Dark Patterns: How Subscriptions Trick You Into Staying
Confirmshaming, hidden buttons, and fake urgency. A deep dive into the psychological tricks subscription services use to prevent you from cancelling.
What are dark patterns?
Dark patterns are design choices that manipulate users into doing things they did not intend. In subscription cancellation, they are used to make leaving as difficult, confusing, or emotionally uncomfortable as possible.
A 2024 study by KnownHost examined 44 UK subscription services and found 84 dark patterns across them. Here are the most common tricks and the services that use them.
1. Confirmshaming
What it is: Making you feel guilty for cancelling.
Examples:
- Spotify: "We will miss you. Your playlists will not be the same without you."
- Amazon Prime: Shows everything you will "lose" across multiple screens.
- Headspace: "Are you sure? Your mindfulness streak will be reset."
Confirmshaming was the most common dark pattern in the KnownHost study, found 33 times across 44 services.
2. The Hidden Cancel Button
What it is: Burying the cancellation option deep in settings or making it visually hard to find.
Examples:
- PureGym: The cancel button is deliberately hidden in the app. Users report spending 10+ minutes searching for it.
- Spotify: Cancel option requires navigating through Account > Subscription > Available plans > scroll to bottom.
3. Forced Phone Calls
What it is: Requiring a phone call to cancel when signup was done entirely online.
Examples:
- Sky TV, Virgin Media, BT: All require phone calls despite online signup.
- Wall Street Journal: Cannot cancel without calling.
- The asymmetry is the key: if you can sign up in 2 minutes online, you should be able to cancel in 2 minutes online.
4. The Retention Gauntlet
What it is: Forcing you through multiple discount offers and plan changes before allowing cancellation.
Examples:
- Comcast Xfinity: Legendary for 30+ minute retention calls.
- New York Times: The "cancel" button opens a chat window where an agent offers multiple discounts.
- Amazon Prime: 4-6 screens of "benefits you will lose" before reaching the actual cancel button.
5. Misdirection
What it is: Using confusing button labels or layout to make you click the wrong thing.
Examples:
- Amazon Prime: The "Keep my benefits" button is large and colourful. The cancel link is small and grey.
- Many services: The default option is "pause" or "downgrade" rather than cancel.
6. Price Anchoring on Exit
What it is: Showing you how much you "saved" to make cancellation feel like a loss.
Examples:
- Woolworths Everyday Extra: Shows your total savings to date.
- Amazon Prime: Lists the value of all Prime benefits.
What the law says
The UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) includes provisions specifically targeting subscription traps. Key requirements:
- Clear cancellation mechanisms must be provided.
- Cancellation must be as easy as signup.
- Cooling-off reminders must be sent before free trials convert to paid.
- Companies cannot use pre-ticked boxes for auto-renewal.
The FTC in the US has proposed its "click to cancel" rule, requiring that cancelling must be as easy as signing up.
How to fight back
- Be aware that you are being manipulated. Recognising dark patterns reduces their effectiveness.
- Go in prepared. Know exactly what to click before you start.
- Use our guides. Each service guide on Let Me Cancel warns you about specific dark patterns.
- Report violations to your local consumer authority (Trading Standards in the UK, FTC in the US).