Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

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clearwater
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Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by clearwater »

Take note that you may want to steer clear of Morningstar's "free" 14 day trial. You'll have to sign up with credit card number, etc, then you have 14 days to cancel.

BUT -- there is no "CANCEL ME" button on the web page, and instead you have to call their 800 number where they surely will try to convince you otherwise. This would be like going into Nordstrom but they won't tell you where the exits are until they can show you the new line of shoes.

What a pain. I would NOT recommend dealing this company on this basis alone. Amazing that businesses still think treating potential customers like this is acceptable.
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neurosphere
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by neurosphere »

I recently went through this. I assumed it would be easy to cancel on line, but instead was forced to call. I was annoyed, but they didn't do TOO hard a sell to keep me from canceling.
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livesoft
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by livesoft »

This is good business practice, so that the customer has an insignificant barrier to cancelling a free trial, but a barrier nonetheless. Lots of businesses do this.

That is, free trials always have a catch. It is a fact of life. It is something you teach your kids as soon as they are able to learn things.
Last edited by livesoft on Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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carolinaman
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by carolinaman »

I access the M* site through our public library which has a subscription. All it takes is a library card.
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coachz
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by coachz »

Pissing off potential customers ! A good business practice !! Plus, lots of them do it so that validates it as A OK. Ah, the old bandwagon fallacy. https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/bandwagon :oops:
livesoft wrote:This is good business practice, so that the customer has an insignificant barrier to cancelling a free trial, but a barrier nonetheless. Lots of businesses do this.

That is, free trials always have a catch. It is a fact of life. It is something you teach your kids as soon as they are able to learn things.
livesoft
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by livesoft »

Yes, it is absolutely OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDDswGsJ60

There a saying about a free lunch around here somewhere.
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nisiprius
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by nisiprius »

IF the 800 number was easy to find, staffed at reasonable hours, and the call was answered promptly... and, above all, if the cancellation "took" and your card wasn't charged (or had the charge removed promptly...) then I don't see a major beef.

To me, a free trial is always a nuisance anyway, because you need keep checking your credit card account vigilantly for a while to make sure it really got cancelled. The true sleazebags, which are not that rare, are the ones that tell you your account has been cancelled and go on charging anyway to see whether you'll notice.

Also, the purpose of the free trial is, or should be, to give you an extended period of time to take a good look at the service and evaluate its content. I'd certainly spend an hour or so kicking the tires before committing to $200/year, so what's another five minutes to cancel?

"Pissing off potential customers..." Look, I'm a consumer and I'm usually on my own side, so to speak, but with all due respect someone is a potential customer when they sign up for the free trial, but has decided not to be a customer when they cancel. Are they still "potential" customers? Probably not, but by the time the memory of not seeing $200 worth of value on the site has faded, the memory of being pissed off by having to dial 800 would probably have faded, too, provided of course the cancellation went smoothly.

Also, yeah, I feel that Morningstar gives a huge amount of information away at no cost. I find it hard to see them as bad guys. I don't believe their business model is trying to trick people into accidentally buying worthless stuff they didn't mean to buy.
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Ged
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Ged »

livesoft wrote:Yes, it is absolutely OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDDswGsJ60

There a saying about a free lunch around here somewhere.
I like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpDSBAh6RY
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nisiprius
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by nisiprius »

Ged wrote:
livesoft wrote:Yes, it is absolutely OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDDswGsJ60

There a saying about a free lunch around here somewhere.
I like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpDSBAh6RY
That's funny! I personally had trouble canceling an AOL account but it was so many years ago I wasn't sure it was worth mentioning. In my case, the problem was that they would tell me that they had canceled the account but they kept billing my credit card. I ended up having to dispute the charge with the credit card company.
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coachz
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by coachz »

You ever try to cancel AOL or AT&T ? hahaha
nisiprius wrote:IF the 800 number was easy to find, staffed at reasonable hours, and the call was answered promptly... and, above all, if the cancellation "took" and your card wasn't charged (or had the charge removed promptly...) then I don't see a major beef.

To me, a free trial is always a nuisance anyway, because you need keep checking your credit card account vigilantly for a while to make sure it really got cancelled. The true sleazebags, which are not that rare, are the ones that tell you your account has been cancelled and go on charging anyway to see whether you'll notice.

Also, the purpose of the free trial is, or should be, to give you an extended period of time to take a good look at the service and evaluate its content. I'd certainly spend an hour or so kicking the tires before committing to $200/year, so what's another five minutes to cancel?

"Pissing off potential customers..." Look, I'm a consumer and I'm usually on my own side, so to speak, but with all due respect someone is a potential customer when they sign up for the free trial, but has decided not to be a customer when they cancel. Are they still "potential" customers? Probably not, but by the time the memory of not seeing $200 worth of value on the site has faded, the memory of being pissed off by having to dial 800 would probably have faded, too, provided of course the cancellation went smoothly.

