On Thursday, February 27, 2014 11:35:06 AM UTC-5, Mark Adams wrote: > Thanks Hannah for your detailed response. I appreciate the service your > website is offering very much. In regards to your explanation about Dropbox > no refund policy, though, I wonder why the concept of "pro-rata" seems to not > apply here? Isn't it completly fair to both the business and the customer to > simply charge an "early opt out" customer the full, non-discounted price for > the time actually used? > > > > In my case with Dropbox, I paid $99 year upfront for "Premium" account, to > obtain a discount from the $9.99/mo if paid monthly fee. It seems quite > reasonable (and trivially easy through the use of computerized billing > systems) to calculate the non-discounted monthly fee for the time used and > then refund the difference--or even charge a "cancelation fee" of a small > amount. But to keep the entire years fees? That's not reasonable, nor ethical > IMHO. > > > > Unlike physical products that are handled, packaging opened, reduced in value > in some way, damaged, un-resellable, etc. Dropbox's storage service is not > harmed by my cancelation of unwanted/unused cloud-based services. Revenues > are reduced--sure. But if they prorated my refund back to the monthly fee, > they would have earned exactly what a person paying monthly would have paid, > and thus be in no worse position whatsoever-- even from a revenue aspect. And > if as you say, this is becoming the norm for cloud-based services--that's > just sad. > > > > mark adams > > > > > On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 7:44 AM, Hannah Poteat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > A clarification: the reason for ToS:DR isn't to expose anybody at all. It's > to inform users about their rights under the terms of use agreements they're > asked to agree to. > > > > "No refund" policies are legal as long as they're clearly and conspicuously > marked prior to purchase (and the law assumes, rightly or wrongly, that > consumers read the terms of use agreements prior to using a website, so are > informed about policies like this prior to purchase). Also, a "no refund" > policy like this one is very common for a prepaid, recurring service like > Dropbox's: it's rare to find a similar service that does offer refunds. > > > > Let me explain why: let's say you're a small business owner. You offer a > service online where users can sign up and pay for each month in advance, on > a recurring basis. A user signs up at the end of January and pre-pays for > February. On February 27, after nearly a full month of use, the user cancels > his account and demands a refund. Here's another example: let's say you're a > small business owner. You offer a service online where users can either have > a free account that comes with a monthly data cap, or they can have a paid > account that has no data cap. A user signs up for the paid service and > pre-pays for February. By February 4, the user has transmitted more data than > he would have been able to with a free account. On February 5, the user > cancels his account and demands a refund, arguing that he hasn't used it for > a full month and should be credited for the unused time...however, he has > clearly gotten full use out of the paid service. Enough issues like these > crop up, and businesses simply adopt a "No refunds" policy. > > > > Of course, some businesses do offer refunds on a discretionary basis. Not all > do, though, and it doesn't make a business necessarily bad if it chooses not > to. > > > > Hannah > > > > On Wednesday, February 26, 2014 5:53:23 PM UTC-8, [email protected] wrote: > Surprised Dropbox isn't on the BAD list for having a NO REFUND policy on > their accounts...this doesn;t seem fair--a perfect example of the reason for > tour website (to expose these companies). Here's the fine print... > > > Dropbox Premium Accounts are prepaid and are non-refundable. DROPBOX DOES NOT > PROVIDE REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR ANY PARTIAL MONTHS OR YEARS. You may cancel > your Dropbox Premium Account at anytime, and cancellation will be effective > immediately. If you wish to cancel your Premium Account you may do so via > your "Account" page. Should you elect to cancel your Premium Account, please > note that you will not be issued a refund for the most recently (or any > previously) charged monthly fees. > > > > > -- > > Mark Adams > San Jose State University eCampus/Academic Technology > Project Director -- PDEEP (Pakistan Distance Education Enhancement Program) > > PDEEP Website: http://sjsuaiou.wordpress.com/ > Campus Office: IRC 206 > > One Washington Square > San Jose, CA 95192-0135 > 408.924.2618 / cell 503.956.8760 > > Skype: PDEEPOnline > > > I have always thought it possible to live a GREAT life. Beyond all the > nightmares we hear about in the news there is a larger world surrounding us, > not just the resplendent world of nature, but also our own potential as > people to live well, to connect with each other, to do meaningful work, to > make powerful art, and to forge a different kind of future for ourselves and > for the next generation. -- Andy Couturier "A Different Kind of Luxury"
Mark I agree, I have not used the service at all. I found that I did not need it and asked for a refund. I don't expect the full amount back but give me at least 6 months worth. I think its unethical for there to be a NO REFUND policy on a service like this. -- tosdr.org | twitter.com/tosdr | github.com/tosdr --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Terms of Service; Didn't Read" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tosdr. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
