Exactly Linds

It does not make sense that you are forced to commit to a monthly purchase and then it is on your shoulders to cancel it.

I thought they were going to give everyone the $6.99 deal but if you wanted a membership with recurring charges then you would get benefits to be detailed in a few weeks.

Well, I'm not going to buy any more games until I am completely sure. Maybe someone from Big Fish will be along to explain it. I for one will not be buying any games if I have to cancel membership each time. It is just downright ridiculous. As I said, I will wait.
Susan

Linds, it's easy to cancel and just reinstate when you want. For 6.99 a game and no commitment it sure seems fine by me!

Ana

Questions ... How can one cancel BEFORE making a commitment? What is there to cancel? Buying a game doesn't automatically make one a member, does it?
Makes me glad I'm already a member and don't have to figure this out, but my curiousity does kick in!

I really feel strongly about this.
It might be easy to some of us to cancel but not everyone. How many will check their bank statement and realise they have recurring charges and did not realise they signed up for that.
Then have to go through the process to get money back but cannot- just game credits - too hard to get money back.

Already people post on the BF forums all the time how to cancel- yes they made it easier with a cancel button in your account but not many people understand how to even get to that.

I love BF games as much as anyone but forced membership is not user friendly- how many times can it backfire- who wants to bother. I don't I would pay the money than go through the hassle to get money back from my bank and that is where BF is treading a fine line here with not giving a casual purchase option.

Again BF is great for me I adore the site- I am not sure this move is entirely great for the casual user.

$6.99 can easily end up $21 and no going back there.

You buy, you join, you cancel. You saved $13.00.

Hopefully everyone that buys a game understands that and does so.

"Everyone" will never understand that. There will always be folks that do not understand and don't look before they click. It is just a fact of life. The bottom line is, they are making the games more available to those who can't afford it. For as many negatives as you can find, there are positives. There is no perfect solution but I think that this is an awesome deal for consumers.

Ana

Yes lol there will be but not always their fault.

I am not looking for negatives. I am just not all rose coloured glasses about everything about BigFish either.
People do not like GamesHouse and Real Arcade here- the biggest complaint is the billing - and the majority of it is the sign up and get out of the free trial thing- right- once you sign up it is diffficult to get money back. Big Fish wont give money back either if there is a misunderstanding- only game credits.

I do not see that as a positive for consumers unless you are a frequent buyer and know the ropes and how to use the site.

I do not understand why they have made it you have to join and cancel- can you tell me why they could not just make games $6.99 fullstop and then I will agree this is a good thing.

$6.99 no obligation would be awesome
Why have to agree to recurring payment fee? Can you give a good reason for them to do it this way?

***********



Yes sierra that is how the new system appears to work.

You HAVE to join and then cancel your monthly sub.

I would be more than happy if this was incorrect but when I tried it it did appear so with little explanation.

I know this may sound harsh, but no matter how much we like Bigfish, it's still a business, and I do believe many companies like them actually rely on people not cancelling - thus earning more money.
It's just a fact of life today - whether we like it or not.

Exactly Misslilo and my problem with this-

BF now join the crowd of preying on the unexpected and unsassuming or those that just do not know what they hit when they press buy?

I want to think this is not so and people can still buy games without a contract from Big Fish.
Hopefully BFG-Guy swins in here tomorrow and sets us straight about this tell us it is not so.

Not at all.
1) On the receipt page there is a cancel button (it cancels and keeps you on the page)
2) Once the purchase is made you are sent to transaction email, one is a receipt, the the other informs you of game club with a cancel button right on the email.
3) We also are instituting a 100% money back guarantee. That is some how (it will be very difficult) you do not cancel but meant to, we can refund your unused game credits and disable them via a simple email to customers support.
4) There is a single click cancel(or reactivate) Game Club button in your My Account profile.

The default to becoming a subscriber if you purchase it is simply to encourage trial, as statistically most people who experience Big Fish Game Club, never leave.

Reserve judgment on the process until you experience it. It really was designed with transparency and user experience in mind. We did a lot of testing and while some folks did not know they subscribed, 100% knew when they hit the receipt page and rated it a 6.5 out of a scale of 7 (7 being the easiest) on ease of discovering and canceling the membership.

We do not guess at services at Big Fish Games, we thoroughly user test them. I am sure members of this forum have tested one of our products or services at one time or another.

