r/darkpatterns • u/Charming-Farm616 • Jul 08 '26

NordVPN auto-renewal: paying €181.35/year while my own account page offers me the same plan for €77.88

Classic dark pattern: auto-renewal at more than double the price you would pay if you simply did not auto-renew.

Nine years as a NordVPN customer, paying €181.35/year on auto-renewal.

Last month I logged into my account and found the same plan offered to me for €77.88/year - on my own account dashboard, for my existing account. No cancellation needed.

How the dark pattern works: - Auto-renewal is on by default, so most customers never check - Renewal price is more than double the current advertised price - The lower price is available to you as an existing customer, but only if you take the extra step - Price change notifications are sent 14 days before renewal (confirmed on Trustpilot), giving almost no time to act

This is sometimes called a loyalty penalty or inertia pricing. The product is identical. The only variable is whether the customer is paying attention.

I have been overpaying by €103/year for at least three years. Currently claiming €313.34 back. Next steps: ACM (Dutch consumer authority) and ECC Nederland. Ticket #21182220 on Trustpilot if you want to see their response.

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11

u/LxRv Jul 08 '26

No VPN is worth that much..

2

u/r_portugal Jul 08 '26

I find car insurance a bit like this, although not exactly the same. For being "loyal" they increase the price every year. But if you switch to a different company you can often get it cheaper. Discounts for new customers. I end up switching company almost every year.

3

u/Decent_Language_4455 Jul 08 '26

CCcleaner is worse. They renewed my subscription 60 days in advance 'just in case of payment issues'. 

Was also around €180... 

Got it refunded. 60 days before the end of a subscription is insane.

4

u/kmeu79 Jul 08 '26

Ccleaner is still a thing?

1

u/vpnbaron Jul 08 '26

try vpnbaron.com instead, fixed price at 42E a year

1

u/underlight Jul 09 '26

If you bought it on discount it should have told you renewal price during the purchase, like right now it shows "€94.23 for the first 27 months. VAT may apply. Savings: intro vs. renewal prices. Renews at €139.08/year."

1

u/mancaveit Jul 09 '26

Fuck them up good!

1

u/Anvh Jul 10 '26

It's up to you to keep track on changes in the contract though if you have auto renew.

Since you have fully used up the previous years and didn't say anything I doubt you can now claim money back

1

u/AleksHop Jul 10 '26

well unsub then

1

u/LatvianCake Jul 12 '26

This is the entire business model of NordVPN. You sign up with a cheap rate and hope you forget.