I've decided to ignore all deals that say 30-day free trials that require your credit card. I feel like this plays on our ability to forget when the 30-day period expires and then we get roped in.
I bring this up because LinkedIn keeps e-mailing me about upgrading my account with a 30-day free trial. It's tempting because an upgrade would allegedly connect me to more prospective contacts. But I'm standing my ground as I am forgetful.
So what have you done with 30-day free trials that require a credit card number?
Don't. On the rare occasion when I accept, I count up to the day and set my calendar to alert me a couple days before to call and cancel.
I've done a bunch of 30 day free trials. I always put a reminder in my calendar about 5 days before it expires so that I can cancel it if I want. There have actually been a couple that I kept. There was one a few years back that sold gift cards to stores I frequented at a 20% discount. I saved quite a bit of $$ with that one. And another that gave out free gas coupons with the trial. Got the free gas, cancelled the trial before the 30 days. If it's a product/service you really want to try and you're able to remind yourself to review and extend/cancel it before the trial period ends, I don't see why it's a problem.
The only one I've done was the Ancestry.com free 14 day trial. I used the heck out of it for 14 days, found out everything I wanted to know, printed it all out, and cancelled it on day 14. Definitely worth it.
I don't usually do it, because like you I have a hard time remembering to cancel. But when we signed up for our UVerse TV, they offered us 3 months of HBO/Cinemax and we took it. My husband noticed a charge on our upcoming bill but it was before the end date of the promotion, so I called to cancel it right then. It turns out they were only billing for the portion of the billing period outside of the promotion, but they corrected the bill and then the girl told me that the next promotion was for HBO alone for 3 months, and after that the promotion goes back to HBO/Cinemax. She basically told me as long as I call back every 3 months to cancel/switch promotions, we'll always have free HBO. Not bad and certainly a reason for me to remember the end date of the promotion!
I have other similar stories from myself and friends, so I guess my point is that, sometimes, if you call to cancel with your reason being you don't want to pay full price for the service, many times they will extend the promotion or give you a different promotion in it's place. You just have to remember to call ;)
I've used the benefits several times that were tied to 30 day free trials. And I usually called within a day or two to cancel, you still get the 30 days free. I just make a note to myself on the calendar a day or two from when I sign up.
And if you like LinkedIn, it would be worth every penny.
Calendars with an email reminder are your friend. Free trials are great.
We just finished out netflix with a 30 day free trail twice. I have a friend who works at the cable comapany who will set us up on a new customer promotion and it is up to me to keep track of the end date and cancel so we will be charged for a total package.
I keep a 8 1/2 by 11 calendar in front of me at work on the wall, I mark in red sharpie all my cancel dates on the calendar. I make sure to get a cancel date after I sign up and if they cannot give me that I cancel right then, other than that I get the date and write to days before their cancel date to cancel.
Works perfectly for me.
I got stuck with a crappy life insurance policy that way when I was 19. I paid for that thing for years without realizing I still had it!
Ha! It is how I enrolled in Amazon Prime:)
I am really happy about it and with the service. In fact, I had planned on enrolling anyways, but I am with you. If I am not OK if I forget the 30 day free trial, then I don't even sign up for it.
The only one I've ever done is Neflix and that is because I was planning to get it anyways and it was nice to get it free for a month.
Its like all the "FREE" things you get offered on the internet or infomercials. You can get a "free" security system from ADT, but it requires subscription to their monitoring system at $40 per month. So with the three year contract you have spent almost $1500 for their "free " system.
I can't remember the last "free" trial I signed up for that I hadn't wanted without the "free" period.
Good luck to you and yours.
Nothing. I ignore them. I won't give my credit card number unless I've already decided to buy something. It's like saying to a business, "I might like this and I might not, but I'll give you my money just the same." Doesn't make sense to me. If a company really wants me to try a product for thirty days, let them send the item to me and trust ME to send them the cash if it turns out that I like it.
Your evaluation of the system is correct. It's easier to go ahead with your trial item than to cancel.
