OT: Canceling Scout Membership

Submitted by maizenbluedevil on
So earlier this year I signed up for a Scout promo that was super cheap.

It’s expiring soon and I want to cancel it.

For those interested, here’s my review.

Sam and the other insiders almost never post. When they do - especially recently - it’s “insider info” of the “Miss Lippy’s car is green” category. Really not earth shattering stuff. Meanwhile, the board is FULL of hot take posts from the other users. Picture our snowflake threads spread out over several dozen redundant threads. So basically the board is wading through 99% shit to try and find the ocassional gem, which often isn’t all that great anyways. Yeah, not worth $10/month by any means. This site is worlds better, frankly.

So I tried to cancel just now, and of course, they make that info difficult to find. And once I find it, guess what?

YOU HAVE TO CALL THEM TO CANCEL.

Yep, in 2017, you can’t cancel an online service, you know, online.

To boot, you can only do this during business hours: no 24/7 customer service, no automated system.

I get that they want to retain customers and making it difficult to cancel helps them do so, but taking it to this degree is a downright shitty and underhanded way to do business.

I’m sharing this because it should be widely known. Had I known this going into the deal, I wouldn’t have signed up. Also, I would have considered signing up with them again once the merger with 247 is complete, but I won’t be doing that now either. They’ve lost my business, permanently.

Finally, if anyone knows a way to cancel online that’s so buried I just missed it, please let me know.

MGoBoard
Scout

You Only Live Twice

September 29th, 2017 at 11:09 PM ^

Depending on how prepared you are to stand up to the "bad breakup" stuff.  Just try to switch cell phone providers, internet or TV providers.  They pull out all the stops to try and get you not to leave.

Joined: 09/14/2013

MGoPoints: 9615

MMB 82

September 30th, 2017 at 9:15 AM ^

is extremely common across many industries/services. They want you to have to make the extra effort (while making it extremely difficult), and they want to do whatever they can to try to retain you. I am getting ready to cancel my SiriusXM subscription, it will probably take an act of Congress to do it....

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 18639

HL2VCTRS

September 30th, 2017 at 9:30 AM ^

But from my experience it is pretty painless. Now, trying to capitalize on a three month free preview when you buy a new car (and have a current subscription for the car you sold)? That process ranks in my top 3 for bad customer service experiences. The other top spots are owned by cable companies. Good luck.

Joined: 06/24/2012

MGoPoints: 5570

KC Wolve

September 30th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^

This is my least favorite thing to do all year. “Yes, I’d like to cancel my service. Why, who, when, where....Look, I really don’t want to cancel, I just have to call you once a year because my year is up and you doubled the price. Can you please just charge me a reasonable rate as I’ve been a customer for 12 years and I have to do this every year? Sure would half of what we charged you work? Oh, so basically the same amount or a bit less than I have been paying for 12 years? Yes, talk to you again next year.

Joined: 10/09/2010

MGoPoints: 12674

BeatOSU52

September 29th, 2017 at 11:50 PM ^

This may be a dumb question, but I am thinking I want to have either Scout or 247 for the month of January for recruiting purposes, and I am glad to pay the 10 bucks, but I don't want to deal with the cancelling BS thing either...anyway, I can just get a pre-paid visa card from store and use that and then my insider subscription would just naturally go away after that month, right?

Joined: 11/13/2011

MGoPoints: 14554

mgobleu

September 30th, 2017 at 12:10 AM ^

Depends on the card, I'm sure, but be careful. I got a vanilla visa card once with $100 on it as a gift. First time i tried to use it it was declined for insufficient funds. I had the person who gave it to me check it out and the company said it was a defective card and they'd send me a new one. It took almost 3 weeks. Then when i got it, i tried to charge $95 on it- declined. They ran a balance on it and it was $37. We went back to the company again and they said that that was all that was on the original card that was defective, so that's the amount they replaced. They could see that the original card had a charge on it from some strange company which, oddly enough, was $63. When i claimed it was fraudulent, vanilla (not visa, btw) said they couldn't refute fraudulent charges on a cancelled card. Aka, tough luck, pound sand, slide up a razor. Long story short, prepaid cards are a crapshoot and the companies are the worst crooks of all. Sorry, didn't mean to derail your post, but I'm still super pissed about the whole deal.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 38416

SC Wolverine

September 30th, 2017 at 12:09 AM ^

I don't agree with this assessment.  To be sure, Sam's insider info is especially significant during fall and spring camps (and pre-bowl).  But even now, there is alot of good material there.  There are also video interviews with players that are not found elsewhere.  I do agree that you can get most of the information elsewhere.  But if you crave all the information you can get, I find the Scout subscription to be worth it.  Plus, Sam himself is golden.  I love the guy.

