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  1. Indie Hackers2 min
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    Indie Hackers
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    • jeff3 years ago

      First off, got to credit the author for taking the time to share an unglamorous reality of his business and also for making what I think is the right call about notifying his customers of every recurring charge. That said, putting the blame on Stripe is a bad call in my opinion.

      I don't know how or why, but Stripe Checkout - which I use - doesn't seem to do this by default. INSANE!

      We all make mistakes so I don't want it to sound like I'm shaming him, but it's 100% his fault for not taking the time to familiarize himself with the payments platform he choose. The Stripe email options are not hidden by any means and the "how or why" of the default behavior doesn't matter as long as it's properly documented which it most certainly is. Many companies will choose to send such billing emails from their own system so it doesn't strike me as an insane default at all.

    • thorgalle
      Top reader this weekScoutScribe
      3 years ago

      Wow, learning the hard way! Don’t cry victory at first “recurring” revenue.

      And yes. Those emails are always reminders of “should I still be paying this?”, but they are the ethical option. Silently taking money will cause resentment, which probably will backfire.

      But I guess that from the consumer side, there are also some ethics to be followed. I have to admit that I have opted in for trial programs, discarded the product, forgotten about the auto-renewal, gotten charged, cursed, and unsubscribed ASAP. Sometimes even asked for a refund. Probably better for all parties if I’d unsubscribe during the trial period. At the same time, wouldn’t it be nicer if the service asked at the end of a trial: do you want to start paying for this now? Less conversion, more friendliness.