• zzx@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      OKAY OMG TRUE I’M SO MAD ABOUT IT. I’M PRETTY SURE I GOT IT FOR FREE ON REDDIT SOMEHOW, I USED IT FOR YEARS AND THEN THEY AXED ME

    • xta@lemmy.world
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      Me TOO!! i sent emails to support, posted on a google forums thread, this was like what, 13 years ago already?, eventually the thread got deleted, reach out to google support, they told me to take it with them, they never ever replied. so since then i never purchased a “lifetime” of anything

      fuck them.

      the app was very good though, and while typing this i got myself worked out and realized im still livid

      edit: bought cerberus un 2015, got the

      Hi xta, Your Cerberus license will expire soon. If you want to continue to use our services please consider buying a license. Click here to buy a license through secure payment! Thank You The Cerberus Team

      email on late dec 2019.

    • Lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Same here. I made them refund me and then delete my account. It was a small amount, but I was pissed enough that I wanted them to work for it.

  • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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    It’s BS they didn’t know about it. They got the financials before the deal. Even if it wasn’t directly listed as a line item it would have been a part of the expenses.

    They still thought the deal was worth doing as it was based on incoming revenue and outgoing expenses.

  • nucleative@lemmy.world
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    It kind of looks like the new owners of VPN Secure got screwed - the last owner made all these costly lifetime deals and didn’t tell them. The obligation/liability to service those deals wasn’t transferred to the new owners.

    Which means the old owner is probably the bad guy here and still owes these customers for their lifetime subscriptions.

    • teft@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Sounds like the new owner didn’t do due diligence when inspecting what they were purchasing. Which means the new guy is an idiot and you probably shouldn’t trust your data with them.

      • nucleative@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        You can do due diligence as a buyer forever but if the seller lies or doesn’t disclose… Problems like these happen. Lawsuits are potentially incoming to figure that one out.

  • hamFoilHat@lemmy.world
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    Glad people care this time, pure VPN did exactly the same thing except without the buyout. 5 years into a lifetime plan they said, “sorry, your account is closed”. They were offering 5 year plans for less when I got the lifetime one. They didn’t care and told me to complain to slashDot because that’s where I bought it.

    • Schwim Dandy@lemm.ee
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      Pure did the same to me. They’d rather lose lifetime subs and save the traffic than foster customer loyalty. They didn’t expect any of us to pay for a recurring subscription after doing what they did.

  • tabular@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I assume most companies write somewhere in their terms that “lifetime” means effectively “whenever the fuck we want”.

    If there is a company that uses the word lifetime properly they may be worth a mention.

    • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      That shouldn’t matter

      If we had the most basic of regulatory practices over businesses in this country, especially the tech industry, this practice simply wouldn’t be allowed. Even the bullshit doublespeak “life of the product” version

      Lifetime means lifetime. If you can’t honor that don’t offer it. If you go back on it you should be harshly penalized.

      Looking at you t mobile, rolling stone magazine, filmora, Dropbox, salesforce, mcafee, etc

      This should also include if you remove features from lifetime subscriptions and make them contingent on paid monthly subscriptions (looking at you adobe, Evernote, and probably plex in 3-5 years)

      • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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        I’ve read that laws of most countries have become orders of magnitude more complex since the time when ESG wrote his Perry Mason books.

        One could also think that all of the laws functioning in a country at one moment being possible to grasp for one person in a week are a requirement for Heinlein and Asimov’s visions of good future too.

        Often touching upon the fundamental aspects like this one - a company sells not what it advertises, but it has somewhere in agreement a line that says otherwise.

        While we have enormous amount and volume of active laws that don’t change any fundamental aspects, but function as a minefield for an honest person trying to navigate reality.

        A combinatorial explosion if you will.

        When the legal apparatus as a whole stops functioning as law and becomes yet another power in the society. In some sense having law is a disturbance, and laws becoming so complex that they are not laws again, but something like medieval privileges, with complex interpretations depending on each side’s power, and sometimes inevitable contradictions, just means that the system of society has responded to that disturbance.

        • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          In this instance at least the regulatory process is simple though

          Say what you mean, mean what you say.

          We can maybe have some nuance over lifetime being the lifetime of the consumer buying it vs the lifetime of the company although that has to be carefully worded to prevent situations like this. But it’s probably somewhat fair that if your company completely fails the product is done. This should be clear that the company has to completely fail, not a “apple sells lifetime subscription and decides the product isn’t viable so they kill it” situation or “subsidiary company of google fails and google could easily partially refund the lifetime subscription fees as the parent company” situation

          But I would argue it’s not as much about legal complexity here but about regulatory capture. There are really two forces on this issue: businesses looking to keep a lack of regulation and continue utilization of vague misleading language, and consumers that would benefit from regulation against said language.

          The businesses are aligned, obviously have vast resources, can influence propaganda on the matter, and can lobby lawmakers directly.

          The consumers are fragmented because of the propaganda and a lack of education on the issue, they don’t have strong representation among lawmakers, they don’t have resources, etc. they are scattered unless someone decides this specific issue is annoying enough to get up in arms about and make some kind of action network over, gathering people and support. While it is a serious problem there are just so many serious problems facing consumers and Americans right now, so why focus on this?

          And thus, our regulatory bodies yet again fail us

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Lifetime means lifetime

        No, actually that is part of the problem, they shouldn’t even be allowed to advertise ‘Lifetime’ without explicitly stating whose lifetime.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      I remember when AT&T had “unlimited” data when the original iPhone came out and severely underestimated how much data people used.

      Today, every cell phone provider has an “unlimited” plan and in the fine print says “up to x GB, after which you will be throttled.”

      That shit should be illegal.

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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      They often tie it to current offerings. So your plan may have unlimited 4G data for life, but won’t include anything faster/newer. So once you want/need 5G, you have to switch to a different plan.

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        And even then it’s dependent on the availability of the 4G network or whatever. They’re currently sunsetting 2G and 3G networks, that means a lot of old school devices have to be upgraded or cut off, upgrades come with new contracts.

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      I’ve seen some saying that “lifetime” refers to product lifetime, which is not expected to be more than X years. So yeah, slimes gonna slime

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    Why would anyone be stupid enough to not honor them? Now, even if they backtrack, their name is mud. It’s so stupid.

    • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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      Damn straight. I never heard of this company before but you can bet your life I will never do business with them.

      • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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        They will just change their name in 6 months. They all just get bought and sold non stop so you cant research if they are good or not. Kind of like those one apartments near a college that always change names and colors to trick freshmen into leasing with them.

    • Someone8765210932@lemmy.world
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      Especially when we are talking about VPNs. The reason so many companies are sprouting out of the ground to offer VPNs is because the margin they have is huge.

    • neclimdul@lemmy.world
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      I mean it seems to happen pretty often. The Curiosity Nebula mess, Crunchyroll had a $10 for the lifetime of your account thing but when Sony bought them they started messing with it. Even Google tried it with Google App domains free tier which they promised for life. I think everyone said fu to the buyout and just waited for the class action until Google blinked at the last minute.

      I assume Plex will find a way to start charging lifetime purchasers any day now.

      At this point I look for them just to see what sort of train wreck it’ll turn into.

      • __dev@lemmy.world
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        Lifetime services/updates are always a scam. The economics of this are really simple: Nebula is $30 per year or $300 lifetime. That lifetime membership covers only 10 years of subscription. So what’s the plan after that? There’s only really three outcomes:

        • They stop providing you service
        • They go bankrupt trying to provide you service
        • They grow and stay big enough to be able to subsidize your service for your lifetime. I can’t overstate how unlikely this is.

        Buying a lifetime membership you’re gambling that Nebula will grow big enough that other people’s subscription will pay for your service. Your membership is a liability for them.

        It’s also bad from the other end. Lots of small software devs will sell lifetime updates but eventually need to abandon their products because they simply run out of money.

