[conradev]

I don't think these sorts of contracts should be illegal. I think a lot of things around them should be, like gyms requiring you to go in-person to cancel, or offering a terrible phone service to cancel, or marketing it deceptively such that you were unaware it was a contract.

But getting a discount in exchange for a longer-term commitment is often a benefit to consumers.

I just paid Visible for a year of cellular service up front and it was far cheaper than paying monthly – truly a great deal. I was able to front that money now, but if I paid a slightly higher per-month price in exchange for a year contract, that would be the same but with less money required up front.

[cogman10]

There are contracts that are basically impossible to terminate and offer basically no benefit to anyone, timeshares is a key example of it.

A problem with our contract law is that if you get anything out of a contract it becomes really hard to terminate if the terms don't allow for it (a peppercorn). With contracts now being written in dense legalese with multiple pages of terms and conditions, it's not really feasible to expect the common contractor to have a full understanding of exactly what they are signing up for.

[kevin_thibedeau]

A timeshare is purchasing fractional ownership. That's different than purchasing a service.

[AlexandrB]

> But getting a discount in exchange for a longer-term commitment is often a benefit to consumers.

This is already framing it in marketing terms. You're not getting a discount but being charged an artificial price premium for less/no commitment. This can get especially obscene in places where gyms are required by law to offer monthly membership options but they charge a significant markup if you go that route.

All of this has the effect of suppressing competition.

[conradev]

It is absolutely not just marketing: https://commoncog.com/cash-flow-games/

Jump to "Pre-payments in the Restaurant Industry"

Money now is more valuable than money later, and guaranteed future money is more valuable than no guaranteed future money.