Skillshare Scamming LTT Fans

[skillshare]

Hey @Mehdi At,

 

We wanted to jump in here. We never intend to deceive new Skillshare members into paying us money if they don’t want to, which is why we follow a strict policy of informing users of their trial end date when they sign up and send a reminder 3 days before the charge goes through. Needless to say, we're deeply sorry for the inconvenience and miscommunication. Our support team has told us your particular issue with the payments has been resolved, but if you need anything else, let us know and we can follow up for you.

 

We also wanted to more broadly address the deletion and credit card removal issue in case anyone else is following along: it is correct that currently you can not remove a card if you have an active subscription, but Skillshare’s support team can delete accounts and credit card information at any time, at your request.

If anyone else has other questions, we’ll do our best to answer them here, or you can email us at help@skillshare.com any time.

 

Thanks!

[TempestCatto]

4 minutes ago, skillshare said:

We also wanted to more broadly address the deletion and credit card removal issue in case anyone else is following along: it is correct that currently you can not remove a card if you have an active subscription, but Skillshare’s support team can delete accounts and credit card information at any time, at your request.

That's the very kind of thing a scam company would do. Not make an easy way to remove the card, hope the poor user forgets, and BAM instant profit. Y'all need to add an easy way to remove cards, otherwise you're just a scam. I hope LMG drops you guys until then.

 

Being a FREE TRIAL you should not be required to have a credit card until the TRIAL runs out.

[Anomnomnomaly]

On 12/18/2019 at 8:55 PM, AngryBeaver said:

I agree the money isn't that big a deal, but it is the principle to me.

 

I have full no questions asked legal coverage with my current employer. So I would probably escalate this to a legal issue if only to make them pay for some hefty legal fees for their lawyers and mine.

 

The problem is they would probably issue the refund the second a lawyer made contact. Which means you blast them online which you appear to be doing nicely.

1 penny is a big deal... because if they do it to enough people and those people have the same stupid attitude of 'it's only a penny, it doesn't matter'  it can make them a fortune.

 

Companies scam people like this and simply 'hope' that you'll brush it off and they get to effectively 'steal' from you without consequence.

 

The only way to make these companies act ethically, morally and responsibly is to hit them were it hurts... their bank balance. Cost them time to deal with issues, cost them lost revenue... make them pay wages to people to deal with it... make them suffer any bank charges and credit card charges. Make it so unprofitable that they have no choice but to stop being utter dickwads.

 

From now on... if I see an LTT video advertising them... I'm switching it off.

[Mehdi At]

4 hours ago, skillshare said:

We also wanted to more broadly address the deletion and credit card removal issue in case anyone else is following along: it is correct that currently you can not remove a card if you have an active subscription, but Skillshare’s support team can delete accounts and credit card information at any time, at your request.

This is simply wrong and untrue. You can't delete your credit card information even if you don't have an active subscription. I clarified this extensively with evidence in this thread. It's a very rare practice, and you don't seem to realize it.

[Mehdi At]

2 hours ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

From now on... if I see an LTT video advertising them... I'm switching it off.

Planning to turn on ad blocker on LTT if I see them again.

[Anomnomnomaly]

9 minutes ago, Mehdi At said:

Planning to turn on ad blocker on LTT if I see them again.

I use one on everything... they've abused advertising and tracking for far too long and I have a zero tolerance policy on it.  Only things 100% essential to view threads are allowed from this site (or any other)... and if sites attempt to hide stuff, or get you to turn of adblockers, or script blockers... I simply go elsewhere.

[TempestCatto]

On 1/17/2020 at 2:53 PM, skillshare said:

We also wanted to more broadly address the deletion and credit card removal issue in case anyone else is following along: it is correct that currently you can not remove a card if you have an active subscription, but Skillshare’s support team can delete accounts and credit card information at any time, at your request.

@LinusTech  Imagine if Floatplane had a 30 day free trial. All you needed was a credit card as collateral. So a user signs up, enters their credit card, and tries it out for 30 days. After which, the user decides "eh, wasn't for me" so they want to remove their credit card from Floatplane so they don't start getting monthly/yearly charges for membership fees. Seems reasonable enough, right? So the user goes into their account settings and searches up/down/left/right and cannot find anywhere that even mentions payment information. There's nothing even in the FAQ about how to remove a credit card. The user then contacts support, inquiring about this, only to finally have their answer and their card removed from the payment system.

