Publishing Desperation 101: Dark and Crafty Methods
February 27, 2020
DarkCyber noted a “dark” post on Ycombinator news. Here’s the zippy part: “I cannot cancel my NYTimes subscription online?” Options: Call or text. Yeah, those customer retention folks are available instantly… you wish.
No surprise. Dead tree publications want to attract and retain subscribers. Remember those magazines with the renewal notices which arrived a month after your first issue? Yeah, same thinking.
But the interesting part of the statement is that it is not as annoying as buying a print subscription and then having to call and obtain the online service as well. There is nothing like halving my support for the dead tree crowd and doubling the costs of “customer support.” Which wizardly outfit uses this method? Why the New York Times.
Navigate to the link above and read the comments. There are more examples of the dark arts of the dead tree brigade; for example:
This is a dark pattern that’s all too common on slightly sketchy small businesses. Slightly disappointed, but not terribly surprised, to see that it’s also common in “mainstream” newspapers.
or
If you actually want the subscription and are slightly stingy, this is also a good way to get a vastly reduced price. The people they make you phone to try get you to stay offer very different deals to what they display on pricing page. Definitely a really dark pattern though, and should be regulated against.
Does the dead tree world care? Not a whit. Desperation causes interesting behaviors.
Stephen E Arnold, February 27, 2020
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