[hackcrafter]

My first thought is are they adding enough value to take a 30% cut off a digital subscription service?

But then I flipped the question to whether as a consumer, I would be more likely to be a digital subscription with a "Subscribe with Amazon" button.

Hell yes!

I just logged into my Economist account to try and cancel my subscription and failed to find any way to do that. Emailed support, they said "we would be happy to help you, call us during business hours...".

I would love all my subscriptions to be managed by Amazon under a single interface.

I would also be more likely to "try out a subscription" knowing I could easily get out of it without dancing through hoops.

[adrr]

Subscription providers shoot themselves in the foot when they do unethical practices like forcing people to call in and sit on hold to cancel. Its even a violation of Visa's rules to not provide digital way to unsubscribe.

[andylynchnz]

Thanks! That explains why the Economist here is so keen on signing up people via direct debit.

[jalayir]

The Economist makes it particularly hard. Surprisingly low level of ethics for a publication of such repute.

[sjs382]

Totally. This would be the only way I'd ever subscribe to NYT again.

[aakilfernandes]

Just got through doing this with another subscription. I was considering just putting a block on them with my CC. Would that be legal?

[calvano915]

A standard perk of credit cards is you can end recurring payments. Just file a dispute on the last charge and indicate you want to end the recurring charge. Sometimes the merchant is able to reverse the dispute, but most often times decisions go in consumer's favor (particularly when you provide proof that you took reasonable steps to try to cancel before disputing).

[xzel]

I've gone as far as getting months of gym memberships over turned after they told me one thing in person and then told me another thing a few months later when I started getting billed again. Charge backs and the point systems are the best things about credit cards.

[EduardoBautista]

That's why I subscribed to the economist through my iPad. Unsubscribing from newspapers is a pain.

[maxxxxx]

I still have warm fuzzy feelings about Netflix because they make cancelling so easy.