I would think/hope that it's unethical if not illegal to sign someone up for something without their consent. But these days they know no one has the time, energy, or funds to pursue them.
I can’t say for sure he didn’t get my consent. But I definitely didn’t know it was an autopay thing. I guess I thought I was buying a package of pre-paid washes.
Some credit card companies allow you to create virtual credit card numbers. You can control how “loaded up“ the balances on those numbers are. Use them when signing up to a gym or for a subscription, and if you later no longer wish to subscribe, just zero out the balance and there’s nothing the company can do.
For real-world transactions, get a prepaid credit card and put a few hundred dollars on it. Use that for every new company you deal with. If they behave, you can change them to one of your normal credit cards. If they don’t…
I still use the old-school self-serve car wash in my town. Feed in $1.50 or so in quarters and spray your car with the wand, maybe use the foaming brush with the pink soap if the car is as muddy as a trip to Bonnaroo. Then another buck or two in quarters to vacuum the interior. If you forget to bring quarters, there's a change machine which may or may not work. We have a new fancy car wash place that I haven't gone to yet, and I now suspect it will be just like what you described. I'll stick with my quarters.
I’d be all over that place. Of course I could wash my own car at home but I like the ritual of going to a car wash. I just despise their strong-arm tactic to get me into some dumb pointless and ultimately dangerous subscription.
As Cory Doctorow noted, "enshittification is coming for absolutely everything." Except farmers markets, which I will always love for their simplicity and value (at least until they get bought up by private equity).
Great customer service is always a differentiator, but it seems to be the first thing to go as a company grows and the last thing executives think to fix when the company is in trouble or they are reviewing incentive comp.
Sorry your family's traditional outing at Bonaroo got canceled. I got stuck in an unholy mud pit at an under prepared Pilgrimage fest in Franklin a few years back. Outdoor summer fests in the South and rain are not aa good mix. The old Sloss Fest got hit hard a few years ago as well by rain and lightning. I'm convinced it was the last straw for Margo Price, she hasn't been back since!
I would think/hope that it's unethical if not illegal to sign someone up for something without their consent. But these days they know no one has the time, energy, or funds to pursue them.
Ted Gioia just wrote about something similar -- https://www.honest-broker.com/p/an-ugly-new-marketing-strategy-is
You may resonate with "The first rule of Annoyance Club is that there is no leaving Annoyance Club"!
I can’t say for sure he didn’t get my consent. But I definitely didn’t know it was an autopay thing. I guess I thought I was buying a package of pre-paid washes.
And yeah, I am not surprised he’s covered it. Hems usually right on point.
Some credit card companies allow you to create virtual credit card numbers. You can control how “loaded up“ the balances on those numbers are. Use them when signing up to a gym or for a subscription, and if you later no longer wish to subscribe, just zero out the balance and there’s nothing the company can do.
For real-world transactions, get a prepaid credit card and put a few hundred dollars on it. Use that for every new company you deal with. If they behave, you can change them to one of your normal credit cards. If they don’t…
That’s great advice, thanks. There’s no breach or default when the effect of non-payment is the desired result: cancel the subscription.
I still use the old-school self-serve car wash in my town. Feed in $1.50 or so in quarters and spray your car with the wand, maybe use the foaming brush with the pink soap if the car is as muddy as a trip to Bonnaroo. Then another buck or two in quarters to vacuum the interior. If you forget to bring quarters, there's a change machine which may or may not work. We have a new fancy car wash place that I haven't gone to yet, and I now suspect it will be just like what you described. I'll stick with my quarters.
I’d be all over that place. Of course I could wash my own car at home but I like the ritual of going to a car wash. I just despise their strong-arm tactic to get me into some dumb pointless and ultimately dangerous subscription.
As Cory Doctorow noted, "enshittification is coming for absolutely everything." Except farmers markets, which I will always love for their simplicity and value (at least until they get bought up by private equity).
Great customer service is always a differentiator, but it seems to be the first thing to go as a company grows and the last thing executives think to fix when the company is in trouble or they are reviewing incentive comp.
Sorry your family's traditional outing at Bonaroo got canceled. I got stuck in an unholy mud pit at an under prepared Pilgrimage fest in Franklin a few years back. Outdoor summer fests in the South and rain are not aa good mix. The old Sloss Fest got hit hard a few years ago as well by rain and lightning. I'm convinced it was the last straw for Margo Price, she hasn't been back since!
I couldn't agree with this more.
Cash is King and I do love a wand wash. Somehow this piece reminds me I need to do this before I retire https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/spam-texts-privacy-burner-number-17596761?st=cBQaiA&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Great essay and so true! (Hey, my wife’s name is Karen, but she never complains) lol