked better is paying through the App Store.
I had a very similar issue with them not too long ago, so you’re not the only one.
They are starting an inquiry to consider starting the process to make it easier to unsubscribe. I mean, I am glad there is some movement, but any results sure feel far off.
The fact that this wasn't already a law is baffling. It's not like it's a new problem that a lot of services are much easier to sign up for them to cancel.
But this is America so why would we care about things that only meaningfully hurt lower- and middle-class people if they help giant corporations make money?