Also, yeah, I feel that Morningstar gives a huge amount of information away at no cost. I find it hard to see them as bad guys. I don't believe their business model is trying to trick people into accidentally buying worthless stuff they didn't mean to buy.
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telemark
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by telemark »

I signed up with Rhapsody for their 30-day free trial, then decided not to subscribe. At the end of the thirty days, absolutely nothing happened, except that my account stopped working.

Which is just what I had, perhaps naively, expected.
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by indexfundfan »

When signing up for trials, I generally generate a disposable credit card number.

I have read cases where even after you called in to cancel, the merchant charges your credit card anyway (due to "billing error" or whatever they want to call it). It takes a lot of effort and time to unravel such charges.

With a disposable credit card number, I can simply delete the number to prevent charges.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by cheese_breath »

I signed up for an Investor's Business Daily free trial some years ago. When a bill came in the mail after the free trial expired I checked the 'do not subscribe' box and mailed it back thinking I was done. Not long after I got the high pressure phone call from IBD spewing all the reasons why I couldn't afford not to subscribe. After trying to reason with him for awhile (I know, I was dumb to even try) I finally told him I didn't care what he said. I wasn't going to subscribe, period. He finally gave up, but I learned my lesson about trial offers.
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chaz
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by chaz »

OP is right - this isn't nice.
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Ged
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Ged »

nisiprius wrote:
Ged wrote:
livesoft wrote:Yes, it is absolutely OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDDswGsJ60

There a saying about a free lunch around here somewhere.
I like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpDSBAh6RY
That's funny! I personally had trouble canceling an AOL account but it was so many years ago I wasn't sure it was worth mentioning. In my case, the problem was that they would tell me that they had canceled the account but they kept billing my credit card. I ended up having to dispute the charge with the credit card company.
Here's some more info on AOL's practices:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_ ... ncellation

They were the worst.
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by chaz »

"Wisdom comes by disillusionment." George Santayana
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BayAreaDude
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by BayAreaDude »

I find the lack of a CANCEL button annoying. I pay for the Premium membership when I actually use it (which is a couple of months every 12-18 months) and when I am done, I update my account with a test credit card number (find these by searching the web). Morningstar cancels the Premium membership when they cannot charge the credit card.

One-time use credit card numbers work too, but I don't have a card that supports them.

-A
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greg24
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by greg24 »

Do not give your credit card number out for something that is "free". You'll regret it.
lindisfarne
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by lindisfarne »

livesoft wrote:This is good business practice, so that the customer has an insignificant barrier to cancelling a free trial, but a barrier nonetheless. Lots of businesses do this.

That is, free trials always have a catch. It is a fact of life. It is something you teach your kids as soon as they are able to learn things.
Making potential customers frustrated & angry is a GOOD business practice?

There are a lot of GOOD businesses out there that give you a FREE trial without requiring credit card information, & which make it easy to cancel. Amazon, for example, tells you up-front you can go in & set Amazon prime to cancel at the end of the trial period, yet go on using it up until the end of the trial period. Amazon's GOOD policies keep me shopping there.
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SpringMan
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by SpringMan »

Morningstar no longer offers a discount to Fidelity customers that it formerly did. Many Fidelity customers have stated they are not renewing their membership. I never joined but from what I have read Morningstar membership is not a very good value for the money.
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Snapper
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Snapper »

It has been a few years but I had a very difficult time canceling paid Morningstar membership. I had to call a local number in NYC which was always either busy or no one answered. It took many trys to finally connect and cancel. Due to that experience I pass on any automatic renewal or free trials where I have to provide a credit card. I assume that if they want a card to start a free trial the plan on playing games.
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SSSS
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by SSSS »

Always assume that if you give someone your credit card number, they will charge something to it. See if your credit card company offers single-use card numbers, and limit it to $1, or use an old pre-paid "gift" credit card with only a small amount left on it.

For situations where you've already given them your real credit card number, but they've made it difficult to cancel, do a chargeback. They'll probably decide it's easier to cancel you than to fight chargebacks every month. In the event that this doesn't dissuade them, report your card as lost/stolen and get a new number.
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by likegarden »

Simply try not to take anything 'Free' because there is mostly trouble afterwards. At this one Six Flag park we go with our grandson sales people try all the time to let people win those 'Free' weekends in timeshares, trying to sell them.
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SpringMan
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by SpringMan »

When I bought my first APPLE product, a 5th generation ipod, they required my credit card info to create an APPL_ID. I was uncomfortable with this because I had no intention of buying anything from their i-store. Reluctantly I did provide the credit card info, in the case of APPLE they never billed our credit card and everything was fine.
Best Wishes, SpringMan
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ejvyas
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by ejvyas »

Even if they charge you can always call back your credit card company and complain about their service. Remember you can reverse any charge from your credit card if the service was not as expected.
KATNYC
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by KATNYC »