Hi BFG_Guy,

I want to say that whatever BFG does, it is always for their members benefit. I have been a member for almost 2 years and wouldn't think of canceling. You are always helping and caring. I don't really remember how I first found Big Fish but my first game was Ravenhurst and since then I cannot count the many games I have bought. But any problem was taken care of. Three cheers for what you are doing.

Thanks for listening,
carlahelp

Hi BFG-Guy

But then why have the compulsory subscription at all if you are not worried about them leaving?

You still have not explained why it is beneficial to someone wanting to buy one game to have to join and then go to the trouble of cancelling?
That is the issue and you must agree that there is a percentage that will not be bothered or not even realise they have committed.

100% of people do not know? - there is a thread on your forum from a user right this minute wanting to know how to cancel Hidden Expedition game as they think they have to pay every month to a right to it.. that is on the old system!!
I read posts all the time there how do I cancel.

Anyway your gamesite and your choice to run it.

I am totally against compulsory subscriptions that require payment that needs any cancellation.

If BF want to do it for the economy it would just be $6.99 for a game fullstop.
$6.99 recurring fee for club membership.

I have been a member of BF for a long time so I went into my account and clicked on cancel my membership and nothing happened. It still shows I'm still active. My next payment will be taken out on 5/17 09.
Richard

Kjos, don't you think there is a little processing time needed?

Bella, I don't believe BFG is "preying" on anyone. I always read thoroughly all info before I join as well as check my CC reciepts and banking records.

If BFG is willing to refund money to those who unwittingly joined, and the info is easily available (and my past experiences with them lead me to believe it will be so) then how is BFG "preying"? It is scarcely their fault if folks don't investigate before they click buy.

I guess your right Looney. Sorry
Richard

If you click join the processing time is remarkably fast LOL


Look I love BF but honestly - please BF give people a buy option without having to join and then cancel.
That is all it takes if you are sincere.

I'm getting totally confused here and I've been a member for over a year and have seen several changes. I found the previous way to buy a game to be easy for me, but today I had a problem and wasn't sure if I was doing things correctly or not. I'm not that good at following directions, I guess, so changes get to me. Anyway, I'm not interested in canceling so that didn't enter into it, but I just didn't feel confident that I was buying the game correctly. I'm always worried that I am clicking the wrong button and will end up who knows where. So I was cautious about today's transaction, even when printing out the receipt I wasn't sure I did it correctly. I'm like Murphy's Law: If there is a wrong way to do it, I wlll find it! Everything did go okay, I'm happy to say, but I can sympathize with someone getting confused and signing up for membership when they didn't mean to. That's always a big worry for me, signing up for something without realizing it.

I just don't understand why it has to be that way?
Maybe I'm being dense but to me it is utterly ridiculous and it does not make any sense to me. I know some of you will disagree but I am entitled to my opinion I for one will not buy like that.
Susan

My mistake, I misunderstood information, so I am deleting what I wrote.


But I will say, I think it's silly to force someone to become a member just in order to buy a game. If all the games are $6.99 anyway what's the point in making someone become a member. It looks like that is the only way to buy a game now from Big Fish. I also think they will lose a few customers if they are forced to join the club when all they really want to do is buy a game.

OK. I don't post very often but give Big Fish a break. I have been a Big Fish member for two years. Once I bought a game that I had already purchased (duh!) e-mailed BF my problem; quickly resolved. My computer crashed in Nov 08. All my games were kept on BF site, did not lose a game. I had bought a few games from other sites before discovering BF. When I contacted the other sites for my License Key they said ok here is the key. You can use that key one more time; after that no more installations of that game. One of the sites did not offer the game any more that I had purchased from them. Did I get a coupon for another game to replace the one I had bought. No. Big Fish has been so good to me let's just see how this works. I have full confidence that all will be fine.

Joani

Hi Kate Anne

Are you referring to my posts? I love BF, OK so we accept BF move to recruit?
I honestly think we need to look at the big picture.

Look I share the love of BF with all of you - I am BF lover of all time - but do you really think it is necessary to have to buy and cancel?
Honestly tell me it is necessary to buy and then cancel with no ulterior motives- just the way our software works or something??

I don't have anything against Big Fish either, I'm keeping my subscription. But if someone just wants to buy a game once in awhile, why should they have to keep signing up and then cancelling, only to have to sign up again when they decide to buy another game down the road.

Instead of having to become a member why not just up the price to maybe 9.99 if you are not a member.

It says on the site games 6.99 for Club members, but there is no other option to buy a game other than to become a member, or am I missing something.

Thanks BFG! you are a Super Duper Big Fish in our pond.
I think you do a Fantastic job
Bless you Doc