The lack of mentioning it in the fine print is a pretty valid beef, especially given that this is the Mildly Infuriating community

If it’s for new customers only then why do they advertise it in the program for paid users? I’m tired of seeing ads for things I can’t even take advantage of.

I don't actually get that with drugs, just legal things

My church that I grew up in had this thing where coffee and pastry and stuff was free for first time visitors. Otherwise it was like $2 or whatever.

It's unfortunate that that was not on any of the pages that I saw. I actually did look and I actually did read the terms and conditions to see if maybe that was the case.

I did let them know in my response that they should probably include that for legal reasons at the very least.

there are 2 solid low-cost mobile carriers here in sweden, and i literally do this with them. Just hop back and forth every 4 months and you get some sort of deal every single time.

It's profoundly stupid and makes me hate modern society just that little bit more.

It's only a smart move if you assume nobody will ever call your bluff. Meanwhile my VPN sees I haven't renewed yet and it's about to end and they offer me a deal so good I just do a quick check they're still good enough then accept it. I'm not loyal loyal, but I've been a subscriber since the pandemic and I will be for another 2 years at least.

For comparison, I prioritize internet as local carriers > spectrumcast > seriously consider larping as amish > AT&T. AT&T will just offer new customers limited wifi data at low speeds for more money than spectrum and get shocked you won't switch. Meanwhile spectrum makes me and my wife have to swap who's name the account is for every year or two to keep the good deal, except when they just sign a deal with the landlord for a mandatory fixed price as a part of my building/complex's rent. Local carriers offer reasonable prices where I don't feel the need to keep chasing introductory deals.

Check into USMobile - they're effectively a reseller of services on all the major networks, for far less. (I pay $17/mo for 2 lines and 4GB of data. If I need more data in a given month, I can get 2GB "extra" for like $5). Larger plans are a better deal, I just don't need more than 4GB right now.

I've traveled across the US using it, and I see it connect to different vendor towers (Verizon, ATT, etc) with 5g a lot of the time.

At home my phone shows US Mobile, as soon as I leave I get Verizon 5G.

I deal with this at one of my jobs. We offer the moon to new customers, but existing customers are constantly getting screwed over. People complain about it constantly, but corporations have no incentive to reduce the amount of money they're receiving from you, which could open the doors to losing income from every other customer who decides to ask, when they can just roll the dice on whether you decide to go through the hassle of leaving. It's scummy and I don't agree with it on a personal level, but the agent you're talking to has no power to change the system.

I've had similar frustrations with trying to a change a bundle of services. Once you add any service to your account, it's basically impossible to remove. That's why my account lapsed in the first place. I just wanted to remove the unused Proton drive. I had to cancel the renewal, wait for the current term to expire, and then purchase a brand new service with just the VPN.

I understand they are a business and they want to market their bundled services, but I also am more likely to patronize a company that respects user choice.

People trust them with their data, their photos, their browsing history, and their passwords. Their customer service policies do nothing to earn that trust.

port forwarding

This is why Mullvad doesn't do deals. The price is the same, regardless of whether you get a month or 5 years at once. Nobody needs to be pissed off by missing out on a deal someone else is getting.

Idk what the big savings is with storage. I have 200GB from my plan but store abt 2 GB of photos and documents. Am I just not using proton to the fullest potential?

being standard isn't an excuse, it makes it even more egregious.

There are a lot of companies and subscriptions that offer annual deals. It's a two year agreement fully paid.

They even have a login for existing users after accepting the deal. What kind of sense does that make?

It has gotten a bit weirder in the age of “everything is a subscription”. For example, I was just looking at one for a development browser I use. I’m paying $12/month. They have a deal now where it’s $84/year for new customers, for the lifetime of their subscription. Not a one time discount.

I didn’t go off complaining, but I definitely feel a little frustrated that my reward for being an existing customer is to get to keep paying full price.

And yet Proton is Swiss.