Quote:
Originally Posted by dev777
you ever try canceling a dodgy porn subscription?
they're pretty good at making it as difficult as possible.
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No, but I'm not sure what a "dodgy" porn subscription is.
I remember about 5 years ago there were some companies (who aren't in business anymore ~quickbuck~ cough~ quickbuck~) who used to do HIDDEN x-sales and hidden x-sales on the cancel page.
I would consider that to be VERY "dodgy"
But Visa/MasterCard new regulations seem to have put a stop to that kind of thing.
As far as I can tell, that join page is a simple free trial that converts in 2 days unless you cancel. It also has a pre-checked "bonus" box x-sale.
From what we can all see...if you uncheck the bonus box and cancel the membership within 2 days you pay: nothing. And you would get 2 days to download and steal the entire members area... lol
I don't see that it's "dodgy" in any way.
Is it "misleading"? Maybe.
Is all advertising misleading? Hell yes.
I ate my Wheaties as a kid and I still never became an Olympic champion.
I went to Carl's Jr./Hardees and ordered a burger and for some reason didn't end up with Paris Hilton in a bikini washing my car.
Advertising is supposed to paint a great picture and sell the product. Free trials are great marketing.
I don't use that kind of thing because I don't have too. Matter of fact, I don't do trials or x-sales at all for Claudia Marie's site.
But I don't think that join page we are looking at here is a "scam" as the OP states in the title of his thread.
And I don't think that would ever deter a guy who loves porn from ever buying another membership. It certainly didn't through the 1990's and 2000's up until PIRACY turned the business upside down.
I'm far more worried about pirate sites giving away the entire members areas of paysites. THAT is what pisses off a customer. When they find that the site they have been paying for over the last couple of years is actually FREE everywhere on the net.
That would leave me with a very bad taste in my mouth. And the numbers show that.
If you look at numbers, X-sales had no effect on sales whatsoever...matter of fact business boomed during those years.
It wasn't until pirate sites got such big numbers around 2007 that business started to decline. And by 2009 piracy was in full effect.
Everytime I tell someone that I'm in the porn business they ALWAYS reply to me: "Do people still pay for that? I thought it was all free."
Never once in my life has anyone said: "Oh my God! I would never try to buy a membership, I heard they have x-sales and free trials!"
But that's just my opinion from what I have watched happen over the years.
Look at Naughty America for instance.
They never, ever did x-sales or any of the so-called "shady" billing practices. Their reputation for awesome content and clean joins is known everywhere. And if you had ever surfed their "Naughty Country Club" forums a few years back you would have seen that the surfers of the world KNEW that very well.
But these days their shit is EVERYWHERE for free.
I used to make a lot of sales for Naughty America (going back to when they started as SoCal Cash). But these day? I can't make a sale for them to save my soul.
THAT is piracy at work.