Topic

Important warning about subscriptions! [RESOLVED]

If, like me, you are enthusiastic about Glitch and want to subscribe, don't make make the same "mistake" I did and sign up before your free month is up.

Unlike every other free trial membership I've ever heard of, when you subscribe to Glitch before your trial is over, your subscription begins IMMEDIATELY and you lose any free time you may have had left. When I contacted support they told me they could not restore the days I lost in this manner.

This is a highly unintuitive way of handling the transition from free to subscriber status. Furthermore, it unnecessarily offends the very person who is demonstrating enthusiasm and support for the game: "Welcome aboard, here's a slap in the face! And no, I won't help you with it."

I strongly recommend that Tiny Speck change this practice. And if they are unwilling to do that (and why should they be?) then at the very least they should make it crystal clear to the person signing up early that they will lose the benefits of the rest of their free month.

For a game and company that general has otherwise shown exemplary interest in and concern for players, this is a real misstep.

Edited to add: Resolved.

Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Pascale, I have these gift packs of one month subs that I got for subscribing to Glitch very early on.  I will give ya one, how does that sound?  It will not only make you whole on the days you lost, it's an entire month!  So you get EVEN MORE, wow!
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's really nice of you, Nanookie! <3
    Posted 14 months ago by Widdershins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • DONE!
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That was really a kind and generous offer, Nanookie! You are an example of the reason why playing Glitch is such a delight.

    Your thoughtfulness warms my heart.

    I hope that Tiny Speck will make the change so that others going forward will not encounter the same unpleasantness that I did.
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wait, what? So what me and my friends in the game that we are doing of waiting for Tiny Speck to "fix" the substraction of subscription Vanity items is wrong and we will lose our free month??? D:
    Posted 14 months ago by Aumir Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm not sure what you're asking, Aumir, but my issue has nothing to do with Vanity items. It's just that, as it stands, if you subscribe before your free month is up you lose the rest of your free days. Your subscription commences immediately.
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Somehow because I didn't take advantage of my free month I lost it.
    :-(
    Posted 14 months ago by DiscLizard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pascale, the reason it works that way is that most people purchasing a subscription want to get their stipends right away (if they paid today, they don't want to wait the 4 or 11 or 23 days until the free month runs out before they get the credits/stipends/votes).

    However, we do track the number of days left on the free subscription at the time of purchase and are very shortly going to start paying out the fractional months with credits (extending monthly recurring subscriptions by partial months gets very messy). You will get a notification when this happens and it'll also show up in your account history.
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • DiscLizard — you haven't lost it. You just haven't activated it yet (we don't start it when you open an account, but give you the option to start it the first time to select a subscriber-only option in the vanity or wardrobe).
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I understand your hesitation but I must point out that a subscription to Glitch is not the same as it might be to another online game.  The only thing you really lose is access to the free subscriber-only items for the number of days you had left on the trial month.  Everything else, like credits. teleport tokens and referendum votes is added to whatever you might have gotten from the trial. 
    Posted 14 months ago by Warrender Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, ok, whew, I now understand, thanks for clearing that up.

    And what I meant is that as Vanity are "free subscription items" they get erased and you are left with the normal skin and face options, and your face changed etc. Is something I have seen looking up in the forums about the "free subscription items" thing. xP Even though I like my mostly "normal" looking glitch. xD
    Posted 14 months ago by Aumir Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for responding, Stoot.

    Warrender, the subscriber-only items are really the only reason I AM subscribing! (Yes, I'm that vain, and I wear really simple stuff! LOL)

    I still think TS needs to be really clear about this when people purchase their first subscription. It just feels icky.

    I don't see any reason why you can't give people their subscription goodies right away, but have the next subscription month "start" when they've used up their free time too.

    Really, it's all about the feedback and clarity. The support person who responded to my bug report essentially just shrugged and said he couldn't help. I think you guys can do better with communicating on this.

    Thanks for listening.
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wait, what free month?  I subbed on September 30 and was charged the first month already.  I didn't know I had a free month?
    Posted 14 months ago by Joojoo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Despite Nanookie's kind offer, I never did receive the gift month.