 

Most users would likely forget they signed up and would get at least one or two charges on their card, and may not even notice it right away. Sure, they can dispute the transaction with their bank and get their money back, but then Floatplane (or the offending company) would also still get to keep that money as well.

 

Is this a good way to make transactions? Or is this an easy way to scam people?

 

I just want to know what you think about this, if you think this acceptable policy and practice from a sponsor - or any company for that matter. This is just one of those things that really grinds my gears and pisses me off.

[LinusTech]

21 minutes ago, TempestCatto said:

@LinusTech  Imagine if Floatplane had a 30 day free trial. All you needed was a credit card as collateral. So a user signs up, enters their credit card, and tries it out for 30 days. After which, the user decides "eh, wasn't for me" so they want to remove their credit card from Floatplane so they don't start getting monthly/yearly charges for membership fees. Seems reasonable enough, right? So the user goes into their account settings and searches up/down/left/right and cannot find anywhere that even mentions payment information. There's nothing even in the FAQ about how to remove a credit card. The user then contacts support, inquiring about this, only to finally have their answer and their card removed from the payment system.

 

Most users would likely forget they signed up and would get at least one or two charges on their card, and may not even notice it right away. Sure, they can dispute the transaction with their bank and get their money back, but then Floatplane (or the offending company) would also still get to keep that money as well.

 

Is this a good way to make transactions? Or is this an easy way to scam people?

 

I just want to know what you think about this, if you think this acceptable policy and practice from a sponsor - or any company for that matter. This is just one of those things that really grinds my gears and pisses me off.

I've asked the team to look into this. If there is no clear/obvious way to remove payment information we do not consider that to be acceptable. 

[TempestCatto]

2 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

I've asked the team to look into this. If there is no clear/obvious way to remove payment information we do not consider that to be acceptable. 

I'm very glad to hear this. Thank you for taking the time to respond and thank you for looking into it. I hope to see this addressed/updated on the WAN show when able.

[RonnieOP]

I did a skill share trial last year i think. Didnt have these issues because i cancelled the same day.

 

Tbh i dint understand the point of skill share. The videos i watched were worse then alot of tutorials you can get off youtube for free. 

 

Does anyone here use it and enjoy it? I really couldnt find anything on there that i would think was worth paying for.

 

In 2020 with all the free information available to me at my fingertips. If your gonna charge me for info then it better be damn good info. 

[Mehdi At]

2 hours ago, LinusTech said:

I've asked the team to look into this. If there is no clear/obvious way to remove payment information we do not consider that to be acceptable. 

Awesome! Thanks. Contact me if you needed more information. 

 

Don't forget that in order to use the trial period offered by YouTubers you need to sign up for the yearly plan not monthly so they end up charging you for the whole year if you forget. 

[Rikere]

This sounds like an ideal use case for LTT's other sponsor... Privacy.com!

 

<Insert Linus segue into a sponsor spot>

 

Their virtual cards let you set limits. I'm thinking I'll try SS, but now, they're gonna get a privacy.com card with a damned low limit.

 

Edit:

Nevermind. They won't let you use privacy.com cards. I did the paypal work around, sign up and then cancel in Paypal.

[AbydosOne]

29 minutes ago, Rikere said:

Nevermind. They won't let you use privacy.com cards.

Out of curiosity, what's the error/message the site gives when you try? I'm surprised they'd be able to tell the difference.

[Rikere]

Something along the lines of "we don't accept prepaid/gift cards."

 

I'm thinking they attempt to put a large hold on the card or they're using the card number to ID the "institution" that issued it. The first 6 digits of the credit card ID the card category/assignment and issuing institution.

 

http://www.dirigodev.com/blog/ecommerce/anatomy-of-a-credit-card-number/

[Tsuki]

this is VERY typical of anything that requires a card to start a 'free' trial. they want your money and they will get it whether you like it or not.  its a scam

 

if the free trial requires a credit card linked, i dont touch that service. period. end of story. 

 

 

[oeci]

I concur, there is no reason why someone should be forced to enter their credit card details for a free trial. At the end of the trial period when and if the user decides he/ she is willing to pay for the service, that's the moment a company should ask for payment details but definitely not in advance.