        A service continually costs money to provide. You can’t pay for that with a single payment. Lifetime services are simply incompatible with running a business long term. It’s a bad idea and someone is always getting screwed.

          • __dev@lemmy.world
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            Sure, but it’s not more valuable than $30 + regular price increases for 60+ years. That’s what a lifetime membership is.

            Lets flip that around: For my own finances $300 is a lot more valuable than $30 for 10 years. So if I’m to expect that the company will go out of business in 10 years or so, I would have been better off paying for the subscription.

            Lets also not forget that companies don’t take that $300 and responsibly invest it. It gets reinvested in a risky bid to grow the company and get enough people to subscribe in order to pay for your service going forward.

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    This is also why if you hit the lottery, you should take the discounted upfront cash payout, and not get it paid in an annual annuity for 20 years. You never know if the government is suddenly going become moral about gambling, and cancel all lottery payments.

    Take the money and run.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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        True but that is a situation that doesn’t really apply very often in the “if you hit the lottery” situation mentioned in the post you replied to.

        • Droggelbecher@lemmy.world
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          I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re being smart about the lottery by thinking about which is the smarter course of action in case of a win. The only way to be smart about the lottery is to not play.

          • spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            The only way to be smart about the lottery is to not play.

            I don’t disagree, but I also thing playing the lottery once in a while is fine if you’re just doing it as a daydream or something. Back when I worked in an office, if the jackpot got high enough we’d do an office pool and everyone that wanted to would throw in 10 bucks or something. And I’ve also done the same myself for the above reason but I play at most once or so a year.

            • Droggelbecher@lemmy.world
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              That’s the responsible way to enjoy it! But you can’t have any expectations that it’s a good idea beyond having fun with it. And I find that sometimes these posts about how to do the lottery in the smartest way possible kind of detract from the fact that it’s wrong and possibly harmful to think that it’s anything aside from a potentially fun thing to do.

    • Libra00@lemmy.ml
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      Also because that lump sum is all there is. If you take the annuity they put the lump sum into an investment account and then pay you out of the proceeds (from which they take a cut, of course), and you can get the same returns they get, without losing their cut, doing it yourself.

      • Landless2029@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        They also take a big wet bite out of the total when you do a lump sum pay out. Then you pay taxes on it too. Oh and of you do the 20 year payout and die they keep it all. You can’t transfer it.

        • Libra00@lemmy.ml
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          No doubt, but it’s still a lot better than doing the annuity. Half of fuck you money is still fuck you money.

          • Landless2029@lemmy.world
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            Biggest mistake people do is put it all towards a house for a low or no monthly mortgage. It’s better to invest it. Buy two. One to live in and a multi to rent out.

            • Libra00@lemmy.ml
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              Yeah, my plan would be to buy a (small, perhaps even cozy) house to live in right now because my living situation is not ideal, set some small portion of it aside just to blow on stupid shit to get it out of my system, and then invest the rest to ensure that I can live off the proceeds for the rest of my life. Anything beyond what is necessary to secure myself a modest but comfortable lifestyle is going to be given away to help people.

    • chilicheeselies@lemmy.world
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      Absolutely. However, if you are not the best with money, or on the irresponsible side; it might be best to take the annuity. Mathematically it makes no sense to do so, but if it stops you from blowing it all on hookers and coke in two years then its for the best. In other words, if you having it all is riskier than the state keeping track of it.

      • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Can’t you open up a trust with the money and put a provision on it saving you from yourself?

      • spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        Even if you’re bad with money, take the lump sum and go get a fiduciary advisor to handle it and give you a regular payout. Being a fiduciary advisor is important since it means they are legally obligated to work to the benefit of your money, not lining their pockets. Using something like a trust is another good way to protect you from yourself.

        • chilicheeselies@lemmy.world
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          I mean more like someone who is irresponsible and maybe dumb. I was trying to be polite. Someone that doesnt even know what a fidicuary is.

  • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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    This is also why I stopped prepaying for things. Sure I’m spending $50 more a year but at least I have flexibility.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      Agency… people need to be more mindful when they are giving it up. It leads to bad places unless you know what you are doing.

  • glitchdx@lemmy.world
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    Considering how many companies are forcing into their TOSs forced arbitration and waving the right to class action lawsuit, of course this kind of shit was going to happen.

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    I learned my lesson about “lifetime” thanks to SiriusXM.

    When Howard Stern got lured to SiriusXM they offered a deal where you buy the receiver and pay $500 for a lifetime subscription with unlimited transfers to different receivers. Fat forward to 2017ish when I bought my last car that had the receiver built into the radio and tried to transfer to the new one. I was told that was the last time I would be able to do that and in the future I’d be paying a $75 transfer fee and be forced into a monthly subscription.

    Lifetime is a hoax.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      This may be your lucky day then! You can likely use that lifetime sub now!

      I did the Sirius lifetime deal a few years offered before the one you did (in 2003 I think?). At the time they called it the “Friends and Family” promotion. It was only $300 at the time for lifetime sub, and they gave you the hardware for free. I’m still using that same lifetime sub today.

      I was told that was the last time I would be able to do that and in the future I’d be paying a $75 transfer fee and be forced into a monthly subscription.

      This was absolutely true this was the rules at one point. However there was a rule change (via lawsuit maybe?) that allows UNLIMITED TRANSFERS and the fee is only $35/transfer. Its even on the SiriusXM website FAQ:

      “Please note: You may transfer an active Lifetime Subscription to another radio an unlimited number of times. For each permitted transfer of a Lifetime Subscription, you will be charged a $35 transfer fee, and the transfer must be effectuated through your Online Account.” source

      Your account is likely still alive with your name on it! Contact them and get back into it!

      Further, back when you and I bought our lifetime subs the SiriusXM streaming service didn’t exist. It is actually pretty robust now. With your lifetime sub (even without it being on a vehicle), you have full access to unlimited commercial free streaming in their best quality bitrate (there was a time that they offered reduced bitrates for lifetime users but that’s gone now too).

      For me, because of a further discount I only paid $230 for my lifetime sub because I got a credit for my previous monthly service and I’ve now had it for over 22 years. So if you do the math, I’m paying 87 cents per month for full in-car and streaming SiriusXM. Lifetime deal was SO worth it!

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      Lifetime is a hoax.

      No, it’s fraud.

      The difference is that one is a funny joke and the other is a criminal act that ought to land corporate executives in prison, if the US weren’t an oligarchy too corrupt to prosecute.

        • gradual@lemmings.worldBanned from community
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          Depending on the terms and jurisdiction, there may be penalties for not honoring a contractual agreement.

          Good luck collecting a check for $0.72 from the class action lawsuit. A fraction of a percentage from their profits.

          This would be an issue of enforcement.

      • acchariya@lemmy.world
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        Companies aren’t held to contracts like people are held to contracts. One buyout, restructuring, name change, no more contract. It’s meaningless

    • cardfire@sh.itjust.works
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      Genuinely curious, what was the point of you typing out all of this to put on the internet?

      I don’t know how to say this without being rude.

      I’m wondering if you’re a bot that just churns out a few semi-relevent sentences or if you thought this was going to contribute to the discussions at hand? Because it felt like it wanted to blame the victims and then pulled back at the end and I ant fathom why you stepped into the tightrope wire in the first place.

        • cardfire@sh.itjust.works
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          Lulwut? When did /r/TD start leaking into Lemmy. Did any of what you said have anything to do with what I said?

          Are you feeling alright, man?

          Edit: seriously leaning towards ‘bot’ at this point. Humans that find their way into Lemmy have generally been much more capable, and much less MGTOW

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      I’ve had a lifetime Plex pass for many years. I have converted completely over to Jellyfin after trying it.

      It’s more involved to set up for secure remote access, but once in place it is so much smoother to use.