    I don't know what happened there. A bug? Misclick? I sent Nanookie mail, but haven't heard back.
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Did everyone get a free month? I bought a subscription this month but got an email that said my free trial would end next week. I thought it was weird but I didn't really think anything of it because I was a beta user and thought it might have been a mistake. If everyone did get a free month, I wish I had known too.
    Posted 14 months ago by Demaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Audible does the same thing. Kind of lame.
    Posted 14 months ago by Bashere Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Demaria: you did have a free month which you used back in the summer — you can see all the details in your account history. Your current (paid) subscription is set to expire (because you set it to not renew automatically) but it sounds like you got the wrong expiry email. Looking into this now!
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Joojoo: same deal — you used the free month back in February (so it lasted for three or four months). This is also in your account history.
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pascale: that's between you and Nanookie (you'll get an email if she uses a gift pack for you) — BUT — the gift pack will not extend the time for monthly subscribers (though it will extend the time for annual subscribers). So, it won't give you a free month. Instead, it too will be paid out in credits. Unfortunately, the nature of monthly recurring subscriptions & the rules we have to adhere to with the credit card providers, etc., makes shifting dates and payment schedules too complicated.
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the response, stoot.  I don't recall "activating" a free month, but if it was back in February, it must have been from when the world was opened up for a Beta test.  I was under the impression Beta was free for everyone (extended downtimes and what not) and what people were referring to as a "free month" in this thread was post-release playing time.
    Posted 14 months ago by Joojoo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for clearing that up, stoot :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Demaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pascale: The gift packs take some time to arrive right now. But there is another technical hitch with Nanookie's gift packs too. Nanookie: they are not distributed to recipients until you've made all of your choices (sorry!)

    Demaria: You got sent the wrong expiry email - it should not have said beta. That was my fault!

    Joojoo: You should not have been sent an email at all - your subscription is not really expiring. Again, that's my fault. Sorry!
    Posted 14 months ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Nanookie: they are not distributed to recipients until you've made all of your choices (sorry!)"

    That is completely wackadoodle!  *spins finger around in general temple area*

    Pascale, I don't want to throw my second gift pack into the wind just to get you yours, but I promise I will do it soon, and most certainly before your subscription ends.
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks, Nanookie! You are kind.

    The subscription wackiness is apparently manifold! All of which just underscores (she said repeititvely, sorry!) the need for real clarity and transparency when communicating to players what they can expect and what they'll get.

    For example, I had no idea that by choosing a subscriber-only wardrobe item I was "activating" my free month. I thought it started when I signed up and so I might as well wear some fancy duds!
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm glad I wandered in here since I was considering buying a subscription in the next week, but have more than 2 weeks left on my free month (*big hugs to the person who sent me the invite!*).

    I've got more years of experience than I'd like to admit to running an online game (an RPG-PW), and this sort of thing can be very sticky.  I'm very impressed with how quickly the staff here is on top of answering.  That says a lot about their dedication to making this a successful game through keeping communication open with the playerbase. *huge thumbs-up*

    As for that Nanookie chick, I've gotta give her props for being awesome to work with as I've found my way around on Glitch over the last week.  Many thanks for being the remarkably sweet woman I know you are, Nanookie :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Belasco Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pascale- I believe when you click on a subscriber item, it tells you that you can get a free month and then asks you to confirm whether you want the free month or not yet (it's been a while, but I am certain you must confirm before you get the free month, as I backed out of it once, then chose later to do it).
    Posted 14 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe a better way of phrasing it would be, "Glitch the game is 100% free to play, but while you are checking it out, enjoy the use of these subscriber Wardrobe and Vanity items for up to one month, and note that once you choose to subscribe, your subscription commences immediately.  You can opt to go for the Free Month Completist badge, in which case, in about 29 days, we will send you an e-mail to remind you that it's decision time on that purple mullet."

    I can't actually remember what it does say, it's been a while since I read that bit.

    ETA: Thanks Pascale and Belasco!  And thanks also to TS for the gift packs too!
    Posted 14 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My thanks to TS for resolving this in a graceful manner for all concerned.

    It's a win for clarity and kindness all around!
    Posted 14 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink