So, here I am wanting to read a little bit of an article on Times.co.uk when I find myself forced AGAIN to have to sign up with my email in order to be able to read the rest of the story.
So far so good. Well not really, but I just go with their flow.
I try to sign up using my “junk” email which I use to sign up for stuff where I then receive unwanted junk mail. Since it’s not my main email address, I am not bothered as I never check that junk email address anyway, apart from verifying the (in)voluntary forced subscription.
As my eagle eyes often spot things before I click or miss to click on something, I find Times.co.uk doing something really really naughty! And I wonder how long The Times UK will get away with this one under the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws.
They certainly tick all the right boxes to qualify themselves for trouble!
Here’s the naughty bit:
First box:
“We’ll send you information on products and services from The Times and The Sunday Times that you may be interested in. If you would prefer not to receive these then click here. ”
The little word “not” is here.
Second box:
“We would like to send you exclusive promotions, competitions, and content from selected partners. If you would like to receive these then please click here.”
The little word “not” is NOT here.
Taking these little things apart again, sorry I have to!
This is really cheeky, as they know that the reader often is either in a hurry, or rather impatient, to get to the “desired” product via being forced to sign up, and/or as our brain works in structures, we assume the first is similar or the same to the second.
So, for example, I tick the first box to which they ask me to tick (without saying “please” btw 😉 ), if I do NOT want to receive information on The Times products etc.
By the time I see the second box I would automatically click it, not realizing that I give consent to third parties because I “assume” that they ask the same to click if I do “not” want to receive infos etc. Companies use this psychology in how our brains work brilliantly! But it reeeeaaaallllyyyy TICKS ME OFF!!!
Of course in the first box they WILL send info unless I tick the box. In the second box they WOULD LIKE TO and ask me to “please” tick the box if I like to receive the junk mail.
Logical is, if I wish to not receive any information on products from the Times UK, why would I wish to receive content from third parties!
So, when signing up I ALWAYS slow down and read EVERY dot and comma carefully, and tick or abstain from ticking a box.
And today I flicked it!
I regret not having kept a screenshot I made years ago, and sent it as a warning tip to my friends after I tried for the longest time to find the un-tick button for a travel insurance Ryan Air tried to force on me. Now, it is common knowledge that they are notorious for these stunts on their website. But that travel insurance thing really topped it. Even after years I haven’t found anything coming close to their audacity in using the trick described below.
I am no fan of Ryan Air and always felt bad to use their service as their staff is not making enough to live on and they even have to pay for their own uniform, unless that has been changed since the last time I saw an appalling documentary on their staff treatment. I only use Ryan Air as an “emergency” air line when I have to fly within a day’s notice for family emergencies etc. as no other airline offers a next day deal should I have to fly out fast. In normal circumstances I use other airlines even if I pay much more, but I pay for a better service and feel more secure and don’t feel like I am in a sale that’s on where people dive into cheap products and being pestered for raffles (sorry Ryan Air!). But most importantly the airline staff have to live as well, and I rather invest in that than get a cheap flight with all the downsides in connection with “cheap” services.
One of those bookings had me really angry at the tricks they use. I found a flight and saw that the travel insurance was automatically selected, so I wanted to deselect it, and by the life of me I could not find where to un-tick (or as the Americans say “uncheck”) a box. I clicked on everything I could click on. I went on Internet search where I typed the question “how to deselect Ryan Air insurance” and found some tips, but they were already outdated and Ryan Air found new ways to force products unto customers, knowing many customers are in a hurry to book that cheap flight before someone else takes the seat and fills the plane.
So I came to my end of patience and was about to cancel that flight altogether as I hate being forced to buy a product I don’t want to buy! When I then finally clicked on one last thing I ignored all this time and could not believe Ryan Air’s bold and disrespectful impertinence!
I clicked on a scroll-down menu of the list of countries which I was supposed to choose from for the insurance to cover me in that country, should I have WISHED to purchase Ryan Air’s insurance in the first place! I never clicked on it, kept ignoring it as I did NOT want travel insurance and therefor didn’t see the need to select a country! Daah! And these clever buggers know that psychology and that time is pressing the customer to then compromise and purchase a product they don’t want to buy! So, I slowly scrolled down the alphabetical list of countries. When I reached the letter “D”, I could not believe my eyes, under “D” the option appeared: “Don’t want insurance”! I clicked it and like out of nowhere I deselected the travel insurance! Tadaaaa!!!
Needless to say that Ryan Air will remain only my emergency choice of airlines, unless I become filthy rich to be able to pay a sick amount of money for a next or same day flight!
And The Times UK, tztztz, naughty, too. I have to say that I signed up for the Times, but ended up not finishing to read the article. I lost my appetite to read it, and instead wrote my own little rant here tweaking a jpg image and flicking away The Times UK that has ticked me off!
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