Comment by kelnos
5 days ago
That's incredibly scummy. Article author estimates that "only" 5% of people would expect this outcome for a "try for free", "no credit card required" service, but I think that number is well below 1%.
Can't believe they continued using the service after this. I would refuse to pay (they have no legal basis to require payment, and their own terms of service seems to disagree with their behavior) and find a more ethical provider.
Only the no credit card part is surprising. Something like AWS will bill you for everything not within the free tier and expect YOU to keep track of what's in the free tier. But they ask for your CC upfront.
It's not illegal or even unethical to bill someone who hasn't given their CC, but it's definitely unexpected.