I canceled my trial by phone. It took 2 1/2 minutes after being offered a discount rate to keep it.
I used a disposable credit card number with $1 limit and one-time use just in case they attempt to charge it.
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by DVMResident »

KATNYC wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:19 amI used a disposable credit card number with $1 limit and one-time use just in case they attempt to charge it.
Great idea! :idea: Where do you get these?
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by KATNYC »

DVMResident wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:36 am
KATNYC wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:19 amI used a disposable credit card number with $1 limit and one-time use just in case they attempt to charge it.
Great idea! :idea: Where do you get these?
I used Privacy.com to create a burner credit card number (good for 2 minutes after the charge) linked to our second (not main) checking account.
Citibank also offers Virtual Account Numbers but the minimum time to keep them open is 2 months.

Image
raamakoti
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by raamakoti »

why pay for morning star,
through our local library it is free - people should check in their respective area if it is available for free.
https://cuyahogafallslibrary.org/databases-a-z/
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Dottie57 »

livesoft wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:11 am This is good business practice, so that the customer has an insignificant barrier to cancelling a free trial, but a barrier nonetheless. Lots of businesses do this.

That is, free trials always have a catch. It is a fact of life. It is something you teach your kids as soon as they are able to learn things.
The credit card is why I Never sign up unless I know Inwant it.

I knew I wanted netflix. So I took the 2 weeks free.

But nada else
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by UKFred »

KATNYC wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:19 am ...
I used a disposable credit card number with $1 limit and one-time use just in case they attempt to charge it.
Is there any reason to think that Morningstar will charge your card after you’ve cancelled the account? Or that your bank will not reverse the charges if Morningstar do make that charge?
grog
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by grog »

Definitely double check your credit card statement. I called to cancel the day before the end of the two weeks. They offered me a discount. I declined. Assumed they actually canceled it. Then I noticed I still had access to the prime service. I was confused by this and checked my CC statement and, sure enough, they had charged me for the month. I called to complain and they resisted a little to refund me, but I insisted and they did refund it. If I hadn't noticed, they might have charged me for months and months of a service without me even realizing I still had access to it.

It's not a bad service, but totally unnecessary imo for someone with a Boglehead type portfolio. I would actually be open to paying them a modest fee for temporary access maybe once a year, but they don't want to do that. You can only do a monthly sub at $24, and they don't let you toggle your membership easily.
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Sandtrap »

indexfundfan wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2013 11:19 am When signing up for trials, I generally generate a disposable credit card number.

I have read cases where even after you called in to cancel, the merchant charges your credit card anyway (due to "billing error" or whatever they want to call it). It takes a lot of effort and time to unravel such charges.

With a disposable credit card number, I can simply delete the number to prevent charges.
How do you do this?

thanks for the help
j :D
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Sandtrap
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Sandtrap »

ejvyas wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:07 pm Even if they charge you can always call back your credit card company and complain about their service. Remember you can reverse any charge from your credit card if the service was not as expected.
+1
yes.
j :D
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KATNYC
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by KATNYC »

UKFred wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:05 pm
KATNYC wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:19 am ...
I used a disposable credit card number with $1 limit and one-time use just in case they attempt to charge it.
Is there any reason to think that Morningstar will charge your card after you’ve cancelled the account? Or that your bank will not reverse the charges if Morningstar do make that charge?
No, I don't trust free trials that make it difficult to cancel. I also don't need the hassle of reversing charges. For things I actually know I want, and end up having to return anyway, the process takes weeks. I have to file a claim with Chase, they call me to ask for details that I've already added in the claim form & send a letter noting they will issue temp credits, then they deal with the merchant and call me back 2-3 times before sending a letter saying the temp credits are permanent.
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Index Fan
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Index Fan »

Nothing makes me shun a company like making me call a CSR on the phone to do something that should be done with a single click on a webpage.
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Jeep512
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by Jeep512 »

clearwater wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:35 am Take note that you may want to steer clear of Morningstar's "free" 14 day trial. You'll have to sign up with credit card number, etc, then you have 14 days to cancel.

BUT -- there is no "CANCEL ME" button on the web page, and instead you have to call their 800 number where they surely will try to convince you otherwise. This would be like going into Nordstrom but they won't tell you where the exits are until they can show you the new line of shoes.

What a pain. I would NOT recommend dealing this company on this basis alone. Amazing that businesses still think treating potential customers like this is acceptable.
This is the same business model that Sirius XM has.

1) They give you a low teaser rate for 6 months.

2) After 6 months, the rate basically triples to their "market" rate.

3) There's no way to cancel without calling them.

Many others are the same...AT&T Uverse, Cable companies, etc

I choose not to do business with these companies, when possible. Vote with your pocketbook :happy
A2NTrader
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Re: Warning on "free" Morningstar trial

Post by A2NTrader »

I managed to do it by sending them an email (joe @ M*). It was pretty fast and even got a confirmation per email! :happy
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