Why is Roon now Buy before you try? [it's not]

Not all. :wink:

I donā€™t know of one subscription service that doesnā€™t need your cc details upfront for a trial. Those that only have a full license option tend to allow a trial with a code that expires after a month or just stop working without a code.

I have been a Roon user 4 years and I had to enter my cc details back then for my trial and the other 3 trials before that I used.

1 Like

If something is advertised as ā€œfreeā€ i shouldnā€™t be forced to hoist my walletā€¦ Simple enoughā€¦
That said, i think thatā€™s the most common business model nowadays.
Too old to remember the ways of Roon when i signed up though, late -15 i believeā€¦

1 Like

I joined in February 2016 - and CC details were required before starting the free trial then. 3 days before the trial was due to end, I received an email from Roon Labs reminding me that my 1-year membership would start automatically (and the charge made) in 3 days time.

The email also gave a link to cancel my membership, if that was to be my decision.

3 Likes

Shocking news!!! Roon changes conditions of free trial somewhere between 2014 and 2016 to follow almost universally established free trial business model.

Slow news day!

5 Likes

Itā€™s been this way from the start unless you bought something from a partner vendor and got a code (in which case they probably paid for your trial) or there was a promotion.

The company was formed in January of 2015, and we didnā€™t launch until May 12th, 2015.

Anyway, requiring a credit card on signup greatly reduces our costs. Yes, we lose some business, but we also lose a ton of tire kickers. A huge part of our costs come during the initial import that happens in the trial period, so adding this bit of friction for more serious users works well for us (and many other businesses). It also reduces fraud.

Itā€™s 14 days, as it always has been ā€“ unless you got a promotional code, which often comes from a manufacturer selling gear.

3 Likes

Thinking about check ROON out. Many source mention about it was great. Credit Card required to get free trial. I passā€¦

I think you will be hard pressed to find any music service that does not ask for your CC details up front nowadays.
But hopefully you will reconsider as you do have 14 days to get a feel for it and even after that you could just sign up for a month if you were still undecided.
Itā€™s not a big risk by any stretch of the imagination IMHO.

and 30 days money back

If you cancel before the trial period ends, you are not charged. By definition, that is a free trial, as you didnā€™t pay for it. The asking for credit card info has absolutely nothing to do with it being free or not. That is determined solely by the fact it costs you nothing.

1 Like

First of all, lemme say, I donā€™t disagree - it is indeed a free trial - no questions about it.

I think the negative reaction is the same that I have felt towards ā€œnegative optionā€ kind of things - be it by whoever, Amazon, Qobuz, Tidal or yes, Roon. It is easy to forget and some people even do not understand that they have to cancel/say no. Of course is all on them/us/me.

BUT

It does feel like it would be fairer to not have a negative option - make it a TRUE trial - that is, right now, it is actually a subscription that gets cancelled before first bill. It is free because the usage charges are waived instead of prorated if cancellation happens before the aforementioned first bill. INSTEAD - HAVE ALL TRIALS EXPIRE. That is, have it work for seven days (or whatever, in the case of other vendors) then, have it stop working. Thatā€™s it. No charges, no negative option. If you like it and want to continue you login again and give your CC and voila, get going.

That will avoid criticisms like those expressed in the title of this thread AND will show good faith. No customer will be billed just because she/he forgot to cancel. People will see it as good faith.

But again, agree, right know is free to tryā€¦ just pay attention! :smiley:

v

2 Likes

ā€œFairerā€, in what way? No one who is genuinely interesting in Roon is penalised, Roon also offer a 30 day money back no questions asked policy for those users that are forgetful ā€¦ and as Danny said (see quote below) it offers protection to Roon from those that will trial anything thatā€™s ā€œfreeā€ or attempt to abuse the trial with multiple applications.

Put it another way, each free trial costs Roon $$$, lets say 10 USD (backend services and metadata licences fees). If the doors are left wide open then globally 100ā€™s, if not 1000ā€™s, of ā€œfreeā€ trials those cost could soon stack up and risk Roonā€™s viability. Also Iā€™m told that CC sign up is a condition of some of Roonā€™s third party service providers.

Consider this ā€¦ if it were your business / money would you not want some measure of control over the ā€œfreeā€ trial process? I know I would.

1 Like