If you sign up for a recurring payment with a company then the company can pursue you for the payment even if the credit card company declines it. This doesn't usually happen though because it's not worth the expense.
In this scheme it is DoNotPay accepting the liability (and declining the payment). It might then become economic for a big free trial operator to sue DoNotPay for all the declined payments.
This is particularly true of gyms, for some reason. In many cases, gym membership agreements have terms requiring the customer to cancel in person, too.
A gym I joined years ago required a certified letter sent to their headquarters.
I think it's a public service to tell young people how gyms work. Basically it's high pressure sales ("this discount membership offer only good for today!") plus hard to cancel memberships.
Gyms work on a model of human nature + oversubscription.
Human nature means that a huge % of people join the gym, go two weeks, and never return. Then it's hard to cancel, so the same people that don't bother coming in, don't bother figuring out the membership cancellation gauntlet.
I've tried signing up for gym twice, first time, I gave in to their pressure sales pitch (yeah I was naive) but canceled the contract under WA's RCW 19.142.040 (I have three days to cancel it for any reasons) , second time I walked away after getting tired of pressure sales. They particularly shame you for out of shape, etc, too.
This pretty much this sums up why I absolutely dislike these style of sales...
> A gym I joined years ago required a certified letter sent to their headquarters.
That seems like it should be explicitly illegal. I suspect it is already technically illegal in many jurisdictions. In the UK I'm pretty sure this would be considered an unfair contract term.
Interestingly the only way to cancel membership at my gym is to decline your payment (this is what they instruct you to do if you click cancel membership on their website)
If it’s a recurring payment for a contract term sure. But most free trial offers are “cancel anytime” and pay in advance of the next subscription period. There’s nothing for them to pursue you for if you decline to pay. They just stop providing the service.
In this scheme it is DoNotPay accepting the liability (and declining the payment). It might then become economic for a big free trial operator to sue DoNotPay for all the declined payments.
But I'm not a lawyer. Good luck to them anyway.