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Ages ago, I used to advise readers never ever to just renew their antivirus subscription, because these services are heavily discounted for the first year, with the idea that they will jack up the prices on the annual renewal and make most of their revenue that way. I would set a calendar reminder to about a week before the AV subscription was set to renew, and cancel. And in the event that the antivirus company didn't offer another steep discount to return, there were plenty of other decent options that did.

The same dynamic happens with almost any other paid service that has competition, btw. Especially news and magazine subscriptions. I canceled by WaPo subscription last year and they keep sweetening the pot to come back. The latest offer is basically $26 for the first year, and $120+ for the second.

Did this a year or so ago with our satellite TV service. If you call them once a year and threaten to cancel, they will often just knock $1,000 or more off your annual bill to keep you.

in reply to BrianKrebs

Feorlen
Feorlen
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I wish it were easier to do this with my storage unit. Same size regularly advertised for half the price.
in reply to Feorlen

BrianKrebs
BrianKrebs
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@feorlen I guess they are figuring they have inertia on their side. They are probably right, but I bet if you told them you were moving all your junk across town they would meet you halfway at least on the difference.
@Feorlen
in reply to BrianKrebs

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
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I haven't used commercial AV in donkeys years, do they still do that thing where uninstalling has a 20% chance of bricking your machine?
in reply to BrianKrebs

Jeff Clough
Jeff Clough
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Audible is another one for the file. Three months at $0.99, renew after two months for half off the full price for three months, cancel at the end, repeat. Just remember to spend your credits before you cancel and you can keep the books forever. Works out to five audiobooks for about five bucks each.
This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to BrianKrebs

Mr.Cleymoxx
Mr.Cleymoxx
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A-THOUSAND-DOOLITOS, OFF, FOR TV???

If i watched tv i would probably watch the SVT 1 & 2 alot, because they come totally advert-free!

I think i stopped watch tv in 2005

in reply to BrianKrebs

cerement
cerement
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(so much of our world is focused on “new customers”, to the point where “customer retention” is heresy (and “churn rate” is completely ignored))
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Robert0
Robert0
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Does one really even need to pay for AV? Aren't there plenty of free versions available? I need end point protection, not valet service with lots of pointless and privacy compomising add ons.
in reply to Robert0

BrianKrebs
BrianKrebs
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@jd9c5m there's a reason the OP started with "ages ago." anyone who thinks AV is going to save them from malware after an ill-advised click probably need a lot more help than that.
@Robert0
in reply to BrianKrebs

S Vermin Rose
S Vermin Rose
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On the downside, many services across sectors require that you speak to an agent in order to cancel a service, and then make it time-consuming to do so. So what you save in fees has to be balanced against what you pay in inconvenience.
in reply to BrianKrebs

gary
gary
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the guy i did tree service for recently said he paid spectrum 321 a mo and then just got fiber - sounds about right
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JuliesBits 🇺🇲 🍑
JuliesBits 🇺🇲 🍑
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You might also check out the electronic collections that are offered for free at your library.

I recently got a library card and am finding that many magazines are available to read on my tablet for free via the Flipster app.

I've also discovered that national and international newspapers like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are also available and I can read those on my phone or tablet via the Pressreader app. (my library recently discontinued carrying the Washington Post)

This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to BrianKrebs

Óscar Morales Vivó
Óscar Morales Vivó
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I do this with the cable company. The problem is that they are clearly aware of it and every year the “offer” is $10 more. Sadly there’s no real competition where I live.
in reply to BrianKrebs

Emory
Emory
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my favorite part about av is when they don't let you exclude in advance so i have to revert snapshots on any dataset, research, books, or lab data.

one time when i was working in higher ed SEP broke like 30 books right out the gate in spite of me taking steps to avoid that but i forgot about my iCloud book library.

"whoa i found exploit code" no shit idiots, it's in a share named dangerToMyselfAndOthers for a reason 😆

i use bit defender at home, personally.

in reply to BrianKrebs

PEH
PEH
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you are obviously right.

But.

But.

1000$ saved on your TV fees? HOW MUCH do you guys pay ? I mean, I am already annoyed for having to pay 150 A YEAR for SVOD services!?!

in reply to BrianKrebs

Daniel Thomas
Daniel Thomas
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It is possible for regulators to fix this problem. In the UK for insurance and energy you just always get the best available price when you renew that a new customer would get. Still need to play this game for other things like Internet connectivity but it is nice to know that if you leave energy and insurance alone you won't get taken for a ride.
in reply to BrianKrebs

Sunflower Björnskalle 🌻
Sunflower Björnskalle 🌻
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Yeah, exactly. I just did this with my VPN, saved hundreds of dollars. It's the only way to negotiate with them. I still have an audio book company chasing me with absurdly low prices, which is very sweet of them but I don't need it anymore unfortunately. 😆
in reply to BrianKrebs

tekhedd
tekhedd
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This is how most apartment renters have to handle their living arrangements. 🙁
in reply to BrianKrebs

Jim Luther
Jim Luther
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The same works with product warranties. You just have to deal with the hoops you have to jump through to get the warranty replacement.

I went for around 8 years of never purchasing a new gaming mouse (I wear out their switches about once a year) because after purchasing two from Logitech, I kept getting warranty replacements which came with a year warranty on the replacement. The process of getting the warranty replacement finally wore me down last year and I purchased a mouse with optical switches from another company 🤷‍♂️

in reply to BrianKrebs

JamesTDG
JamesTDG
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wish our options were better than Xfinity or CenturyLink for Internet here, would love to be pulling this stunt
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SpaceLifeForm
SpaceLifeForm
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It is amazing how many companies are enshittifying their business to death.

Piss off customers, demand more money.

#Money #Insanity #Enshittification

#money #insanity #enshittification
in reply to BrianKrebs

👊🇺🇸🔥
👊🇺🇸🔥
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I've been cancelling Wired to get a new year for $5 for several years. #404media has so much good content, though, that I probably won't renew Wired next year (and 404 co-publishes some stories with them anyway).
This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to BrianKrebs

David
David
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This is essentially price discrimination against lazy people, or a laziness tax. I wish there was a way to indicate to businesses directly that this renewal behavior is a nonstarter so we didn’t have to deal with the churn, but I’m also lazy 😀
in reply to BrianKrebs

Harald Walker
Harald Walker
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I have one - and sadly it is the only one - software subscription that gives me a loyalty discount that increases over the years. 👍🏻
And then you have those Black Friday discount companies with their discounts that typically happen each year and usually not for existing customers either.
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