TradingView's Emotional Subscription Cancellation

https://hallofshame.design/tradingview-emotional-subscription-cancellation/

by popcalc • 2 years ago

39 10 2 years ago

xbmcuser2• 2 years ago

I had also submitted a complain about the dark pattern that tradingview uses so that people get subscribed to $600+ annual subscription without being notified.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38347832

Does anyone subscribe to tradingview have you seen the dark pattern when you want to disable auto annual renewal. Need to confirm at least 7-8 times and most of the dialogs make it sound like you are canceling the subscription not the auto renewal. Like wtf I am not allowing you to charge me $600+ and renew subscription unknowingly

docdeek• 2 years ago

Is urgency really a dark pattern? To me it seems like basic sales and is present on everything from TV infomercials (buy now, limited stocks, only for the next 15 minutes + operators standing by) to brick and mortar sales that only last until the end of the week. Granted, it's a different version of urgency and the other stuff looks shady, but urgency isn't something I'd automatically put in the 'dark pattern' box.

harrybr• 2 years ago

It is perhaps more useful to consider “fake urgency” as defined here: https://www.deceptive.design/types/fake-urgency

qkeast• 2 years ago

I’ve long felt that “dark pattern” isn’t the right term. It obscures the intent behind purposeful decisions made by real humans, by describing a malicious action as an abstract outcome.

The use of urgency here is absolutely a manipulative pattern designed to influence user behaviour for the benefit of the manipulator.

randomcarbloke• 2 years ago

I wish there was more formalism around the idea of "dark patterns" it strikes me as a term for mechanistic configurations that encourage or elicit specific behaviours yet in practice it's more like intentionally hostile design/ux.

xbmcuser2• 2 years ago

It is a dark pattern if unsubscribing is more inconvenient than subscribing. If I can get a subscription where you are able to verify my credit card information and my identity with a click of a button. Then I should be able to unsubscribe with the same 1 click. If you hamper me in any way from unsubscribing no matter if it is a speed bump or a road block both are dark patterns.

jampekka• 2 years ago

Is urgency really a dark pattern? To me it seems like basic sales and is present on everything from TV infomercials (buy now, limited stocks, only for the next 15 minutes + operators standing by) to brick and mortar sales that only last until the end of the week.

Those are dark patterns too. In many places such scams are illegal.

It's a bit sad how people have started to just accept the pervasive and fundamental dishonesty and inefficiency of the market.

bluelightning2k• 2 years ago

I know I'm taking the wrong takeaway from this, but that jenga metaphor animation is kind of genius.

raindropm• 2 years ago

I think it's delightful(and maybe that influence me not to cancel the sub, because it's too cute? maybe..) Personally I think it's just normal-mildly-manipulative marketing trick and that's all. If we're talking about real dark pattern, there are much more malicious examples than this one out there...

frou_dh• 2 years ago

Personally this kind of thing is like water off a duck's back to me, as long as there is indeed a button to click. The real 10x worse thing is if there is no button and you have to email or call to cancel.

TradingView's Emotional Subscription Cancellation

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