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"... you can sign up for the free 30-day trial without needing to add a credit card .." not true?

_jack_
_jack_
Community Member

I'm a happy 1password user (the old stand-alone install version). I just spent an hour talking up 1Password to my parents, and suggested they go with the subscription for simplicity. One of the things I quoted them is what the pricing page says:

https://1password.com/sign-up/

"Can I try 1Password for free?
Yes, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial without needing to add a credit card."

My parents agreed to give it a try, but after entering an email address, and clicking the verification link in the email, the very first thing I have to do is enter a credit card number. If I try to leave it blank I get an error and cannot continue the sign up process. Boom, so much for all the positive things I said, they now have a terrible first impression of 1password! What gives?

Another bit of feedback - the very next screen shows a secret key in huge red text. The impression I get is this is something very precious and I need to carefully take note of it. But the text underneath says "do not write this down". Why on earth are you showing it to me then!? I realise it will be needed in future, but if I don't need it now while signing up, I don't want to know about it.


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Referrer: forum-search:credit card number

Comments

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni
    edited January 2018

    My parents agreed to give it a try, but after entering an email address, and clicking the verification link in the email, the very first thing I have to do is enter a credit card number. If I try to leave it blank I get an error and cannot continue the sign up process.

    @"jack": Ah, sorry for the confusion there. People were signing up, putting data in their accounts, and then getting frozen when they did not have a credit card to use to pay for the account at all. So it is a required step to sign up, but the card can be removed. We'll try to make that text clearer.

    Another bit of feedback - the very next screen shows a secret key in huge red text. The impression I get is this is something very precious and I need to carefully take note of it. But the text underneath says "do not write this down". Why on earth are you showing it to me then!? I realise it will be needed in future, but if I don't need it now while signing up, I don't want to know about it.

    Well, you do need to know about it, because that is required along with the Master Password to access your data. So we tell you about it during sign up, and then immediately after successfully signing into your account the first time you're prompted to print the Emergency Kit with all of your account credentials and store it in a secure location (like a safe deposit box). "Don't write it down" means literally not to write it down, not that you should lose it. There's a better way to keep it safe, so that's what we recommend doing.

    Anyway, I hope this helps clarify. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)

  • _jack_
    _jack_
    Community Member

    "@brenty": Thanks for the reply -

    Ah, sorry for the confusion there

    Requiring a cc number when the text says the exact opposite appears deceitful, at best. It is blatantly false, so could be called a lot worse. A trustworthy first impression it was not.

    Well, you do need to know about it,

    No, at this point in the sign up you do not need it, hence the feedback.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    Thanks for the reply -

    Sure thing! :)

    Requiring a cc number when the text says the exact opposite appears deceitful, at best. It is blatantly false, so could be called a lot worse. A trustworthy first impression it was not.

    I don't know if you noticed, but I was agreeing with you that it needs to be clearer. However, if it were "required", you would not be able to remove it. You can right there on the billing page though, which in my experience is a far cry from the websites where I have to call them and argue on the phone to cancel so I don't get charged after the trial. Just my two cents.

    No, at this point in the sign up you do not need it, hence the feedback.

    That's like saying that you thought the Master Password wasn't needed because it isn't required every time you open the app. Thanks for the feedback though! We'll see if we can make this clearer as well:

    Enjoy your weekend. Cheers! :)

  • _jack_
    _jack_
    Community Member

    Hey Brent,

    I don't know if you noticed, but I was agreeing with you

    Sure I noticed. I was trying to tactfully pass on my feedback that this seems like a bit more than "confusion", this is a blatant lie on the site. Thanks to your reply, and the fact that I am a long term user and already familiar with the company, I appreciate is just an unfortunate case of site content getting out of sync with a change in the sign up process, rather than anything sinister or malicious. But if I were a new prospective user, who'd never heard of 1Password, and who didn't take the time to write to the forums asking about it, I'm pretty sure an apparent lie about sign up and payment details would be a massive red flag, and send me running to your competitors.

    However, if it were "required", you would not be able to remove it.

    Maybe I wasn't clear - I am talking about the sign up process. Please correct me if I am wrong, but it is required to sign up. There is no way to sign up without adding it. You cannot get past the credit card form during sign up without adding a card. Contrast with the text I quoted from the site, which says exactly the opposite. If the text on the site said "Can I try for free? Yes! You must provide a credit card during sign up, but can then go into your profile, switch to the billing page, and remove your credit card! Easy!" I would not have written this post, and would not have persisted in trying to pass on my feedback.

