Deceptive Patterns
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The Wall Street Journal: Difficult to cancel online subscription renewal

Author
Dark Patterns Tip Line
Date
4 May 2022

“I signed up online for short-term, low-priced subscription, but automatic subscription renewal cannot be cancelled online. You have to phone in the cancel, wait for a long time on hold (25 minutes into the call for me before anyone answered) and resist repeated and varied upselling tactics.”

The Wall Street Journal was reported to the Deceptive Design Tip Line over the cancellation of its online subscriptions. According to the report, the reporter signed up online for a short-term, low-priced subscription, but the automatic renewal could not be cancelled online. Instead, they had to telephone to cancel, waiting a long time on hold (around 25 minutes before anyone answered) and resisting repeated and varied upselling attempts.