Deceptive Patterns
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Thrive Market: Requires call to cancel subscription and auto-renews upon use

Author
Dark Patterns Tip Line
Date
11 Nov 2023
Type
Hard to cancel

“Thrive market requires that you talk with a rep to cancel a subscription but you can sign up for a subscription very easily online. Also, if you use your active subscription after requesting that it be cancelled, your subscription will be restarted automatically and you will be charged again even when you believed that it was canceled.”

Thrive Market was reported to the Deceptive Design Tip Line over its subscription cancellation. According to the report, signing up for a subscription can be done easily online, but cancelling requires speaking with a representative. The report further states that using an active subscription after requesting cancellation causes the subscription to restart automatically, with the customer charged again even when they believed it had been cancelled.

Disclaimer: examples in the Hall of Shame are generally drawn from public submissions and cited sources; they have not been independently verified and may contain inaccuracies. They are presented as illustrations of design patterns, not findings of fact, unlawful conduct, or intent.