    That's like saying that you thought the Master Password wasn't needed because it isn't required every time you open the app

    I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean here. I'm also not sure what the screenshot is for. My feedback was not related to the emergency kit. Again, perhaps I wasn't clear - my feedback is about the sign up process. The secret key is not required during sign up - if it was, I missed it, perhaps you could clarify why/when I needed it. I'm pretty sure I did not need to know it, or see it, or use it, while signing up. Displaying a big alphanumeric code in large red capitals and saying "you don't need this now", in the middle of a process where we do actually have to carefully craft and keep a record of a complex master password, is almost Monty-Python-esque. It's like a flashing red siren with a recorded message saying "Alert! There is no problem!" :-) As a user who went through the process, my feedback is that it is confusing and unsettling, and served me no apparent purpose. Hope it helps!

  • Ben
    Ben
    edited January 2018

    You raise some very valid points, jack. I’ve pointed out the irony of the “you don’t need this now” text myself. I’m very hopeful that we can find a better solution to that. We do want to make sure that people have access to their Secret Keys, as one of the main problems folks have run in to is losing it and / or forgetting the Master Password.

    It used to be possible to complete the set up process entirely without having to enter a credit card. There was a “skip” option. I’m not sure how/when/why that changed but I’ll chat with some of the folks here and see what the deal is. Certainly if it isn’t going to be possible anymore then we need to update the wording we use in various places to reflect that.

    Thanks for the feedback!

    Ben

  • prime
    prime
    Community Member

    jack
    Ever think about using the 1Password for Families? This way you can easily help your parents. I do this with my Mom, shes in my 1Password for Families and it saved us twice (will, my mom). Twice she forgot her master password and I was able to recover her account for her, and all her data was saved.

  • _jack_
    _jack_
    Community Member

    Hi @Ben,

    Thanks for the reply -

    We do want to make sure that people have access to their Secret Keys

    You already do that, very well, with the emergency kit. It seems like a neat solution to me. Making it available during sign up (as it is) is all you need. No need to also display the key.

    Hi @prime,

    Ever think about using the 1Password for Families?

    Thanks, I did consider that, and it does sound ideal. I am on the old stand-alone install, and would rather not switch to the subscription option, which I assume I'd have to do.

  • fatoldgoat
    fatoldgoat
    Community Member

    So this leaves a really sour taste with me as well. First off, I felt very betrayed by the immediate request for CC info when it specifically said it didn't need one. (Not to mention years of marketing data that proves that allowing people to trial a product without a card results in significantly higher conversion rates.)

    Then I read the comments here. And this thread combined with a few others also seems a little "off". What might have been intended as a forthright explanation comes across as smug and a little insulting, at least to me. Nonetheless, I have heard good things about 1P over the years, so I tread onwards.

    I set up my account, and head over to the billing page where I can remove my card, as described above. Guess what? No such option. Sure, I could add a new one, and then presumably delete the old one, but that wasn't the point, was it? So even in the apology and explanation, we are deceived.

    What the hell are you guys doing? Do you realize that you're talking about people's most prized digital data here? And that smart people are already leery of ANY third-party in the loop, especially with whiz-bang cloud syncing going on. I'm not enjoying the attitude of the developers, or at least the response team here on the forum.

    Just to finish my thoughts. It IS possible to remove your card. But they've conveniently hidden it underneath an option to cancel your subscription (the one that doesn't really exist yet, because I'm on a free trial, remember?) If you Cancel, then it deletes (theoretically) your payment information.

    I'm no dummy. This isn't a "whoops", or an oversight. This is a deliberate attempt to ensnare more customers in a rather unethical way. There's nothing wrong with charging fair rates for great software, and nothing wrong with making money. But being dishonest -- ESPECIALLY when you're in the trust business -- is a little too much for me.

    Cheers.

  • Ben
    Ben
    edited January 2018

    You already do that, very well, with the emergency kit. It seems like a neat solution to me. Making it available during sign up (as it is) is all you need. No need to also display the key.

    Apparently not, as one of the most common problems customers write in about is not having their Secret Key. We need to do better here, but you’re right that what we currently have obviously isn’t helpful.

    Thanks, I did consider that, and it does sound ideal. I am on the old stand-alone install, and would rather not switch to the subscription option, which I assume I'd have to do.

    1Password Families is a subscription service, yes.

    So this leaves a really sour taste with me as well. First off, I felt very betrayed by the immediate request for CC info when it specifically said it didn't need one. (Not to mention years of marketing data that proves that allowing people to trial a product without a card results in significantly higher conversion rates.)

    I totally understand and agree that it is terrible that the marketing pages don’t match reality. We recently made it such that signing up for an individual membership required card data to complete the sign up process but that information didn’t make it to the marketing team. It has now, and we will make the appropriate changes as soon as possible.

    Again I’m sorry for the difficulty caused and hope you can give us another chance here. I’ll update this thread when the pages have been changed.

    Ben

    ref: B5-3717

  • Just to finish my thoughts. It IS possible to remove your card. But they've conveniently hidden it underneath an option to cancel your subscription (the one that doesn't really exist yet, because I'm on a free trial, remember?) If you Cancel, then it deletes (theoretically) your payment information.

    These are the correct steps, yes. Thanks for posting that.

    Ben

This discussion has been closed.