[attrition] Just Cancel the @#%$* Account! (Tom Spring at PCWorld)

[security curmudgeon]

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To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior at attrition.org>

(c/o RSK)

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Just Cancel the @#%$* Account!
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,128206/printable.html

It's hard to find a Web service that doesn't offer a free trial. But just 
try canceling. We did, and the results weren't always pretty.

[..]

How Much Hassle?

I subscribed to the services beginning last July, and I canceled--or tried 
to cancel--them all between August and October. Afterward, I considered 
several factors in assessing how hard it was to cancel each service and to 
receive any promised trial-period refunds. For example, I downgraded 
companies that failed to provide a way to unsubscribe through their Web 
sites. I also dinged merchants when they continued to bill me after I had 
canceled, and if they made me feel like a Net gumshoe searching their Web 
site for clues on how to unsubscribe. And I penalized sites whose customer 
service personnel pressured me repeatedly to continue my subscriptions or 
even buy other services. Finally, I took into account how long the various 
companies kept me on hold, and whether they continued to send me e-mail 
after I had canceled.

Of course, hassle is to a certain extent in the eyes of the beholder. A 
10-minute call with one company might be fine if the representative is 
polite and helpful. The same amount of time with another company might be 
highly annoying.

Companies labeled "No Hassle" made severing ties relatively easy. For 
instance, some of them let me cancel by filling out an online form or 
sending an e-mail, and then they left me alone. Companies labeled as "Some 
Hassle" received unsatisfactory marks on one or more criteria. Companies 
that earned the "Big Hassle" rating failed on several measures; they made 
it so hard for me to cancel that I regretted having signed up with them in 
the first place. For a detailed list of the criteria I used in rating the 
various services, see "Thirteen Strikes"; and for more about the 
particulars of my experiences with each service I tried, see "Service 
Cancellation Woes."

[..]