Quote:
Originally posted by XPays
nysus- nice smoke screen trying to debate cross-sells instead of admitting you were just purely offended and over reacted. you push people's buttons and then they might just say something that bugs you.
you assume all surfers are incredibly stupid? the terms and conditions check box is Not pre-checked. The whole process requires affirmative action and the majority of people who purchase pre-checked cross sells use their user/pwd at the purchased site. surfers are more skeptical and less stupid than you give them credit for imho.
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A lot rings true in your post.
While I don't think all surfers are incredibly stupid, I think a lot of them are when it comes to our business and the purchase of an online membership. From day one, I have always told my people that you have to design our sites with the the least intelligent surfer in mind. It sucks, but in this business, you really do have to cater to the lowest common denominator.
While you are technically correct that a majority of people use the u/p on pre-checked cross sells, I personally have found that it is a slight majority. We did an analysis of two sites that used pre-check cross sells about a year and a half ago...while this study was in no means sicentific..here is what we found:
61% of pre-checked cross sell u/p's were used. To me, the important figure is NOT that 61% were used, but that 39% were never used.
Of the 61% that were used, the average time between join and cancel was 4 days.
The scariest part of our study? We asked SEVERAL sites if we could do this analysis and there were only TWO that even had the ability to look at this, most didn't have a clue.
It is my opinion that the practice of pre-checked cross sells is similair to the car dealer adding under carriage rust protection without specifically spelling that out at time of purchase.
Just my opinion. I also think that I should make clear that I don't believe that all companies who use pre-checked cross sells are out to con the consumer. Many have excellent customer service and a no questions asked refund policy. The sad truth is that there are quite a few who are using it as an easy way to fuck the consumer. I was at a site the other day that didn't even have a box, simply small fine print that told them that if they didnt cancel the bonus memberships, they would be charged $39.95 a month. If I remember correctly, they were getting BONUS memberships at 3 other sites. If they didn't cancel within 24 hours, their first month charge was in excess of $125 on a $19.95 join. Now that should be illegal. If I remember the site, I will post it here.
My two cents.