Joined: 08/18/2010

MGoPoints: 7778

LKLIII

September 30th, 2017 at 8:41 AM ^

Ditto. I agree the cancellation issue is BS but I'm also not wanting to cancel. I also agree that 70-80% of stuff leaks out eventually, but some never does. Plus the stuff that leaks is a bit delayed and also usually lacks nuance.

At any rate, I am also a Michigan football regenerate. I crave content, and in my view the pay Scout and 247 provide good stuff especially in the off season when this blog is very slow.

I don't have a lot expensive habits and I'm not a drinker. So paying the $10 or whatever per month is totally worth it for me.

Joined: 11/06/2013

MGoPoints: 8924

LAUNCH

September 30th, 2017 at 12:13 AM ^

Tried to cancel and left numerous messages and emails. Never got a response. Left message with Sam, nothing. Had to deal with my CC company. #scam

Joined: 04/17/2012

MGoPoints: 245

consultant22

September 30th, 2017 at 2:35 AM ^

I wouldn't sign up for these services because most things you can hear about for free elsewhere. Also I've been listening to the wtka podcasts and while they are interesting, Sam is just too much of a homer for me to pay to hear more. I can't stand how he cuts off/hangs up on callers who give an ounce of criticism towards someone on the Michigan football team.

Joined: 01/18/2016

MGoPoints: 818

BernardC

September 30th, 2017 at 8:51 AM ^

Had Scout for quite a while now and Sam provides plenty of real info. I've cancelled before just trying to cut expenses, but their customer service people are easy to work with and not dicks. It isn't like trying to cancel your cable or something similar. And how far have our social skills fallen if making a simple phone call is a huge imposition. My goodness.

Joined: 03/17/2010

MGoPoints: 2539

DonBrownSoda

September 30th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^

Have you ever tried to contact Netflix? They used to not even post a contact number or email. Seriously. CEO was called out on 60 minutes. Underhanded tactics are some companies main way of cancellation deference

Joined: 09/13/2017

MGoPoints: 1279

The Dirty Nil

September 30th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^

I had to cancel my subscription to The Economist by calling, but they sure made it easy for me to change my address online. It's just the way they are, and you can't really fault them for it.

Joined: 05/13/2012

MGoPoints: 6222

DrAwkward

September 30th, 2017 at 1:37 PM ^

I'd rather pay for an "insider" membership on MGoBlog than either Scout or 247. This place is full of amazing info. If Brian decided to charge $10 a month for access to "after the jump" UFR material, I'd be first in line, especially if all of the ads disappeared.

I think we should all get used to paying for the best content on the internet rather than enduring endless ads for stuff we don't want (or already purchased).

Joined: 03/22/2012

MGoPoints: 3975

tspoon

September 30th, 2017 at 5:06 PM ^

If Brian started charging $10 a month for UFR, then it would immediately get copied and pasted all over the internet, just like all other paid content.

How much of Sam's material makes it over here, either instantly to this board, or eventually to Brian's updates?  Almost all of it.  The same would be true in reverse.

The ad-based model is the way to go, if you're in Brian's business.

 

 

Joined: 07/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3814

father fisch

September 30th, 2017 at 10:07 PM ^

Yeah, I found out about the cancellation thing the hard way. I thought it just expired and I later found monthly charges continuing. I called them asking for a credit and they told me to go fish. So, I called my credit card company and challenged the charges. They were all credited back. I'll never sign up again.

Joined: 02/20/2015

MGoPoints: 4805

BeatIt

October 1st, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^

Hits twitter before it gets reported. When you get enough people following you (on twitter the rule is follow back) you get breaking news before the networks do. And it's free. Never tweet recruits imo, but nothing wrong with following them. I live in Florida and I saw the news about the the machete wieldining Somali that attacked people on the OSU campus 10 minutes before it hit the local news, I was able to alert my mother that lives close to the OSU campus to lock her doors waaasy before it was reported. Yes there is a lot stupid and ignorant things on twitter but it's great for breaking news as it happens.

Joined: 06/11/2016

MGoPoints: 930