2y ago

Proton.me uses dishonest marketing tactics

cross-posted from: https://monero.town/post/454010

Originally when I signed up for proton unlimited they advertised it as being a student discounted plan not a coupon… Now I go to renew my membership, and it's suddenly a coupon and not a plan anymore…. My account shows it as being a plan not a discount or coupon. It shows it as being a discounted plan. This is what is pushing me away from their service. Now going back to a free plan and using Mullvad VPN once again.

Proton @lemmy.world

-25 9

12 comments

I don't know if I would consider this "dishonest", it seems like maybe there was some misunderstanding or miscommunication happening.
Either way, if you think it's too expensive you could just use the free account. I pay for an account but I also have a couple of free, extra accounts and they work perfectly fine.

seems more like you did not understand the terms, then some sort of bad intentioned marketing plan.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I'm reading online, Proton doesn't "market" or "advertise" discounted plans beyond what you'll save by purchasing a longer plan for their VPN. They do have a page on coupons here: https://proton.me/support/coupons
And based on what it says, as well as other tweets and reddit comments I've seen from their official accounts, they grant these coupons on a case by case basis. So forgive me for being skeptical, but I don't believe it was false advertising, nor do I believe it was presented as a plan to begin with.
Unless you have a screenshot that shows them blatantly telling you it was a plan, I think you probably misread what they said, and that it "suddenly a coupon and not a plan anymore" isn't actually truthful. Though of course, you could very well be right, and I might just be skeptical for no reason

Why not just say this to them instead of complaining here? They might just show you some understanding and meet you halfway. I use all of their products and have found them to be invested in keeping their customers happy 🙂.
- What phrasing are you saying is dishonest? A quick search of proton student discount doesn't even bring up any results from them

Mulvad seems be the only BS free VPN these days. I also don't know of any others that you can pay with mailed in cash...
- This is more beneficial to me this happened because Mullvad has a better Linux app

It's not unusual for it to work this way, but I've also encountered circumstances where companies make it sound like a plan when it's really a one time discount and it's very annoying.

Yeah proton does this with everything, its fucking wild.

Yeah either way this doesn't seem too bad

12 comments