Subscription is a trap for the company not the customer,
Subscriptions are a "convenient" (whenever you hear that word run for
the hills) way to receive payment. So what happens? It becomes the
only way to take payment, because companies are fooled into seeing
other methods as "too expensive to process" and not worth accepting.
They prioritise subscriptions over individual sales.
For example, I will most always give to charity on the spur of the
moment. I am ready to put my hand in my pocket for a childrens'
charity, veterans' fund, cancer research or whatever.
That rarely happens now, because nobody will take money. Main
charities are not at all interested in that, they want to get people
hooked into a subscription contract. I will beg the collector to
take a handful of cash coins or a note, but they say "sorry we can't
handle cash". That's insanity on a stick, right there.
They don't want £5. They want £5 per month. And I will not do that on
principle, for all the good reasons given in TFA, plus some
others. One strong objection I have is that subscriptions involve a
bank, and the banking industry is a hive of unethical scumbags. If I
want to give to charity that's a transaction solely between me and the
charity, not some data collecting parasites.
So they end up getting nothing, because they want too much.
That's a genuine tragedy, so sad, because whatever apologetics fanboys
of the "convenient, cashless society" spout, at the end of the day
it's a clear triumph of stupidity, greed and laziness over common
sense.
I am sure subscriptions harm many other businesses in the same way as
charities.
Subscriptions are a "convenient" (whenever you hear that word run for the hills) way to receive payment. So what happens? It becomes the only way to take payment, because companies are fooled into seeing other methods as "too expensive to process" and not worth accepting. They prioritise subscriptions over individual sales.
For example, I will most always give to charity on the spur of the moment. I am ready to put my hand in my pocket for a childrens' charity, veterans' fund, cancer research or whatever.
That rarely happens now, because nobody will take money. Main charities are not at all interested in that, they want to get people hooked into a subscription contract. I will beg the collector to take a handful of cash coins or a note, but they say "sorry we can't handle cash". That's insanity on a stick, right there.
They don't want £5. They want £5 per month. And I will not do that on principle, for all the good reasons given in TFA, plus some others. One strong objection I have is that subscriptions involve a bank, and the banking industry is a hive of unethical scumbags. If I want to give to charity that's a transaction solely between me and the charity, not some data collecting parasites.
So they end up getting nothing, because they want too much.
That's a genuine tragedy, so sad, because whatever apologetics fanboys of the "convenient, cashless society" spout, at the end of the day it's a clear triumph of stupidity, greed and laziness over common sense.
I am sure subscriptions harm many other businesses in the same way as charities.