@Deeishere Yes, that has happened to me twice. Now I make sure I read carefully all the terms on those free sample offers.
I do if they can't win me over. A lot of times, it would be super easy to do even just a little bit more to win my money, but the trials always end up failing in one way or another.
Sure. I used Spotify 30 day free trial, but somehow I forgot that. So about 6 months I payed 9.99 (maybe that was 6.99, i don't remeber) for them
I'll admit I've done my fair share of free trials and cancellations, but haven't ever paid for the product but a few times. I used to avoid giving out information, but like others have said I try to give the trials a fair shake if it's reasonably priced. There are quite a few offers that are unlimited if you have several e-mails, I remember my brother had free Spotify last year and never paid.
Free trials can actually dupe you. During the signup process you are most of the time requires to enter your payment details. Some sites may bill you without your knowledge after the free trail has ended. I don't sign up for free trials if it requires financial details.
There are people I know who use free to try services and right before the trial period ends they cancel the service before they get charged. It's quite risky though because if you didn't want to pay for the service but for some reason you are unable to cancel [the service] on time before you get charged you lose your money. For example if you buy something once a year and you've already bought it, you don't need Amazon Prime, do you?
I signed up for a product on a free trial basis and called to cancel and got harassed by the rep. That was not professional at all. I agree with @xTinx and as others have mentioned companies are hoping that you will forget and charge you. If I am really interested in trying the product during the free trial I will schedule a reminder so that I don't forget to cancel if I determine that I'm not satisfied with the product.
This answer solely depends on the product, and how well it worked, and also, the price. If it is a price I can afford to pay, and the product was good, then I will extend past the trial. If I did not find the product to be good, or worth the price, then I will end at the end of the trial.
I've never personally done it to my recollection but I know people that have. I have done it with a web host, if that counts I would like to do that free trial of Amazon Prime but since I wait until I have enough Amazon credit to order stuff from there, I wouldn't see a point.
The only things I have regularly tried for free are web hosting. I used to lurk in Web Hosting Talk forum. This forum is full of web hosting companies. All the major companies are represented there. There are also many new companies. It has become something like a tradition for these companies to offer something special during a festive season. Considering that they can make a festive season out of just about any occasion, there are offers all year round. Some of the offers include a free trial or a nearly free trial of only $1. The last offer I tried was 99 cents for three months of web hosting. That's almost free. I found that the service was reliable and the service staff was helpful. So I upgraded to an annual plan. Now I won't be shopping for web hosting for another year.
I've been caught out in the past and have had to pay to wriggle out of the contract. I remember one particular incident where I could get books for a very minimal fee. What messed me up was forgetting to cancel the whole thing once the trial period was over, by which time the company had already dispatched a few books. I kicked up a farce and in the end they said I could cancel the subscription once I'd settled the debt resulting from the books they'd already sent. I wasn't happy about it, but in the end I coughed up because it wasn't worth compromising my credit score.
I think we should always think twice when we are required to give our credit card details when trying something for free. With our credit card details, the company can make deductions without our go ahead. Look at the fine print, too. Sometimes, without realizing it, we have already authorised the company to make deductions. The best offers are the ones which do not require our credit card details.
I've noticed that most of these companies offering free trials usually take credit card details and that is what puts me off really. I had a bad experience with this type of free trial. There used to be a service called LoveFilm where they would post you the DVDs so that you can watch it and then return it to them. We signed up for a 3 month free trial and in the end they wouldn't cancel the subscription. We ended up getting charged for another month before they ended the subscription and took our credit card details off the database.
I don't fancy giving out my credit card information just to try an item for a period for free. If it's a product I had actually wanted to go for then that would be fine giving my card info. If I see the product to be very useful and effective after the trial period I am sure to go for a subscription if the price is fair to me.
I would take advantage of any free product as long as I'm not asked for my credit information because knowing myself I would probably forget to cancel. I usually take free samples from stores to be safe and if I like the product I actually do buy it after a few days of trying it. I have never tried anything from the internet though but I might start someday.
I did that once for the CDs but I had a bit of a problem with it. This company was sending me CDs when I didn't even order them. After a while, I got a notice that my free trial was almost done and they said that if I don't cancel it, I will be charged. I sent them a letter to cancel them but the next month, they sent more CDs and after a while, I got a letter threatening me to return the CDs because they didn't have my credit information. I wasn't going to spend 30 dollars just to send the CDs I didn't want so I never returned them and they didn't threaten me anymore.
If it is a free trial on a perishable item with a cancellation period then I am happy to go along with it. Recently I had a trial of dog food but had to give them my card details and sign up with them to get it. I think it cost me a pound but it was a really good deal and fed my two dogs for two weeks. It would cost too much to continue it though as the monthly cost would have been too high. It was easy enough to cancel, but if ever I was in the position to afford food of that quality, I would use them.
